1840 - Ward J. Supplementary Information Relative to New Zealand - No. V. First Report... by Ernst Dieffenbach

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No. V.

WE came in sight of the Southern Island on the 16th of August, after a most successful voyage of ninety-six days from Plymouth Harbour, and thirty-eight days from the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope. From this longitude to New Zealand, we sailed between the latitudes 37 deg. and 45 deg., being favoured by the prevalent winds from the S.W. and N.W., which blow almost continually, rendering a voyage to New Zealand at once secure and quick.

On the 9th of July we were in latitude 37 deg. 25' S. and longitude 16 deg. 43' E. The weather was fine, and a S.W. wind filled our sails and carried us rapidly forward. I found the temperature of the air to be 58 deg. Fahrenheit, which is the mean of four daily observations. The temperature of the sea was 61 deg. 12', likewise the mean of four observations.

On the 11th we were in latitude 38 deg. 49' S. and in longitude 24 deg. 30' E. At noon, I made my observations upon the temperature of the water, and found it had declined from 69 deg. in the morning to 52 deg. 50', and to 50 deg. at four o'clock in the afternoon. It rose again on the following day to 69 deg., when we were in latitude 39 deg. 33' S. and

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longitude 38 deg. 3' E. This extraordinary change of temperature seems to have been produced by the presence of shoal water, although there is no indication of such in the charts, I was confirmed in this opinion by the light-green colour of the sea, and a particular appearance of its surface. The sounding, however, gave no bottom at seventy fathoms; and it must be left to future observations to determine whether the thermometer really indicated a shoal, or whether other causes, for instance icebergs or currents, can produce such an extraordinary change.

From this time our voyage became uniform to the highest degree. As far as the eye could reach, nothing was visible but a dreary and desolate sea. An almost continual wind from the S.W. was only interrupted by gales and squalls, ceasing as quickly as they came, and which, though never dangerous, caused the vessel to roll, and required the attention of our commander. The temperature of the air fell sometimes to 47 deg., and the cold became very sensible. The monotony of our life was in some degree enlivened by a number of sea-birds, who were our faithful companions. They never left us, and even appeared in the greatest numbers when the sea rose highest, falling eagerly on everything that was cast out of the ship. We often admired the dexterity and elegance of their flight; never touching the water with their wings, they fly upwards with the ascending, downwards with the descending wave. The power of their wings, indeed, must be enormous, as they appear where for hundreds of miles no land is indicated on our charts. Our most constant companion was the Cape pigeon, a very neat kind of petrel (Procellaria capensis.) This bird is white and black spotted above, white below, with a black head, and of the size of a large pigeon. Occasionally we noticed some of a silver-gray colour, either a different species, or perhaps differing only in age.

Other kinds of petrels were visible besides the Cape pigeon. The Cape hen, a shy bird and of a black colour, was frequently seen; Mother Carey's chicken (Procellaria pelagica) sometimes; another small silver-gray petrel, called the icebird, appeared in great flocks.

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Albatrosses were numerous, and, driven by hunger Ioften came close to the ship. I observed two varieties of the common species; one generally of a light-brown colour more or less mixed with white, another often perfectly white with black wings. These latter have on each side the throat a rose-coloured spot, and appear to be the oldest birds. We caught them (Diomedea exulans) in great numbers with hook and line, and our sailors ate their flesh, which is somewhat fishy.

Another species of albatross is perfectly smoke-coloured, somewhat smaller than the first, but flies with the same dexterity. It seems to be Diomedea fuliginosa. It never took the bait, and kept always in some distance from the ship.

The clumsily-made bird called molemawk appears to me to be likewise an albatross; its plumage is white with black wings; it settled in great numbers about the bait, but never took it.

On the 22nd of July we were in latitude 41 deg. 38' S. and longitude 71 deg. 2' E. About this time we had almost continual squalls, with rain and hail. The temperature of the air was often as low as 36 deg. Fahrenheit during the hail showers, but generally between 40 deg. and 50 deg. Fahrenheit. The barometer and the sympiesometer always indicatedthese sudden squalls, as will appear from the annexed series of observations. The variations of these instruments, however, were so remarkable and so sudden, especially in the first half of the month of August, that they cannot always be depended upon, as fall and rise followed each other too rapidly to be of any use to the navigator. These variations seemed to be connected with a continual formation of clouds charged with rain or hail, never with snow, which suddenly appeared at the horizon, and, followed by winds, scudded over the ship and disappeared. The observations on the sympiesometer on the 12th, 13th, and 14th of August, when we were between Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand, deserve perhaps some attention respecting their variations.

Before beginning my observations on New Zealand, I beg leave to give here an extract from my meteorological

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journal. All the instruments used have been compared together, and corrected accordingly. An accident that befell the barometer prevented me from continuing my observations with it, and I was confined to the sympiesometer, which I found to be a very sensible instrument, admitting of accurate observations even in stormy weather, whereas minute observations with the barometer can only be made in calms, and when the ship is steady; and even in this case it becomes necessary to take the mean of a difference of several hundredths of an inch, to which extent it is always in movement. The observations were made four times daily. The observations of latitude and longitude are from the ship's log, which I likewise used for the observations on wind and weather.

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On the 16th of August, at twelve o'clock, we saw mountainous land, the land of our destiny, New Zealand, then about forty miles distant. These mountains were in the neighbourhood of Cape Farewell, forming to the south a prolonged chain, the summits of which were visible above the clouds, which, after a few hours, enveloped them entirely.

On the morning of the 17th we were on deck at day-break, in the expectation of seeing a larger extent of land. We were not deceived. The mountains were pyramidal or conical; those on the Northern Island stretching from S.E. by S. to S.S.W. on the Southern Island, following a S.E. direction. Behind the latter rose a still higher chain, whilst through its opening, still further in the interior, towered snow-clad summits, reddening in the rising sun. I afterwards learned that these snowy mountains are to the S.E. of Cloudy Bay, from which place they are distinctly visible, and are named Sapaweinu. Though dissimilar in outline, they recalled to my memory the mountains of Switzerland. To our right lay Stephen's Island, an irregular rocky place, rising abruptly from the sea, and covered with thick brushwood. Between this island and the following, or D'Urville's Isle, some rocky needles reached out of the water, seven in number.

We saw Capiti or Entry Island, surrounded by a heavy atmosphere. The mountains of the Northern Island also displayed lofty cones covered with snow; among them an active volcano was pointed out to us by one of our New Zealanders.

As we drew nearer, we saw D'Urville's Island and the hills more distinctly. These hills are covered to the very summit with trees and brushwood. They are very steep, running down to the very border of the sea; and a yellow barren rock is occasionally denudated, with strata dipping at an acute angle, and very distinct at a promontory called Point Jackson.

At two o'clock in the afternoon we entered Queen Charlotte's Sound. No open spot of land was to be seen. The abrupt mountains, clothed with primeval forests, rising at once from the shore form only diminutive bays. Point

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Jackson, where a pah was visible, was on our right. In the background of the bay we saw the island Motuara, and on our left, a long narrow island called Long Island, consisting of a sharp ridge of hills, the sides of which steeply descend into the sea, disclosing the same stratified yellow rocks already alluded to. Here again the strata are highly inclined, and sometimes even perpendicular. On this island are several slips, occasioned by the action of heavy rains upon the steep sides of the hills.

