1842 - Jameson, R. G. New Zealand, South Australia and New South Wales [Part] - CHAPTER XV

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CHAPTER XV.

THE Bay of Islands will not require a lengthy description, since it has already been frequently described, and even exhibited to the British public by the panoramic skill of Mr. Burford. It consists, not of one, but of half-a-dozen harbours, formed by the spacious and winding inlets which it sends off from various parts of its circumference, in a manner which might be illustrated by the fingers of an extended hand. These inlets are separated from each other by bold promontories, very lightly timbered. Kororadika is situated on the left hand as we advance up the bay, and the mission settlement of Paihia, on the opposite shore is distant about three miles. Separated from Paihia by the embouchure of a small river, called the Wytangi, is the house of Mr. Busby, the British resident. From the heights overhanging Kororadika, which is situated upon a narrow, elongated peninsula, the eye ranges over one of the most magnificent marine views in the world, enlivened by a village, which is to be re-

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garded as a town in its infancy, and by numerous ships, which indicate that all-grasping commerce has already extended its dominion over New Zealand. From these heights, over which there streams continually a temperate and healthful breeze, the philosophic spectator might cast his eye downwards upon Kororadika, and, endeavouring to penetrate the veil of time, picture prophetically to himself the dimensions and the population of this growing settlement at the end of thirty years. If in the present day the necessity of colonization, as a means of relieving the distresses of an overgrown community, is becoming daily more urgent and more apparent in Great Britain, we may expect that the Bay of Islands, although by no means the most attractive part of New Zealand, will advance to the rank of a considerable seaport. At the period of my arrival it contained little more than fifty European dwellings, --white painted and verandahed cottages of wood; --a church of the same materials, but of larger dimensions; and a native pa-a, or village, consisting of about a hundred and fifty huts, enclosed by a high and strong fence. The presence of ten or twelve large ships, besides a fleet of small coasting craft, and open boats and canoes, plainly indicated that the place was already of some commercial importance, although as yet it recognised neither flag, law, nor government, and had neither a court of justice, a gaol, nor a custom-house.

Kororadika, in the beginning of 1840, contained about three hundred European inhabitants, of all ages and sexes, exclusive of the numerous sailors whose nightly revels constituted the only interruption to the peace and harmony which usually prevailed. These gentry resorted, also, in great numbers to Pomare's village, in the inner anchorage,

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near the new township of Russell, where Pomare himself, the greatest chief of New Zealand, carried on the lucrative trade of grog selling, besides another of a still more discreditable kind, for the convenience of his reckless customers--French, English, and American. Here might be seen the curious spectacle of a still savage chief enriching himself at the expense of individuals who, although belonging to the most civilized and powerful nations of the world, were reduced to a lower degree of barbarism by the influence of their unbridled licentiousness.

Hitherto no legal restraint upon crime or violence had existed in New Zealand. The authority of Mr. Busby, the British resident, was merely nominal. That gentleman lived on the opposite shore of the Bay, at the distance of five miles, and his visits to Kororadika were few and far between; but had he lived in the heart of the settlement, he could have exerted no authority either to punish offenders or to settle disputes. The natives respected him as the representative of the British government; and among the Europeans he was rendered popular by his courteous and conciliatory deportment. His appointment, however, led in nowise to the maintenance of order, or the prevention of crime; and his interference in the affairs of individuals, without the power of enforcing his decisions, could have produced no satisfactory result.

Yet crimes, misdemeanours, and larcenies, were of remarkably rare occurrence; and in no part of the world were the persons or the property of individuals more secure than in this little settlement, within whose precincts no lawyer had ever yet shewn his face. The stores were full of merchandise, to the value of between twenty and thirty thousand pounds. The merchants and grog sellers

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were known to have in their possession large quantities of specie; nevertheless, the crimes of robbery and housebreaking were unknown and unfeared. Moreover, many commercial bills were in circulation, which were in every case duly honoured. In a word, no statements could be more widely at variance with truth than those which represented the Bay of Islands to be a nest of outlaws and criminals.

