1940 - Mathew, Felton. The Founding of New Zealand: The Journals of Felton Mathew, First Surveyor-General of New Zealand, and his Wife, 1840-1847. - Chapter X. The State Of New Zealand - Native Troubles, p 213-244

       
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  1940 - Mathew, Felton. The Founding of New Zealand: The Journals of Felton Mathew, First Surveyor-General of New Zealand, and his Wife, 1840-1847. - Chapter X. The State Of New Zealand - Native Troubles, p 213-244
 
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CHAPTER X. THE STATE OF NEW ZEALAND--NATIVE TROUBLES. TWO REVIEWS BY FELTON MATHEW

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CHAPTER X.

THE STATE OF NEW ZEALAND--NATIVE TROUBLES

TWO REVIEWS BY FELTON MATHEW

[Amongst the miscellaneous papers of the Mathew collection are two articles of date 1845 and 1847 respectively, on the "Present Condition and Future Prospects of New Zealand." Ostensibly they are written by Felton Mathew, though the shrewdness of some of the comments makes one suspect that his wife had a hand in their production. They were possibly intended as articles for publication in some English periodical: and the material is probably very much the same as Mathew supplied to the Secretary of State during his visit to England in 1844-5, when, as his wife's journal says, he was much harassed by continual attendance at the Colonial Office and at Parliament. Much of the first article--there are eighty-four closely written foolscap sheets--is given over to a series of detailed suggestions for curtailing Government expenditure in New Zealand--a

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subject more interesting (one hopes) to the research student than to the general reader. But the ex-Surveyor-General's views on certain larger public questions--native unrest, land problems, Governor FitzRoy's financial experiments, migration, etc. --seem interesting enough to reproduce. The second article, written just before his last voyage from New Zealand, gives a valuable account of the native troubles at the Bay of Islands, the Hutt Valley, Wanganui, and Taranaki. Though not uncoloured by prejudice--local and personal-- Mathew's opinions are entitled to consideration as coming from one whose official position enabled him to acquire inside information on these questions.]

VIEWS ON THE PRESENT STATE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF NEW ZEALAND

BY FELTON MATHEW [1845]--Extracts

"The present state and future prospects of New Zealand form a subject replete with the liveliest interest to all who have at heart the well-being of our Colonies generally and specially of this--almost the latest and avowedly one of the fairest appanages of the British Crown.... It is melancholy to reflect that its progress has been retarded by a series of untoward events and unfortunate blunders, such as the early records of few other Colonies present.... A crisis has arrived in the affairs of New Zealand....

The Policy adopted by the present local Government towards the Natives has produced the effect which all who know the character of those acute and astucious savages, foresaw and predicted--the same namely which is observ-

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able in spoiled and petted children whom injudicious fondness and indulgence render froward, presumptuous and impertinent--unsettled and unhappy themselves and a pest to all around them. The well meant but mistaken kindness lavished upon them, and the leniency shown to their open, glaring and palpable offences against the Europeans have been attributed, not to good will and forbearance, but to weakness and fear.

Impunity has rendered the Aborigines daring and impudent. The most daring outrages and robberies are committed openly and in the face of day, with impunity. In some parts the settlers are driven off and prevented from cultivating Lands which have been fairly and fully purchased. And by the last accounts, the settlement in the Bay of Islands was almost in a state of siege; the Flagstaff had been, for the third time, cut down by the notorious Native Chief John Heke, the shops and stores in the Town were all closed, the inhabitants keeping watch and ward, preparing to defend their lives and property, while many had already left, and the rest were ready to leave at the first alarm of the expected attack from these turbulent and audacious Tribes. And these apprehensions were not, as on some former occasions, without foundation; since even the Missionaries and those amongst them who best know the native character participate in the feeling, and have thought it equally necessary to make provision for the safety of their families, a measure into which all the wars disturbance and bloodshed of the past twenty years has never before forced them. 1

We do not mean to impute blame to the local Government for not adopting stronger measures in the various

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cases of aggression on European person and property which have occurred during the past year. We blame it not for this, simply because it had not the means of at once and effectually putting down all opposition to its commands and compelling obedience to its laws, without which the least attempt at coercion would have been an act of madness, compromising the safety of the whole European population.