We steered between Long Island and Motuara, the route given by Captain Cook. As we entered Ship Cove, we descried a canoe coming from a neighbouring bay, denominated Cannibal's Cove in Cook's chart, but called by the natives Anaho. It contained eight men clothed in coarse mats. They brought some fish, behaved modestly, and left us satisfied in the evening, with a promise to come again in the following morning. At seven o'clock we anchored in Ship Cove, hoisted the New Zealand flag, and saluted it with eight guns.

We remained in Ship Cove until the 31st of August. It opens as a semicircle towards Queen Charlotte Sound, and is formed by two branches from the main chain, of which one bears to N.E. by N. half N., the other to S.E. by E.

The island Alapawa consists of a chain, which sends a great many branches towards the sea.

I may here observe that the following remarks apply to all the parts of New Zealand visited by me during the present expedition. The rock formation of the hills in Ship Cove, Tory Channel, Queen Charlotte Sound, Cloudy Bay, and Port Nicholson, is either a stratified yellow clayslate, or an unstratified graywacke of the same colour. This rock is one of the most barren for the researches of the geologist. Sometimes it graduates into a dark-coloured slate, attaining to the lamination of roofing slate, and is occasionally permeated by veins of kiescluchiefes, or siliceous slate. In Port Nicholson it is a more hard and unstratified wacke, often of a black colour. No petrifactions could be discovered in it. This clayslate is easily converted by the influence of the atmosphere into clay of various colours, fit for brickmaking; the stone

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itself is unfit for architectural purposes. I have not found any useful minerals in it. Some coal was brought to us by a chief of the Nyatiawa tribe, Nyarewa, who lives in Anaho, and who obtained it from a place called Manganui,on the western coast of the Southern Island, probably in the neighbourhood of Cape Farewell, where coal has been picked up by Europeans, whom I met at Terrawaita. According to their description, it crops out in strata near the sea-shore. The coal is of good quality, and burned almost without residuum.

Everywhere along Queen Charlotte Sound and Tory Channel, branches running from the main chain of mountains into the sea inclose small bays, into which almost uniformly little streamlets of excellent water discharge themselves. By their action, combined with that of the sea, small beaches are formed, few rarely exceeding a square mile in area of fertile soil, more or less mixed with sand or shingle. On these beaches, which are the only accessible portions of the shore, the native huts are commonly located, for the convenience of fishing; their cultivation, however, is for the most part on the sides and in the ravines of the hills, in spots cleared by burning the wood, by which they are universally clothed.

The climate seems to be extremely suitable to English constitutions. The mean of my observations on the thermometer give the temperature in Ship Cove for the latter half of the month of August, 49 deg. 74' Fahrenheit. The thermometer never fell below 42 deg. 50' during the daytime, nor rose above 53 deg. 50' at noon in the shadow, and this in a month corresponding to our February. During that time we had fine weather with the exception of three rainy days. It generally blew fresh from the S.E. or N.E.; the former wind always producing a fall in the temperature, as will be seen from the annexed extract from my meteorological journal.

The thermometer during winter seems rarely to fall much lower than the degree just mentioned, although during the night the summits of the hills, which are above 1200 feet above the level of the sea, were sometimes covered with snow in the morning. It freezes rarely, but

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I afterwards ascertained in Terrawaiti that the water had lately frozen several times about half an inch thick. But settlers who had resided ten years and longer on this coast say this winter is a remarkably cold one.

From the mountainous character of the country it may be inferred that rains are frequent; in fact, droughts, as in New South Wales, are unknown. The thick woods that everywhere clothe the hills, preserve a great degree of humidity, nourish the streamlets, and present a luxuriant vegetation, possessing many attractions for the observer of nature, and eminently useful for the purposes of men, by the timber they yield. All who have visited New Zealand admit that it possesses a characteristic vegetation, partaking of tropical forms. I have seen tree-ferns more than forty feet high, their umbrella-like crowns overhanging the underwood, and constituting a remarkable feature in the landscape. Besides this criterion of a moderate climate, the trees, even at this wintry season, were arrayed in the freshest green, although without new leaf-buds. Only a few of the indigenous plants were in blossom. With the exception of four or five phanerogamous plants, I found the ferns only covered with their organs of fructification, and collected ten species with seed-capsules. But though few plants were in flower, I collected a number of seeds from trees and shrubs.

As all the annual plants had disappeared, I can only give a general account of the perennial ones, and principally of the trees and brushwood.

Everywhere in Queen Charlotte Sound the observer finds, close to the water's edge, a number of plants of the laurel kind, some myrtles, a fuchsia, several euphorbiaceae, one plant, apparently a dulcamara, with yellow fleshy seed-capsules, and called Borra Borra, a ligustrum intermixed with high New Zealand flax, rushes, and a great number of ferns. The loose rocks of the shore, between low and high water-mark, are covered with different kinds of fucus and ulvus. As he ascends the hills the trees increase in height, and are often from five to six feet in diameter. The conifers, which grow higher up, are few in number; I observed two podocarpi, called Miro and Totarra by the

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natives, a dacrydium, called Mai, which is very common about Queen Charlotte Sound, Tory Channel, and Port Nicholson. These three trees grow straight and high, and are beautiful timber. A tree, called Tawai, abounds, and is very much used by the natives for building their canoes. With these is associated the man, a tall tree, with a fruitlike that of our whitethorn; the natives prepare from its bark a beautiful and durable black dye, with which they colour parts of their mats. A great number of birds feed upon its berries. Its timber is excellent. The trees in the lower region of the hills are almost impenetrably interwoven by lianes, which makes the ascent very difficult. They are of different species, and a number of birds feed upon their fruits. Amongst them is the pitokos, from the seeds of which the natives prepare an oil for anointing their hair and bodies. It seems to be a pure fat oil, like that of the beech-mast, and, as the shrub from which it comes is superabundant, and the seeds are easily procured, it must one day furnish an article of commerce. Still higher up the hills, and where the barrenness of the soil scarcely permits any other vegetation, appears the kaikatoa, also called gadoa, or manuko, a philadelphus, with a very hard and brown wood, of which the natives make the paddles of their canoes, and whose leaves are used by natives and Europeans as a very agreeable balsamic tea. This tree grows on the most barren places, but often only as a low shrub, and seems to require an open situation, where it is there intermixed with the fern, the root of which is esculent, euphorbiaceae, myrtles, and the phormium tenax, which grows indifferently on open places, in swamps, and between the rocks at the sea shore. The country about Queen Charlotte Sound is, however, not a flax country, although it is found even here in sufficient abundance for the use of the natives.

The lianes rarely ascend more than 800 feet above the level of the sea, when they disappear, and the forest becomes open, and often covers the very tops of the hills, which, where there are no trees, and the rock barren, are clothed with ferns of various species, some of them arborescent.