However ungenerous it may appear to throw a shadow of suspicion on this pleasing picture of primitive virtue and good conduct, yet it might, perhaps, be argued that the absence of crime and misdemeanours arose less from any aboriginal purity of heart and mind, than from the circumstance of the people being sensible that they were bound together by one common interest, and that the maintenance of social order was indispensable to the safety of their lives and property. Hence they effected this by the influence of a judicial Association, the members of which, dispensing with the tedious and expensive forms of justice, scrupled not to act as constables, and to apprehend summarily the culprits they were to try. If, after as complete an inquiry as the circumstances admitted of, the accused was condemned, they then passed immediate sentence upon him, and forthwith proceeded to put in execution the punishment of banishment, preceded by the more dreadful operation of tarring and feathering. Having been stripped, and covered with an enduring coat of the proper materials, the prisoner was led several times backwards and forwards along the beach, to the tune of the Rogue's March, and great was the joy with which the natives beheld this august ceremony. The culprit was then put into a canoe, and ordered to leave the beach of Koro-

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radika, with the positive assurance that his re-appearance in the neighbourhood would entitle him to a repetition of the same process. Resistance to the mandates of this tribunal was useless, for its members could, if necessary, call in the ready and willing assistance of the natives. Mercantile operations, therefore, were carried on to a considerable extent and with implicit confidence, and debts paid with scrupulous regularity. It was correctly assumed, that since every able-bodied member of the community could obtain a good subsistence with very little labour, no indulgence or mercy could be properly extended to those who gave way to criminal propensities. Were we to judge by facts, we might suppose that the summary processes of this species of Lynch law were more efficacious than regular tribunals; for in a few months after Capt. Hobson had established his police court and petty sessions in the Bay of Islands, it was found that offences were committed, not only more frequently, but of a graver nature, than during the good old times.

The European population of the Bay of Islands was composed of traders, with their clerks, storekeepers, and artisans. Their business consisted in purchasing maize, potatoes, and pork, from the natives, chiefly for the supply of the colonial markets, and of the whaling ships which visited the Bay of Islands in great numbers, when in want of refreshments. There were seldom less than eight or ten large ships, French, American, and British, anchored off Kororadika, besides a large number in the inner anchorage; others resorted to a part of the Bay of Islands called Paroa Bay, or the anchorage off the Island of Muturoa. For the accommodation of the captains and officers of these ships there were two or three hotels, and,

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what I did not expect to find in New Zealand, a billiard room. Several of the traders had acquired considerable wealth, which, for want of a bank, they usually hoarded up in strong boxes, or more frequently buried in the earth-- one of the least hazardous modes of sinking money. On Sundays, divine service was performed in the church by one of the missionaries from Paihia, where these gentlemen lived in great comfort and tranquillity, surrounded by their families.

During my residence in the Bay of Islands, on this occasion, I derived much pleasure from the acquaintance and conversation of M. de Pompallier, the chief of the French Catholic mission to the South Seas, and Bishop of Oceania, who was held in high esteem by every individual in the settlement, not only on account of his polished and courteous demeanour, but from his more important merits of learning, professional zeal, and practical benevolence. Whatever may be said of his persuasion, it is at least evident that no motives of a worldly or ambitious nature could have thus induced a man of rank and wealth to devote himself to the arduous and hazardous duties of a missionary in the Pacific. He employed the large funds at his disposal in a manner highly consistent with the general objects of his mission. During the winter, he distributed blankets and clothing among the natives: he purchased a schooner, in which he undertook voyages to remote native settlements along the coast, and, from the natives of Kororadika, a desirable portion of land, which was to be held in trust and made over to them on a future occasion, when the possession of land would be of greater importance in their eyes than it was at that time.

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But the most virtuous of human actions are liable to be misinterpreted and misjudged, and M. de Pompallier's liberality to the natives was uncharitably stigmatized as an attempt to bribe and lure them to the adoption of the catholic persuasion. This conduct was invidiously contrasted with that of the church of England and the Wesleyan missionaries, who deemed it a point of duty to hold out no temptation to the cupidity of the natives as an inducement for them to become Christians, and who, to encourage among them habits of regular industry, gave them nothing except in fair exchange for agricultural produce or for services performed. The protestant missionaries, as will afterwards be shewn, have laboured with great zeal and success among the New Zealanders. But in acknowledging their merits, we, in common justice, cannot condemn the motives of M. de Pompallier. Here I may remark, that it is impossible to view with unconcern the injurious tendency of religious dissensions among a people just emerging from paganism. Between the disciples of the bishop and those who have embraced the doctrines of protestantism there already exists a feeling which borders on hostility; and it is not unusual to hear the former taunted by their adversaries as worshippers of wood and stone, misguided unbelievers, devils, &c.