Next to the condition of the Aborigines, the subject of deepest interest connected with New Zealand is the state of the Revenue. It is impossible to deny that Captn. Hobson's administration was marked by a most lavish and injudicious expenditure, based on the anticipated prosperity of the Colony, and the expected productiveness of the Land fund --an idea nurtured by Captn. Hobson's previous knowledge of one of the Australian settlements, Port Philip, which he had assisted in forming, and the fatal consequences of whose precocious prosperity (if it can be called such) had not then become apparent. At the period of his death, however, although the Land fund was no longer productive yet the Customs were still a fruitful source of Revenue; and the expenditure might at that time, by a judicious hand, have been cut down and restricted in such a manner as not to exceed the limits of that Revenue, with such assistance as the British Parliament was disposed to render. Something, it must be allowed, was done by the officer [Lt. Willoughby Shortland] who administered the Government during the interval between Captn. Hobson's death and the present Governor's arrival in the way of reducing the expenditure; but it was seldom done with judgment--though some allowance must in fairness be made for the absence of all definite instructions from home, and the limited powers of one who was a mere locum tenens.

On the arrival of the present Governor [Captn. Robert FitzRoy] a favourable opportunity was afforded

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for remodelling the Government, for pruning all that was superfluous and unnecessary, and for effecting such a consolidation of offices as might reduce the actual expenditure without impairing the efficiency of the Government.... Some reductions were certainly effected in the expenditure, but they were counterbalanced by an increase in other Items. The first attempt to increase the Revenue was by the imposition of direct Taxes; but in such a shape as to excite universal reprobation and opposition among the Colonists. The consequence was their immediate abandonment. As a substitute an amended Customs ordinance was passed, imposing an additional "ad valorem" duty of 5 per Ct. on all Imports.

This measure was, at first, rather unpalatable to many, and was loudly protested against by the few as being directly at variance with their "free trade" notions. A little reflection however reconciled almost every one to the measure, and it was beginning to work well.

In about a month, however, the Ports of New Zealand were all declared "free" and the Council was again hastily called together to rescind its own act which had scarcely had time to come into operation in some parts of the Colony. The motive alleged for this unlooked-for step was a feeling of discontent said to exist among the Natives at the high price paid by them for their Tobacco, which they had been taught to attribute to the Customs--and the gradual abandonment of the Ports of New Zealand (principally the Bay of Islands) by Whalers--chiefly Americans, by which the Native Trade in Pigs, Potatoes (not to mention women) formerly carried on with those ships, had been much injured--and which the Natives were taught also to attribute to the establishment of Customs....

The Customs at this time were producing about £20,000 per annum, and by their abolition, it is evident that the Government deprived itself of almost its only source

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of Revenue--that too at a time, when various modes of direct Taxation had been tried and failed, when the Treasury was empty, officers' Salaries in arrear, the Land Fund totally unproductive, and the Parliamentary Grant limited to £7500 per annum.

Almost immediately after this a further concession was made to the Natives--hastily, without due deliberation, and without previous reference home--by allowing them the almost unrestricted privilege of selling their Land to whomsoever they pleased, thereby at once cutting off all possibility of deriving any future revenue from that source.

As a substitute for Customs, an Act was passed imposing a Tax of 1 per Cent on all Incomes and Property, leaving it however to the good faith of the people to assess themselves....

The intention of the measure is in a great degree neutralised by the avidity of the Shopkeepers, who continue to sell to the Natives, on much the same terms as formerly; the surplus profit arising from the absence of Customs, finding its way quietly into their own pockets. Indeed as a measure for the benefit of the Aborigines, nothing could be more fallacious than the abolition of Customs, since it is a notorious and incontrovertible fact, that from the numerous facilities afforded by the nature of the Coast, to smuggling, the Tobacco sold to the Natives never paid Duty.