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On the decayed trees, which in these immemorial woods everywhere obstructed my path, I collected a number of lichens and mosses, but was surprised at finding so few fungi, of which a large one serves, if well dried, as good tinder.

I ascended the two highest hills at the back of Ship Cove, bearing respectively to N.W. and S.W. The latter is an example of a naked hill, the former of one covered with wood to the top. The first was measured trigonometrically, and its height was found to be about 1000 feet. The latter was measured by me, by means of the temperature of boiling water, which brought out an elevation of 1544 feet high.

Notwithstanding that the whole of Queen Charlotte Sound is not suited for an extensive settlement, it would richly repay the industry of thousands, who could rear pigs in any number, and with little trouble, plant potatoes, for which the soil is particularly adapted, and furnish splendid timber in large quantities. We had always large supplies of potatoes, fresh dug up from the ground, where the natives leave them during the winter, affording another proof of the mildness of the climate.

The island of Motuara is of similar character, both in its geological composition and in its productions. The natives have cleared much land there, and other large patches are covered with a species of ligustrum. About half a dozen natives are on the island, and a great number of pigs are running wild, but they have their proprietors in the neighbouring native settlements.

I will now communicate what I have ascertained about the animal creation of the places visited by us. On the rocks of the sea shore are some conchylia, although they are neither distinguished by great variety, nor by size and beauty. Those of them that are eatable are a species resembling our common cockle, called Pipi by the natives, a mussel, a patella, and a halyotis. Oysters are found in Oyster Bay, in Tory Channel. Besides, there is a pinna, and a small number of univalves.

Landshells I found none; I think they will make their appearance a little later in the year.

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One holothuria, or sea-slug, a large ascidia, two kinds of actinia, or sea anemone, some starfishes, (Ophiura and Asterias,) I found in Ship Cove, a pretty orange-coloured asterias in Teawaiti. Under the rocks, at the shore, live small crabs: lobsters exist likewise, but I saw only one, different from ours, in Cloudy Bay.

Of insects I got few, which may be ascribed to the season. Two or three coleopterae, a grasshopper, and agryllus was all I obtained. I saw only two or three butterflies, neither distinguished by size nor beauty. A small dipterous insect, called the sandfly by the sailors, lives in the sand at the shore, and comes into the houses; its bite is very troublesome.

Of fishes of different kinds there is great abundance; flat fish, soles, skates, the curious Achirus marmoratus, likewise a flatfish with a spotted skin; eels, the conger eel, and another, which, when caught, emits a great quantity of slime, some other small cartilaginous fishes, resembling the shark, (gurnards,) herrings, mackerels, a curious cartilaginous fish related to Chimaera callorrhynchus, with a long appendage from its upper lip, and of a fine silvery colour, eatable, but not of particular taste, and several kinds of syngnathi, which are presented to the stranger everywhere as a curiosity, are the most common fishes. One is always sure to get as many for consumption as he wants, either with the seine, or with hook and line.

New Zealand is distinguished from other islands of the South Sea by its small number of reptiles.

I could only obtain a small lizard, which lives in Teawaiti and Port Nicholson, in open places under the fern. It is of the size of our common brown lizard, with which it corresponds in its colour. The natives call it Moko Moko.

The birds that enliven the rocky shores of New Zealand and the primitive forests on its hills surprise the traveller most agreeably by their beautiful and various melody. The voices of many winged choristers always fill the air. Sounds pure and full, like those of a glass harmonica, are heard from morning to night, but especially at break of day.

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But little disturbed, the birds are so tame that the hand is deterred from killing, where so much confidence appears. Few animals seem originally to fear man; most of them have learned it by persecution. The New Zealander has very few and simple means for bringing them into his power. He imitates their voice, either concealed by shrubs, or in a rude hut made of fern, from whence a rod leads to a neighbouring tree. The bird follows the call, descends upon the rod, draws nearer and nearer, and is caught by the hand. He is, however, in the habit of catching but few birds either for his food, as pigeons or parrots, or for ornament, as the Uia, with whose tail feathers he ornaments himself, or the Tui, which he keeps in cages. Most of the birds which I saw are peculiar to this country; some are very scarce and local. Thus extinction of some species may be foreseen whenever the country is settled by Europeans. I will now shortly describe those species which I obtained during our short stay at Queen Charlotte Sound, Tory Channel, and Port Nicholson.

The birds of New Zealand are not distinguished by beauty of plumage; they are generally sombre in colour, sometimes relieved by snowy white. Others obtain an additional ornament in the shape of fleshy yellow flaps at the angles of the mouth.

Beginning with the land-birds, which I found in the sea-side forest, and more abundant in the middle region, amongst the birds of the parrot kind, I noticed a large gray parrot and a small green parroquet. The former, called by the natives, after its cry, "Kaka," measures from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail, nineteen inches. The predominant colour is gray-brown. The naked skin of the throat is yellow, and at the side of the neck there are a few yellow feathers; on the belly, under the wings, and in the axilla, the gray-brown colour is mixed with crimson. The male is distinguished from the female by a greater extent of crimson plumage, and is the smaller of the two. The Kaka lives upon the fruit of the man tree and other seeds, is kept by the natives, and learns easily to talk. Their flesh is not tough, but tender and

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well flavoured. They are very tame in their native woods, and easily approached when sitting on the branches, or frolicking in the foliage of trees. As soon as one of their number is killed or wounded, the others generally assemble about him, a habit which renders them easy of capture.

The parroquet, called Kakariki, measures eleven inches. Of all the birds of New Zealand which I have seen, these pretty creatures are decorated with the brightest colours. The principal colour is verdigris green, changing into emerald, the crested forehead crimson. In the younger birds the feathers at the root of the beak are gold-yellow. On the neck is a golden spot, at the root of the tail a crimson one. The quill feathers are azure blue, graduating into different shades of green. The bird itself is of slender make, and its tail arrow-shaped. Like the Kaka, it lives upon berries and seeds, especially on the yellow fruits of a solanea, called Borra Borra.

A kingfisher, called Kotari or Kotaritari, is found wherever a streamlet discharges itself into the sea. He is as shy as his European relation, from which he is not very distinguishable.

At Port Nicholson I found the bird called Uia by the natives, which is in great request by them on account of the twelve or fourteen feathers of its tail. It is rare, and said to be found only at that place, and the southern coast of the Southern island. The bird is of the size of a magpie, with jet black very fine silky plumage, and along expansible tail, consisting of black feathers with white ends. Male and female are discriminated in a remarkable manner by the form of the beak, the which in the male is short, straight, strong, about two inches long, and in the female slender, more than three inches long, with the upper and lower maxilla bent in nearly a semicircle downwards, overreaching each other. The beaks of both are of a white colour. Their feet are strong and four-toed, the fourth toe being the largest and standing backwards, and all provided with strong claws. Two remarkable gold-coloured flaps, of the size of a fifteen-pence-piece and larger, originate from the upper and lower maxilla. I found in their muscular stomach the seeds of a liand, called Pitokoi,

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from which the natives make their hair oil, a number of smaller seeds, and some coleopterous insects. But the form of the beak in the female seems better adapted for getting insects out of rotten trees; and in the two females which I dissected, I found almost only insects, whilst in the male there were more seeds. The natives catch them alive by imitating their shriek voice, the sound of which is somewhat expressed in their native name. High up the hills, where the wood is thickest, the native whistles; suddenly some of them appear, jumping in quick succession from branch to branch; they come so near to the fowler that he catches them with his hand. In the village of Port Nicholson one always finds some skins in the houses of the natives, but without feet, and the natives from other places obtain them here.

