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[TITLE PAGE] [Image of page 1]
THE AUTHENTIC AND GENUINE HISTORY
OF THE SIGNING OF THE TREATY OF WAITANGI,
NEW ZEALAND, FEBRUARY 5 AND 6. 1840:
BEING A FAITHFUL AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL, THOUGH BRIEF, NARRATION OF EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED ON THAT MEMORABLE OCCASION; WITH COPIES OF THE TREATY IN ENGLISH AND MAORI, AND OP THE THREE EARLY PROCLAMATIONS RESPECTING THE FOUNDING OF THE COLONY.
BY
W. COLENSO, F.R.S., F.L.S. (LOND.), ETC.
"Quaequae ipse vidi, et quorum fiu.'-- Virg. While Silence is truly golden, Facts speak loudly and significantly.
WELLINGTON.
BY AUTHORITY: GEORGE DIDSBURY, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.
1890.
[All rights reserved ]
[TITLE VERSO] [Image of page 2]
REPRINT PUBLISHED BY
CAPPER PRESS
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND 1971
Printed offset by The Caxton Press, Christchurch from the copy in the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington
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CONTENTS.
Preface .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5
Introduction .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7
Memoranda of signing Treaty of Waitangi .. .. .. 11
Appendix.
1. Proclamation by Captain Hobson, announcing that he has entered on his duties as Lieut.-Governor .. .. 37
2. Treaty of Waitangi, in English .. .. .. 38
3. Treaty of Waitangi, in Maori .. .. .. 40
4. Proclamation by Lieut.-Governor Hobson, asserting Sovereign rights in the Northern Island of New Zealand .. .. 41
5. Proclamation by Lieut.-Governor Hobson, asserting Sovereign rights over the whole of New Zealand .. .. 42
6. Map of locality .. .. .. .. .. 43
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[PREFACE] [Image of page 5]
PREFACE.
IT has been, said, "That country is the happiest which has no history," which saying, while pretty generally accepted as a kind of truism, may yet be doubted, if not disputed: at all events, such a statement, however applicable to any one of the ancient countries of the world, can scarcely be received with reference to a modern colony whose birth and beginning are known. Be that as it may, the present seems a very opportune time for the publication of the principal portion, at least, of the following pages, seeing that this Colony of New Zealand is on the eve of celebrating the jubilee of its foundation, dating the same from the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, on the 6th February, 1840.
Moreover, the writer of the following resume of occurrences that happened at that time--who also took part in them, and wrote them down on the spot while fresh in memory--is also the writer of this, and is, as far as he knows, the only one
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still remaining of that little British band who alike strove loyally and patriotically to do their level best on that important occasion.
It also occurred to him that--as no special account of what then took place had ever been published, and as the narration he had written was both authentic and genuine and particularly well-attested, and the only (known) one ever made-- he should seek to make it known to his fellow-colonists; and therefore, while casting about how the better to accomplish this, he applied to the Government of the colony to publish his MSS., deeming them, though brief, to be not merely interesting, but also of a colonial, if not of a national, importance, especially in days to come; and the Government have consented to do so.
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