To express sentiments of severe censure against the Roman-catholic religion and its followers is not the most efficient means of advancing the interests of the protestant church; and in reply to the illiberal language which is dealt forth so unsparingly on this subject, we may cite, among innumerable other facts, the life and actions of Fenelon, the most blameless and virtuous of

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men, in proof that a Roman-catholic clergyman is not of necessity either a Jesuit or a hypocrite. But holding in view the admitted tendency of religious dissensions to unsettle and weaken the impression of Christianity in the minds of the natives of New Zealand, and at the same time to foster dissension and angry feeling, it is certainly to be regretted that an attempt has been made to introduce the doctrines of Rome into a field already preoccupied by the active and zealous emissaries of the reformed church.

The deeply indented sea coast of New Zealand affords ample scope for those aquatic sports which are so congenial to our national temperament. It was impossible to reside many months in the Bay of Islands without acquiring some proficiency in the art of handling a boat, and since this tends not only to the preservation of health, but also, in common with other bodily exercise, to impart a degree of energy to the character, it deserves to be cherished among the favourite amusements of a sea-girt community.

It was not until I had visited, in my whale boat, manned by two sturdy natives, the remotest of the European dwellings scattered around the shores of the Bay of Islands, that I formed an adequate conception of the vastness of its dimensions, and the extent of safe and sheltered anchorage which it affords. At its head, situated on a commanding promontory, is seen Pomare's pa-a, which is reckoned the metropolis of the Napoui, or northern tribes. This village, which is fortified after the native fashion, is in itself an insignificant object, but the surrounding scenery is both imposing and romantic. Two inlets, to which the name of rivers is erroneously given, diverge from this point, each twice as broad as the Thames at London, and

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of sufficient depth to float large vessels. The one which is named the Waikaddi, advances for ten miles in a southeasterly direction to within a short distance of the coast, forming, with the eastern coast of the Bay of Islands, a large peninsula, indented with many subordinate bays and peninsulas, on one of which is formed the settlement of Kororadika, and on another the site of a new township, which Governor Hobson founded some months afterwards, by the name of Russell. The other great arm, which is called the Kawa Kawa, runs for some miles into the interior, in a westerly direction. Its shores, like those of the Waikaddi are deeply indented with small bays and headlands, and its broad waters afford a capacious anchorage, land-locked on every side by an elevated country. Between every promontory there are spaces of level land covered with a dense vegetation, and furnishing an excellent and productive soil, when elevated above the reach of high tides. The slopes of the numerous hills are also loaded with a profuse and various vegetation, which, however, comprises but few trees. It consists principally of ferns, the young shoots of which are eaten by cattle; of the myrtle, or tea-tree, the manuka of the natives, and of a variety of shrubs, one of which, the tutu, produces pendent clusters of berries, from which the New Zealanders extract a species of wine, which has rather a soothing and narcotic effect, and strongly reminded me of elder-berry wine. I had an opportunity of witnessing the poisonous effects of the tutu berry upon the child of an inhabitant of Kororadika. The symptoms resembled those caused by an overdose of opium, affecting the nervous and muscular systems, and producing coma, or insensibility, with partial paralysis, dilated pupils, and convulsive twitches of the

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limbs. In this case the symptoms were relieved by a smart emetic; a remedy which probably would not have been successful but for the short time the child had been under the influence of the poison.

The peace of the community was threatened, before I departed for Sydney, by a misunderstanding with regard to some lands purchased by a Frenchman from a chief residing on the banks of the Waikaddi. Since the sanguinary chastisement inflicted upon the natives of the Bay of Islands by the officers and crew of a French frigate, in revenge for the murder of their commander, Marion, the French have not been very popular among the New Zealanders; and it was seldom that the name of Wee wee (so the French were called from frequently making use of the words "Oui, oui,") was pronounced without some tinge of bitterness. M. de Pompallier had greatly diminished, by the influence of his actions and language, this animosity against his countrymen. The more respectable class of chiefs now entertained no dislike to the French, and were as willing to sell land to them as to the English or Americans. When we bear in mind the natural affinity which seems to exist between the lively Frenchman and the equally jocose New Zealander, it is manifest that amity would soon take the place of a mutual animosity, could the recollection of this old and sanguinary quarrel be set aside. The most uncivilized of the natives, however, still execrate the name of Marion; and among this class was Etu, whose delinquency I am about to narrate. From this turbulent personage, a thorough savage in aspect and demeanour, a French settler had purchased about two hundred acres, on the banks of the Waikaddi inlet, for which he had paid the stipulated price in blankets,

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muskets, and tobacco, and was living in quiet possession of his domain, in a rapoo house, for the building of which Etu and his tribe had also been duly paid.

The chief, however, conceived the design of placing his customer under contribution a second time; and availed himself of the usual pretext--viz., that the bones of certain of his ancestors being buried upon the Frenchman's land, he was entitled, according to the recognised practice, to claim a second payment on that score. The Frenchman properly resisted this demand, which was unjust in itself, and urged in a rude and threatening manner.