The bird called Kokako, and wattle-bird by the Europeans, from its two gold-coloured and indigo maxillary flaps, I found only at Ship Cove, in the middle region of the hills and upon trees. He seems to be a kind of gracula, of the size of the jay, has a short strong black beak, with a slightly curved upper maxilla, and measures sixteen inches from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail. Its feet are black, like those of the former. Its plumage is soft, silk-like, and glossy black; it has a penetrating, not disagreeable voice, feeds upon seeds, and lives in pairs upon the trees.

Amongst the thrushes I must name first the Tierawakki, likewise with two yellow appendages at the angles of its mouth, of the form and dimension of a cucumber seed. This bird is of the size of a blackbird, with beak and feet similar to these parts in the latter. Its plumage is a glossy black, the cover-feathers of the wings and its back are of a fine red-brown. I saw a variety, or perhaps another species, with plumage of variable shades of sepia. This bird feeds upon berries, and is a very agreeable songster. I found it most frequently at the skirts of the forest in Wangarnui Atera, but also in Ship Cove.

One specimen of another thrush, resembling in shape and colour our common fieldfare, I got at Ship Cove.

The most common bird in New Zealand, and at the

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same time one of the prettiest and most agreeable, is the Tui, so called from the most familiar of its various and delightful tunes. Its principal colour is black, with green metallic hues; on the breast it has a number of fine white feathers, and from each side of its throat hangs a cluster of white curled feathers. This bird, of the size of a thrush, is seen everywhere in the forests, in the huts of the Indians, and in the houses of the settlers, who keep him in cages. He has a soft fluting voice, which re-echoes in the forest from the morning to the evening. His imitative faculty is remarkable. I heard one that barked like a dog, another that crowed like a cock, and a third that talked long phrases. In winter they are frequently found about a species of laurus, of the black berries of which they are very fond; they then are very fat, and their flesh, from the aroma of these berries and other lauraceae, delicious. In captivity they are fed with potatoes and biscuits, but do not long survive the loss of their freedom.

Of the birds of the pigeon kind there is a great wood-pigeon, which we could everywhere obtain in numbers for the table. It is one of the largest of its beautiful and peaceable race, and, at the same time, one of the handsomest. It measures, from the end of the beak to the end of the tail, twenty-one inches. Its back, throat, and upper part of the breast are reddish-gray, with a variety of metallic hues; the other part of its breast and belly is milk-white. The covering feathers of the wings are grayish, with metallic hues, the tail and the quill feathers gray-black, beak and feet red. This pigeon likes open places at the skirts of the forests, where it sits upon the lower branches of high trees. It feeds especially upon the fruits of the karewan, a liane, and other berries.

Amongst the singing birds a small flycatcher, of a silver-gray colour, with a neat fan-tail, is found in all places visited by us. It is very quick in its movements, flying from twig to twig.

A bird, corresponding to our red-breast, and called by the natives Pitoiti, is found wherever the trees stand thickest. It seeks its food, consisting of insects, in rotten wood. The prevailing colour is gray-black with a white

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breast. It is very tame and confident, and possesses all the manners of our robin.

The little delicate bird, called Pilantgalangi, has a jet-black head and back; its forehead is yellow, and so is its belly. I have also seen the same bird quite black. Many congeners exist in the forest, of brown or gray colours.

A kind of sylvia, of delightful song, in abrupt full notes, dark green in colour, with a violet metallic hue, is frequent everywhere. The Popokatea has a yellow breast and belly, with a gray body; it is of the size and figure of the canary bird, and is gregarious in Queen Charlotte Sound. A sandlark, of the same colour as ours, abounds on the sandy beaches.

Amongst the birds of prey a small falcon soars over the naked ridges of the hills. It is of the size of the gray parrot, and of grayish-brown colour. I procured one specimen at Ship Cove. I often heard in the evenings at Cloudy Bay the cry of an owl, but never obtained one.

As we were mostly confined to the coasts, I had opportunities to observe aquatic birds of all kinds, both on the sea-shore and on the land, and at the outlets, and up the rivers. Of birds of their kind peculiar to New Zealand, there are only a few.

I name first a kind of plover, (charadrius) called Tuturunta, by the natives. It is about eight inches long; forehead, throat, and neck of the male black; vertex spotted with brown and gray; under the eyes a white stripe; the back, wings, and tail are brown; the beak, feet, and eyelids orange; the end of the beak black. In the female the colours are less distinct. The male has a white collar; that of the female is spotted brown. I found these birds at the strand in Port Nicholson, where they feed upon marine insects and worms.

Here, also, and everywhere on the strand in Tory Channel, an oyster-catcher (Haematopus,) called by the natives Toria, is frequent. It is eighteen inches long, of the size of a small duck. Its colour is jet-black; beak and eyelids orange; the feet are rose-coloured. Old birds have more or less white on breast and belly. They congregate in the morning and evening, walking between the pebbles

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along the beach, where they pick up little crabs and limpets, by means of their long compressed beak.

In Port Nicholson I often found a species of himantopus, wading with long stilted legs in the water. It is somewhat above a foot long, with a thin black beak and red legs; it is always seen in pairs. At the estuary of the river of Port Nicholson a species of the recurvirostra, of the size of a snipe, with a long flexible beak, is found in large flocks; its colour is a grayish-brown.

On all the shores voracious sea birds abound. There are several gulls; a very neat one, with black or red feet and beak, the plumage above of a silver-gray, below of a white colour. In the neighbourhood of the whaling establishments they fill the air in flocks when a whale is cut up, eagerly throwing themselves into the water after pieces of blubber.

Albatrosses are sometimes seen. The feathers were formerly in great request by the natives; now they are little looked after.

Beautiful ducks are numerous on the rivers and their estuaries. Especially remarkable is the splendid Paradise duck, called Putangitangi by the natives, which we saw at the Pelorus River and at Port Nicholson. This duck lives in pairs, or in society with other ducks, sitting erect, and attentive to the least noise. The drake is almost as large as a goose; its head is black, with a green metallic hue on vertex and neck. On the back this colour changes into a pearly grey; the covering feathers of the shoulders are of the same colour, but those of the wings of a snowy white. The breast is of the same pearly plumage, becoming brown spotted towards the belly. The feathers of the axilla are white; beak and feet black. The female is somewhat smaller; about thirty inches long; head and neck are white; the pearl-gray of her plumage is everywhere mixed with red-brown feathers; the upper covering feathers of the wings are white, as in the drake; the feathers of the tail, upon the shoulders, red-brown; the ast quill feathers of fine green metallic hues.