A further objection to the existing Property and Income Tax may be raised from its unequal pressure on the different Classes of the community. The honest and the willing are taxed to the uttermost; the Capitalist, without whose exertions the progress of the Colony will indeed be slow, is taxed to the uttermost; while the selfish and the fraudulent are allowed to tax themselves at discretion, and no check is, or indeed can be placed on their dishonesty; and last of all the Mechanic and the Labourer, having an Income of not more than £50 per annum, are altogether

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exempt from the operation of the Tax.... As a financial measure, the thing is a complete failure. Extraordinary exertions were made by the few Advocates of "Free Trade" to make the Tax as productive as possible: --- but after all, the results shew that it will not produce £3000 a year, even if it do not fall very much below that sum, which appears the more probable hypothesis: --while its Moral effects may be gathered from the fact as notorious as the Sun at Noonday, that many persons have under-rated both their Property and Income, many from ostentation, or from still more questionable motives have as grossly over-rated themselves--while many, as might have been expected, have declined rating themselves at all....

The increase of this [turbulent] spirit among the Natives may be traced to one cause among others which has not perhaps been sufficiently considered, namely, the diminished influence of the Chiefs, which has been considerably on the wane, since the Colonization of the Islands, and which enables men of little note and importance in their several Tribes--men, who in days of yore durst not for their lives have taken an active part in any movement, without the approval of the higher Chiefs--to commit aggressions with impunity, and to act with every degree of independence, which in their primitive condition they could not have attempted, without incurring serious consequences. The character of the Aborigines of New Zealand has by the admission of even their warmest friends, been very much over-rated. Casual visitors, by whom they have been most frequently described, struck by a few salient points in their character, which indicate great shrewdness and sagacity--and suffering their enthusiasm to get the better of their judgement--have invested them with qualities and attributes of a far higher nature than they really possess. The Missionaries themselves, even the most intelligent of them, if they have not actually sustained, at least did not

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attempt to destroy this delusion:-- and it is easy to understand the very pardonable feeling which would prompt them to avoid undeceiving the British public on this point. Dependent as their body is, for the means of carrying on their great work, on the contributions of that Public, it is not unnatural that they should rather have inclined to magnify their labours, by exalting the character of their Converts. Truth to tell however, the New Zealanders are acute, intelligent Savages, susceptible no doubt of a considerable degree of civilization--but they are after all, still Savages--and every attempt to deal with them in all cases as more enlightened beings, will signally fail, as indeed it has. Hence therefore, as they have been tempted by impunity to trample on the patience, and to infringe the rights of the British Settlers, it will be necessary to coerce them--to teach them that while we have every wish and intention, to protect, to serve, and to benefit them, yet that we have not the less, the spirit, the determination, and above all the power to protect ourselves from aggression, and to enforce obedience to our Laws, which are established for the mutual protection of both Native and European. And be it borne in mind that the mere possession of this power would be sufficient, and would render the exercise of it unnecessary. New Zealanders are peculiarly sensitive on points affecting their own Interests; are most acute in calculating their chances, and very quick in discovering how far they may go with impunity, in their attempts at extortion or fraud. Thus if the local Government had a force for apprehending offenders and vindicating the laws, which was sufficient to defy all opposition, it would never be called on to exercise that Power--the mere exhibition of it would always be sufficient, and the Natives would never attempt an aggression when they knew that we had at command the means of repelling and of punishing it."

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A final settlement of the Land question, he proceeded, was an indispensable condition of the tranquilisation of the Natives, who were extremely sensitive and jealous on this point. No attempt at conciliation could hope to succeed which did not allow the Natives entire freedom to dispose of their lands to whomsoever they pleased, though it might be found necessary for the Government to subject this right to certain regulations.

The recent Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, in which the view was put forward that the Government could claim as of right all lands in New Zealand which were not actually under cultivation by the Natives, disclosed a serious misunderstanding of the position. Mathew, being cognisant of all the circumstances, and having been present at the signing of the Treaty at Waitangi, Hokianga, Waitemata and the Thames, confidently asserted that on each of these occasions the Natives had extracted reiterated promises from Hobson as to their possession of their tribal lands. They had been exceedingly reluctant to sign the Treaty at all

"until assured that there was no intention by the Government to interfere with them in the sale of their lands, further than by requiring that they should sell to the Government alone, and not to private individuals. On this point they for a long time made a determined stand, and were induced at last to concede, only from the expectation that the Government would always be ready to purchase their Land as fast as they wanted to sell it." Never for a moment was the doctrine advanced by Captain Hobson that the Government claimed all uncultivated Native land. Any such claim would have been

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indignantly repelled; "it would have rendered the execution of that, or any other Treaty impossible."