"Wee, wee," said Etu, frowningly, "Homai te utu mo te tapu--Frenchman, pay me for the taboo."

"No," replied the latter, "I have no use for the bones of your ancestors--take them away!"

"But they are buried on the land, and the place is 'tapu' (sacred), therefore homai te utu."

The Frenchman persisted in his refusal; whereupon Etu, pronouncing judgment in his own favour, forthwith put an execution in the house; --in other words, he robbed it, with the assistance of some of his followers and slaves. The Frenchman's clothes, furniture, and utensils, were taken away, and he himself received some rough treatment personally.

On the following day he made his way to Kororadika, and represented the outrage which he had sustained. There were five or six large French whalers at that time anchored in the bay; and the captains, being informed of the circumstance, offered the assistance of their crews in obtaining redress for their countryman, and the restitution of his property. At the request of the French residents, a meeting of the inhabitants was called for the pur-

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pose of obtaining the opinion of the most experienced settlers, with regard to the propriety of proceeding, by forcible measures, to punish Etu and his associates. It was unanimously resolved that a hostile collision with the natives, who had, with very few exceptions, lived on the most amicable terms with the Europeans, was by all possible means to be avoided; but, at the same time, it seemed due to the interests of the community that so flagrant an outrage should not be passed over without notice. In this emergency, it was proposed to request the mediation of M. de Pompallier, on the part of the French, and of the Chief Aywarre, on the side of the natives. Their negotiations were happily successful, and the affair was brought to a bloodless termination. But it is to be remarked, that there were few instances in which land was purchased from the natives and paid for by the purchaser without his being under the necessity of complying with secondary claims, set up on account of taboos. The influence of this old institution, which is falling rapidly into disuse, is common to the New Zealanders, and the natives of other islands in the Pacific, distant many thousands of miles, and therefore indicates a community of origin between races that are now scattered widely apart. It placed much power in the hands of a New Zealand chief, and was, perhaps, the most important bulwark of his authority. The privilege which it gave him of declaring any place, person, or object, to be sacred and unapproachable, carried with it the power of inflicting death or committing robbery on those who might, even inadvertently, break through his capricious and absurd interdictions. Those spots where the relics of the dead repose are held strictly sacred; and in one instance I was prevented from pro-

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ceeding up a tributary of the Thames, which had been recently tabooed, in consequence of some persons having been drowned in it. I was, however, given to understand that a certain amount of "utu" would render the tabooed river once more passable. The desecration of taboos by a native was very recently a crime punished by death; but tobacco will do wonders in enabling a white man to go wheresoever he listeth, through the most sacred recesses. The objects that are considered to be tabooed by hereditary observance are numerous and varied: for instance, a chiefs head is tabooed; the waitapus, or storehouses for kumeras, are tabooed to all but the chief. Every married woman is tabooed, unless she happen to have been beaten by her husband; in which case it is lawful for any other man to deprive him of her company, either by force, or by the persuasive language of gallantry. A person who has touched a dead body is tabooed for a certain time; favourite pigs, canoes, and muskets are frequently tabooed; in short, there is no end to the absurdities connected with this antiquated, but now declining observance. The progress of change will leave, in six years from the present time, hardly a trace of this superstition among the New Zealanders; for this people, with all their faults, are not disposed to cling pertinaciously to customs manifestly absurd in themselves, and in opposition to the dictates of reason and the increasing knowledge which they derive from European intercourse.

Our Christmas festivities at Kororadika were enlivened by the presence of Colonel Wakefield, who, after having purchased, on account of the New Zealand Company, a territory of twenty millions of acres, including both coasts of Cook's Straits, and the districts of Taranaka and

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Kiapara, was shipwrecked at the last-named locality; and had, in consequence, walked overland from the Wairoa River to the Bay of Islands, for the purpose of chartering a small vessel to convey him to Port Nicholson, to meet the first detachment of the Company's emigrants. The colonel was accompanied by the son of the principal chief of Port Nicholson--a youth who had distinguished himself by rescuing from drowning a boy belonging to the ship "Tory." This young native was very intelligent, and conducted himself at table in a manner that would not have disgraced a pupil of Lord Chesterfield. Of the character of the New Zealanders generally, and their aptitude for improvement, the colonel expressed a very favourable opinion, and stated his impression that Port Nicholson would soon eclipse the Bay of Islands, as a resort for whalers--a prediction which has been partially verified.