Another duck was brought from the Pelorus River. It is much smaller than the former, measuring only twenty-

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three inches. It is of a bright gray plumage, the breast spotted with brown; the middle quill feathers marginated with black. Drake and duck are undistinguishable in plumage. I found at the river in Port Nicholson a third duck, smaller than our domestic duck. The female has a gray head and neck; the breast and back are brown and white spotted; on both sides of the tail is a white spot. The first quill feathers are black; the middle ones of metallic hues. The upper covering feathers of the shoulders are lead-coloured. The male is twenty-eight inches long, of a gray-brown colour; the feet, in both sexes, dirty yellow.

Besides the species of ducks just described, we observed everywhere a black duck.

The bird, called Shag by the sailors, Kawau by the natives, Halieus or Carbo by systematists, and by other people Cormorant, was very abundant. There are several species, distinguished from each other partly by their colours, partly by their manner of living. The species most frequent in Ship Cove is glossy black along the back, and snowy white below. The iris green, the eyelids Prussian blue, the face orange. They have a long neck, and are easily distinguished by a bone, loosely connected with the occiput. In some the blue of the eyelids was wanting: these were probably young birds. The beak is lead-coloured; the skin under the lower maxilla of a dirty red, the feet black. They are of the size of a small goose, but more slender. The most salient peculiarity of this species is, that although they are web-footed, they inhabit dead trees at the sea-shore. There they sit erect from the morning to evening. They are good divers and swimmers; swimming rapidly with only half of the back above the surface. Though preying exclusively upon small fishes, their flesh is not in the least fishy, but tastes like beef, and we had it often on our tables. They build upon trees, and lay two rough-looking eggs, as large as hen eggs.

Another species, apparently peculiar to New Zealand, is the crested cormorant, or king's shag, perhaps the Carbo naevia of Linnaeus. Its length from the

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end of the beak to the tip of the tail is thirty-three inches; the wings, the lower part of the neck, and between the shoulders are of a sepia colour, dotted with black spots. The back and the legs have a green metallic hue, sprinkled with white dots; the tail consists of stiff black feathers. The upper part at the neck is black, the belly of a silvery gray. On the forehead, and extending along the neck, is a black crest; the feet and beak are yellowish. It inhabits the hollows of rocks, by which it is especially distinguished from the former.

Another, and probably different species of cormorant, larger than the two former, and of a glossy black throughout, was brought to me from the river in Port Nicholson.

In the hollows of the rocks at the sea shore a bird is found, called Jackass (Ipheniscas). It is of steel colour above, silver white below. The feathers are but little developed; the wings look like fins, and he uses them as such. The bird is of the size of a small duck, and has an owl-like physiognomy. The eggs, which they lay in an artless nest in the holes, are of the size and colour of hens' eggs, and male and female unite in the work of incubation. Its skin would give a beautiful fur.

For the future naturalist who visits these countries, I observe, that there exists, in small numbers, another species of Apterix, called Weka. One of the settlers had some tame in his possession, but they escaped into the woods. I never saw one myself, but am quite convinced their existence.

It is known that, in New Zealand, no original terrestrial mammalia have been found--a circumstance peculiar this country, and to other Polynesian islands.

Amongst the introduced animals is the dog, the faithful friend of man, but the New Zealander does not recompense his attachment with a sufficient quantity of food. The poor fellow is generally very lean, except at the whaling establishments.

The rat, in no way different from our domestic rat, and the cat, are found everywhere.

Amongst the aquatic mammalia, there were many seals on this coast about ten years ago. They have now

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disappeared, and only a straggling animal is occasionally seen in Cook's Straits. The sealers have followed them to the west coast of the Southern island, but even there they are scarce.

The most important animal, the chase of which has led to numerous establishments of natives and white people, is the black whale, Balaena mysticetus, so called from its black colour. Sometimes, indeed, if the opportunity be favourable, the finback whale, &c., or the humpback, are caught, but they are more cunning, wilder and quicker, and run out the longest line in a few seconds; they also give less oil than the black whale. The spermaceti whale rarely visits these coasts, but is found more to the northward. One of them was driven this year on shore in Teawaiti, half decomposed, and gave about two tuns of oil.

In Teawaiti are three whaling establishments. The proprietors have a number of boats in their service, manned with white people and natives. Sometimes the minor settlers have boats of their own, and sell their oil to the former. These give a certain sum either for the whale, or for every tun of oil, and derive large profits from the practice of paying their more poor associates with necessaries of life, and articles of luxury, such as tobacco, spirits, clothes, powder, &c., which the latter are obliged to take from them. In Cloudy Bay there are four establishments on the same footing. The great men on these beaches take care to let the little ones never get out of debt; they support them in bad seasons, provide and repair their boats, and keep them in constant dependency. From Teawaiti fifteen to twenty boats run out every morning; the boat-steerer is generally an European, a large portion of the crew are natives as skilful as Europeans.

Whaling began in Teawaiti and Cloudy Bay about ten years ago; then the whales often came into Tory Channel and the head of Cloudy Bay--now they seldom reach these places. The first whalers that arrived were very poor, and had not even casks to put the oil in; during several seasons they killed the whales for the

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whalebone only. It may be imagined that the whales, when they had only a small number of persecutors, were abundant, but even now about 120 are annually caught in the establishments above-mentioned, including another in the Island of Mana. Each whale, on the average, yields about six imperial tuns of oil, in the aggregate 720 tuns of oil which is sold on the spot to small vessels from Sydney for 10l. per ton, making 7;200l. sterling. The same quantity sells in Sydney for 18,776l., 25l. per tun, in the London market, 45l. per tun, giving 32,400l. To this must be added the additional value of the whalebone, which sells at the place for 78l. per ton. A whale yields about 500 cwt. of bone, likewise taken at an average sum, which will give an additional sum of about 2000l.

But the number of whales here stated to be annually captured is evidently below the standard, as a number of ships, English, American, and French, cruize in Cloudy Bay for the purpose, during the season, when from twelve to fifteen ships often rendezvous at the same time. The French whalers seem to be very active, and a French man-of-war is generally cruizing about the coast for their protection. Even ships from Bremen come now to this part of the world; two had visited Cloudy Bay for the purpose of whaling during the present year. All these ships, which now with difficulty find provisions and wood in Cloudy Bay, will hereafter go to the very preferable station of Port Nicholson, where provisions may be raised and provided in any quantity, and beautiful timber abounds; besides which, it lies in the very tract of the American and Sydney vessels. All this will soon render Port Nicholson the centre of the whaling trade.

I will add, from my own observation, a few remarks upon the black whale. From May to the beginning of October the whales visit the bays to bring forth their young. They arrive from the N.W., and go to the S.E., following the tide along the shores in search of smooth water. They are often seen rubbing off against the beach and rocks the numerous barnacles and other parasitical insects with which they are covered. The mother, called

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the cow, is always with her offspring, whilst the male, called the bull, is rarely seen, and seldom caught,--a circcumstance which must act very unfavourably on the number of these animals. The same result arises from the constant destruction of the calves, which are always secure prey to the whaler.

The months of May, June, and July are regarded as the best months in Cloudy Bay, the three other months for Tory Channel. The cause of this may be, that they go then as far up in the inlets of the sea as they can to bring forth their young. The boats leave Teawaiti before sunrise, and return at sunset; they cruize during the day at the entrance of the Tory Channel, stationing some men on the "look out," a long and high tongue of land, which forms the right shore of the channel, to espy from afar the powerful animal. The boats can quit Teawaiti only in fine weather, when no wind blows from the S.E. or N.E., their light structure unfitting them from contending with a turbulent sea. As the mother never leaves the calf, nursing it with the tenderest affection, the first aim of the whaler is to destroy it. If the animal be struck behind the fins, it is quickly killed, but not without dangerously beating about with the tail. As soon as the mother observes the threatening danger, she takes the calf on her back between the fins. It has been observed, that cows run away for miles with the dead calf; old cows are the most careful for their young, and never quit it whilst alive. The cows are generally accompanied by one calf, but sometimes by two; and the whalers say that, in this case, they have adopted an orphan calf. The size of a calf four months old is about twenty-four feet; one that was cut out from the cow last year measured fourteen feet. It is a custom amongst the whalers, that he who kills the calf, is also the proprietor of the mother, arising from the facility with which the latter is killed when the calf is dead. The boats of the different proprietors, in such a case, help each other.

After entering the Channel from Queen Charlotte Sound, there is a large bay to the right, called Stauwa, from whence the distance over the hill to Cloudy Bay is

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small. I made this excursion when we were lying at Teawaiti. At the left of that bay is a remarkable conical mountain, visible in the back-ground, when one enters Cloudy Bay from the sea. Between this and the other hill to the right, over which the way to Cloudy Bay leads, the mountainous chain forms a deep saddle. This hill is of a dreary nakedness, only covered with the fern and the manuko. It consists of clay-slate, of which broken pieces are strewed over the hill. From its summit is a fine view over the whole of Queen Charlotte Sound. Motuara bears to N. by E.; to N.E. by E. the narrow Island of Alabawa is seen, on the other side of which the sea forms a deep inlet. This island is almost entirely a ridge of mountains.

We crossed the narrow tongue of land that separates Tory Channel from Cloudy Bay. On the top of the mountain you see into the latter bay, formed by chains of hills on both sides, which form in the bay itself several smaller ones with beaches. The bay opens to S. by W. into Cook's Straits, and in the back ground are the high snowy hills, called Tapawainu, stretching towards Cape Campbell. Descending, you come to the head of the bay called Obisch, where is a small native village.

The chain of hills which form the bay to the southeast, is barren in the extreme; only here and there a patch of brushwood or trees.

The chain to the S.W., at the other side of the bay, is more wooded, but the hills are steep, forming a number of small bays. This chain of hills turns to S.S.W. into the mainland, at Wairao, where much flat land is visible, and a river discharges itself into the sea. Wairao has no harbour, is open to all winds, and the bar of the river scarcely allows the access of a boat.

Cloudy Bay deserves its name. The bay is narrow, the hills high, the sun appears late and sets early. Its rays entering the valleys only for a short time, form clouds, which draw up from the hills in the morning, and descend upon, and envelop them in the evening. Cloudy Bay is ill calculated for a settlement, and the importance it possesses it derives from the whaling ships, that touch there for refreshments.

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The mean of the temperature in Teawaiti, from the 1st to the 19th of September, is 51.50. Three days are defective in these observations, when I was on excursions and could not get any assistance.

It is now my duty to say something about Port Nicholson. A few remarks will show how well this place is chosen for a settlement, which must soon be of the greatest importance. The hills that surround the flat land are lower than those in Queen Charlotte Sound, and are covered by a thinner forest, and with a deeper layer of vegetable mould. Large tracts of flat land, as will be better seen in the chart, are ready for ploughing. The soil there is a fine mould, mixed towards the sea-shore, more or less, with sand. The plains are not swamps, and where they are low, may be easily drained. The river having its source in the high mountains, will always have plenty of water, and the timber that grows on its shore can easily be floated down, when some obstructions by trees in its bed shall be cleared away. Its mouth is accessible at low water with boats, but will admit much larger ones when a channel is dug in the sand that now obstructs its mouth. On the sides of the hills, everywhere are sheltered places for the finer fruits and herbs, for vines, mulberry-trees, and olives, of which I particularly recommend the settlers to bring out sufficient quantities. The trees on the hills are for the most part such as have been mentioned, as occurring at Ship Cove, although there are more of the mai and miro; flax also may be procured in greater quantities, and I have seen it growing more than fourteen feet high. The rivulets in the different bays are of sufficient strength for mills, and form falls admirably adapted for that purpose. The climate seems warmer than in Ship Cove; sheltered from the cold S.E. wind; the almost circular form of the harbour collects the rays of the sun as it were into a focus. I found the temperature from the 21st of September to the 2nd of October to be 57.36, which gives a difference from Teawaiti not to be accounted for merely by the advance of the season, but must be ascribed to the influence above-mentioned, and to the more northerly situation.

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I have now reached the latter, but in my opinion the most important, part of my report, and will proceed to narrate in unvarnished language, what I have observed of the inhabitants of the places we have visited. The unhappy lot prepared by Europeans for the inhabitants of many of their colonies, forms a mournful page in the history of the human species. It is the first duty of the light-minded colonist to occupy himself strenuously, above all other local considerations, with the destiny of the aborigines. To become acquainted with the real state of things in New Zealand is not an easy matter. This people, small in number, thinly scattered over a large surface, divided into many tribes, inheriting from their ancestors mutual envy and hatred, and now everywhere brought into contact with other nations, of superior activity and advanced civilization, are ready to receive the intruders with open arms, yet, though endowed with high capabilities, are still in all respects the untutored children of nature.

There are four tribes, with two of which we came in contact, that play an important part in the history of the regions we visited. The tribes we saw are the Cafia and the Nyatiawa, the others the Waikato and the Nyatinhatuigh. About twenty years ago, the Waikato tribe, one of the most powerful in New Zealand, and living in the N.W. ofthe Northern Island, made war upon the Cafia, living in a place of the same name, and on the same coast. The latter, pressed by the former, went southward, and led by a warlike ruler, Raupero, fell upon the Nyatiawa, who lived in Taranaki; they were conquered, or, as the weakest, voluntarily submitted to Raupero. Since that time, both tribes united in war upon the Nyatinhatuigh, who lived in the neighbourhood of Manganui Atera, or Port Nicholson. These, 500 in number, disgusted with the eternal feuds, engaged a whale ship to take them to the Chatham Islands, where they were conveyed in two trips, under their chief, Pomare. Here ends for us their history. Raupero went to Entry Island, to Mana, to the northern coast of the Southern Island, to D'Urville's Island, to Queen Charlotte Sound, to Tory Channel, and to

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Cloudy Bay. Those places he either found uninhabited, or occupied by a tribe called the Naitaus, whom he conquered, and killed a great many of them. The remnant proceeded to the southward, and lives now in Otago, on its western coast, Banks Peninsula. The wanderer meets on the sides of the hills with a few deserted huts of these aborigines, over-grown by shrubs, with the stones used for beating the fern root, battle axes, and sometimes with human bones. Raupero settled in Capiti, or Entry Island, where now are his principal chiefs and followers. Others went to Rangatoto on D'Urville Island, to Mana, to the coast of the main and its neighbourhood, and to Cloudy Bay. He allowed the Nyatiawa to plant potatoes, and he gave them Port Nicholson, with several places along Queen Charlotte Sound and Tory Channel.

We first saw natives at Anaho, called Cannibal's Cove by Cook, where they have there a village, consisting of low huts, as often described; they are about eighty in number: they plant potatoes, cabbages, turnips, and rear many pigs, in Motuara and on the main, and are a quiet people. They obey a chief, Nyarewa. A few months before us, a missionary schooner from the Bay of Islands had touched at this place, and had taught some natives, who had began to read some hymns, or parts of the Bible in their native tongue, or rather they knew them by heart, and the knowledge they had thus rapidly acquired, though little, shows their capacity. They go to prayer in the morning and evening, observe the Sabbath-day, and asked us especially for books, writing paper, and pencils. They use for their meetings a large house, built by themselves under the instructions of an European, Mr. Elmsley, who having settled amongst them five years ago, had married the sister of the chief's wife. He lives now, occupied with whaling, in Teawaiti, and is a respectable man. Their principal missionary, an expression adopted by them, is Eoro, the chief's son, a youth of a fine countenance and untattooed. These people possess some blankets and old pieces of European clothing. With respect to their customs and habits, I will not repeat what can be read in many books. They always behaved very decently, they

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are sober and honest, and we never had cause of complaint against them.

Proceeding hence along Queen Charlotte Sound we find no other settlement, until we come to the Island of Moioio, and the coast opposite to it, where there is again a pah of about forty natives, likewise of the Nyatiawa tribe. Less in communication with Europeans, they seem to be a little more in their indigenous state, but are equally honest in their dealings. They had brought us fish when we were at Ship Cove, and continued to supply us at Teawaiti. They are Nyatiawas, and have their native missionaries. From these places to Jackson's Bay, there are no inhabitants. At the latter place is a whaling establishment, and the proprietor has collected around about twenty natives, whom he employs in his business. They have built two large houses for the white men, and sleep at night crowded about the fire-place, being occupied during the day in whaling, or other business. The white men have all native women, and children by them. The observations I am going to make relative to the intercourse between the white man and the native in Teawaiti, which is only a rifle-shot from Jackson, hold also good for the latter.

In Teawaiti, a settlement for whaling purposes was made about ten years ago by Mr. Guard and Mr. Thorns. The beach was then grown over with brushwood. Other white people arrived, and with them, people from the Nyatiawa tribe, who had been driven away from the neighbourhood of Taranaki by the Waikato. At that time the original inhabitants of the country around Teawaiti had been conquered by Raupero. The land was formally given to the Europeans by Raupero and his brother, generally called Thomas Street. Thorns married a daughter of the latter, by whom he had two children. When she died, he married a white woman from Port Jackson, who, with another white woman, are the only European females.

The number of Europeans altogether is forty: most of them are married to native women, and I counted twenty-one of their children. There are about eighty natives,

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with women and children. The children of Europeans by natives are a beautiful race, light brown, like Frenchmen from the south, not sallow in complexion, but with a healthy red on the cheeks; in features like the mother, from whom they inherit beautiful black eyes and hair. Seen in Europe, nobody would suspect that they were children between two different races, as they are, in my opinion, falsely considered. The chief person of the New Zealanders in Teawaiti is Tippai, who has three wives. Most of the natives are employed by the white men. They either have houses of their own, or are accommodated in those of the whites; they work as hard as any white man, pull an oar and kill a whale as well as they, do all services, and are paid for them. The white people do not impose upon them; being all relations, they have a common interest. The native women are well treated by their white husbands, and are dressed in a mixture of European clothes and native mats; they are fond of their children, and are anxious to have them educated. The natives plant potatoes and rear pigs, with the sale of which they procure European necessaries and luxuries. Where there are native missionaries they are much attended to. Generally speaking, a great desire for instruction is apparent; and we were often asked for pens and paper in return for services rendered to us.

I must not conceal that whalers and sailors have introduced ardent spirits, and that the natives sometimes spend quickly what they have hardly earned; but the native is naturally sober, dislikes drunkenness, and is ashamed of it when it happens. I have often seen them refuse spirits, and never found them eager to get them, as has been related of other coloured races.

On the same side as Teawaiti, follow, in the channel, two native settlements of Nyatiawas, called Wangenni and Okokurri, likewise situated on beaches, of which the latter one has the most inhabitants; not, however, exceeding 150 in both. They have carefully cultivated their soil, planted taro and potatoes in well-fenced gardens, have many pigs, and seem to be well off. They never go after spirits, or sell anything for it, and are very friendly com-

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munities. The Wesleyans here, too, have instructed some native missionaries.

Cloudy Bay is occupied by people of the Cafia tribe. At the head of the bay, on a beach called Obisch, is a native settlement of about forty inhabitants. They are also of a very friendly disposition, and I partook one day their hospitality. Going from thence up the Sound, we find several bays with a few native houses. Before we reach Kakabo, or Guard's Bay, on the same side, there is a small whaling establishment, with a few white men. In Kakabo are two whaling establishments; and a small one opposite to it. There are only five white men including Mr. Guard, who first cleared the beach, about five years ago, and sixty natives. On Kakabo lives Raupero's brother, Thomas Street, the head chief. A very respectable Dutchman, Mr. Wynin, a great friend of the aborigines, settled here a few months ago, and the natives have just built a house for him. He carries on no trade business, but occupies himself much with these people, whose disposition he praises very much, and upon whom he exercises a happy influence. On that beach lives also a daughter of Tuppachi, who was in England, where he is well remembered. He was killed about ten years ago in Otago, following the standard of Raupero in a war with the southern natives.

Next to Kakabo follows another bay, called Oschen or Ocean Bay, with a large beach, where there are two whaling establishments. The number of white people is thirty, and the coloured about one hundred. Here I have nothing to add to my former remarks.

Further up Cloudy Bay, towards Wairoa, is another settlement of natives, which I have not yet visited. All the natives here about, as I have said before, are from the Cafia tribe.

At Manganui Atera, or Port Nicholson, only one white man had settled when we were there, who had come there about two years ago, and had taken a native woman; all others are natives. At a dance they gave us, I counted nearly 250 men, who had assembled from all parts of the shores round that inlet of the sea. About fifty were

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absent, and the number of men is therefore about 300, to which an equal number of women and children may be added. The principal settlement is at the head of the bay; but the head chief, Warepori, does not live there, but resides on the western shore. On that shore is another little village; and opposite the head of the harbour is another large settlement, where a native missionary, Richard Davies, with his wife and four children, dwells. This missionary, in common with his village, belongs to the Nyatiawas, and he had been taken in his infancy by the Nyapuis, the tribe inhabiting the Bay of Islands, and had been educated there by Mr. Williams, the missionary. He had acquired some property there, and was brought back to his tribe by the missionary schooner, about four months ago, where he found his old mother still alive. He has built a large house and church, where he reads the sacred books in the native tongue. He and his wife are well instructed; he reads and writes his native language, and speaks English. I found him a very devout and honest man. He was in possession of European commodities, which he uses for the benefit of his fellow countrymen. Another missionary had been left by the Wesleyans at another bay. The natives of Port Nicholson are very honest people, eager to acquire instruction and arts. They are rich in their way, as they plant potatoes in great quantity, and possess a great many pigs, and their huts are better than the other native huts I have seen.

I have observed before that the place round Queen Charlotte Sound formerly belonged to a tribe called the Naitaus. It may be imagined that Raupero did not drive them away from their native homes without a bloody struggle. Most of them were killed; the remnants, who went to the South, nourish in their bosoms feelings of revenge against the intruders. Several times have they visited their native place, burnt the houses of the whites and the Cafia, or the Nyatiawa in Teawaiti, and carried off their property. The few white men defended themselves as well as they could, or escaped in their boats. Such an invasion took place about five years ago, at Kakabo, in Cloudy Bay, where then a Mr. Cook, who is

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still on the beach, was the only settler. They burnt and plundered everything he had, and he fled in his boat, after several of the natives had been killed. They then retreated, in fear again of Raupero, and the white men, with their Cafia friends, returned. The same scene took place in Teawaiti; they killed and ate some of the victims, and retreated. At this moment a report is spread that they are coming with fifty boats and 700 men, all armed with muskets, to make war upon the Cafia. As their habit is surprise at night-time, the Cafia are on their guard, and have sent spies everywhere. I saw a girl of this tribe of the Naitaus in Kakabo, who had come from the interior the Southern Island in the ship Honduras, which was in the harbour where we were, who had very regular features, a very light colour, and a handsome intelligent countenance. The Cafia and Nyatiawa have intermarried, and on a footing of peace, but are envious of each other. Both tribes, however, are tired of war, and show the greatest attachment to Europeans.

All these tribes I have mentioned are of the same original race, and what I am going to say of one applies to all. All New Zealanders have the Caucasian physionomy, with this exception, that the mouth is, perhaps, larger, and the lips a little thicker. The skull, or head, is regularly and beautifully formed, with a high forehead, hair profuse, black and straight, but sometimes curled. Those who have visited England are no good specimens of the race. The women are well made, with small hands; both men and women have black penetrating eyes; they are remarkably soft and amiable in their manners. The stature offers no difference from that of the Europeans; they are muscular, and capable of great exertion. Their mental disposition is excellent; they are of a mild and cheerful temper, but at the same time clever, and easily instructed. Many of them can read and write imperfectly. They are honester than any people I am acquainted with; theft by them is an unheard-of thing in the settlements of the whites, and respecting our property, they were conscientious to the extreme. They are hospitable, fond of travelling about to see their relations and friends, and at every

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interview after long absence, display the most passionate and kind feelings towards each other, the women then cutting their faces and arms with shells, so that they bleed and tears stream from their eyes.

I have seen no deformities, with the exception of two men with club feet. Umbilical rupture in children is rather frequent, owing to their imperfect manner of separation. I likewise observed some other ruptures. Fevers and miasmatic diseases are unknown; a cough was very frequent amongst them in Teawaiti and Port Nicholson; and with the stethoscope I found in some a tuberculous state of the lungs. This may be owing not so much to the sudden changes in the climate as to their living in close huts, where, when a fire is lighted and smoke emitted in great quantities, they are often in the practice of running out from them, imperfectly clothed, into the cold wind, which produces catarrhal complaints, and these being neglected, have the consequences above-mentioned follow. It may be added that they smoke much, which habit tends to irritate still more the affected bronchiae. When we were staying in Tit, Tippahi's wife was suffering under this complaint. The husband, thinking she was dying, had ordered the usual firing with muskets, every five minutes, which is continued until the patient is dead. I found her in a hut, the only opening of which was a door about two square feet in size, lying on the ground in the arms of her husband. A fire emitted a glowing heat, and the hut was full of smoke. She was surrounded by about two dozen people, and bathed with perspiration, with a very depressed pulse. We requested Tippahi to bring her into the open front room, usual before the houses of the chiefs, and to interrupt the gun firing. She soon recovered, and after some days she was perfectly well. So a complaint, unimportant in the beginning, becomes, by a perverse treatment, pernicious in its consequences.

The people generally dress in their mats; in these places we saw them have either a blanket or some other piece of European clothing. The fern root, formerly their only nourishment, has given way to the potatoes and fish, either fresh or dried. They rarely eat pork, preserving

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it carefully for trade. Their only drink is water, and I have never seen them sell anything for spirits. The New Zealand women are well treated by their husbands, although they attend to all the business of the house, cook, and make mats and baskets. They have few children, and the habit of child-murder is not unfrequent, which is perhaps due to the unsettled state of things in the country, or to superstition, for instance, if in the birth of the child there is anything abnormal; but they are fond of their children, carry them everywhere about, and like to see them taken notice of. In all New Zealand communities I have seen, there were a few slaves, prisoners taken in war, but I never observed that they were ill treated; they were considered as members of the community, so far as I could learn. The people generally appeared to be in possession of plenty of muskets and ammunition of war; but I am perfectly convinced that their possession did not tend to make them more warlike, but rather more peaceable, as they felt more prepared to resist an invasion.

These short observations, which time does not allow me to enlarge upon, will show what may be expected from colonization; or rather, this question need not be asked, as it appears that already there are everywhere white settlers. The natives like Europeans; they want to mix with them, and partake in our commodities; but ought we to attempt--shall we try to introduce our language? Certainly not; and the New Zealanders, though they learn a foreign, will not let their own be extinguished. Great praise is due to the missionaries for printing books in the native language, and propagating them; but this noble activity should not be confined to the prayer-book alone--a provision should be made for other useful books; and I would especially advise that they should contain coloured wood-cuts or lithographs, of which they are very fond, and which would quickly bring to their understanding the idea of the thing that is represented, and nourish, at the same time, their skill in arts, and teach them to use their wood-carving to some useful purpose. I have no doubt that the Honourable Company will take this into consideration. They want

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likewise paper, pencils, slates; a collection of models sent into every settlement would be easily comprehended, and imitated by them. And to do something for their clothing, I would recommend to leave the European style and send out for trade some more commodious cloak-like dresses, and for the women simple gowns, of which they are very fond. Now, they soon lay aside our trowsers and jackets, and return to their native mats and to blankets. At the same time, a regular schoolmaster should not be forgotten to instruct them, and to take care of interesting but wild youths, who are ready to learn anything. Plenty of needles and scissors for the women, combs, soap, are in great request. I could not omit to name these few articles, as they will tend to do great good, unimportant as they seem to be, and a minute thing of that kind will ensure to many a colonist a welcome reception. Muskets are superfluous, as they are sufficiently provided with, and of no longer use. Musical instruments are likewise very much liked, and the natives would soon make progress in them.