After a lengthy analysis of the details of public finance, Mathew concludes with some interesting observations of immigration. First, he deplored the scattering of the settlements in New Zealand, which so greatly enhanced the difficulties of the Government.

"In New Zealand there are five principal settlements, and three or four minor ones, exclusive of numerous scattered stations, where small numbers of Europeans are congregated together, but without any Government establishment; and the New Zealand Company, it appears, are about to form another at Port Otago, nearly the most remote part of the Middle Island and distant from the Capital at least seven hundred miles, and three hundred from Nelson, the nearest of their own settlements. How unfavourable such a practice must necessarily be to the advancement of the Colony, it is scarcely necessary to observe. The numerous evils resulting from it cannot be too strongly deprecated."

As to the future of the Colony, he looked forward to the time when the Natives should be tranquilised. Once pacified, they would form an inexhaustible supply of agricultural labour. Therefore he concluded that what New Zealand principally wanted was not so much immigration of labour as immigration of capital; and he addressed a warning to the intending colonist. "We are not of those who look on emigration as a panacea for all the evils of the body politic--but whatever may be its effect on that body, we regard it, as respects individuals as a serious evil. It is indeed no light or trivial matter to sacrifice home, country, and friends--all the associations and reminiscences of youth, and all the ties and

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connexions of more mature age. We say therefore to every man--Stay at home if you can--subdue your pride-- moderate your desires, and if you can in any way live, and fill an useful station at home in your native country, remain where you are--for an Englishman there is no country like England. But if you cannot find employment for your time and faculties, or provide perhaps the means of subsistence for a family--if you have the manliness and energy to despise a life of Idleness, and the resolution to labour, however hard, for those you love--go to New Zealand, where Nature is generous luxuriant and fertile beyond your warmest conceptions--where she will reward you tenfold for all the labour you bestow on her, and where you may enjoy a climate adapted beyond all others to an English constitution. But go as a tiller of the ground--go with a resolution to work hard--for the most fatal error into which you can fall, is to suppose that ease and indolence in a new country will command success--they do so nowhere, certainly not in New Countries where under the most favourable circumstances many difficulties are to be subdued before the wilderness can be made to blossom like the rose. But in New Zealand success will surely attend honest Industry, and the humblest individual may go thither, secure that with a spade, a good pair of arms, and a determination to work, he can never want the necessaries and comforts of Life."

SECOND ARTICLE ON THE "PRESENT STATE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF NEW ZEALAND"

BY FELTON MATHEW (1847)--Extracts

"... It is true that Captain FitzRoy had a very difficult game to play; and amidst the general indignation

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felt at the absurdity of many of his acts, and the vacillation and imbecility of nearly all, the real difficulties of his position have been overlooked, and he has been unequivocally condemned for his many errors, when perhaps he should rather be applauded for not having committed many more. Previously to his assumption of the Government a feeling of dissatisfaction and distrust had been long secretly growing among the Natives fostered by many evil disposed and insidious Europeans, whose avocations (Pig and flax dealing, &c.) took them much through the interior of the country, and whose conduct and character together with their acquaintance with the language, manner, and habits of the natives, were calculated to give them considerable influence; especially among the more distant tribes, whose infrequent communication with our settlements deprived them of the opportunity of drawing unfavourable comparisons between their European friends in the Bush and those whom they would have encountered in the Towns. British Authority began to be treated lightly, the British soldier, formerly regarded with a sort of mysterious awe as a superior and an absolutely invincible being, now seen (I regret to say) but too commonly drunk and reeling about the streets, soon lost favor in the eyes of the native, who seeing him to be very commonly a man of less thewes and bulk than himself, and regardless of anything like self respect or decency of demeanour, soon began to look on him as a mere "Cookey" (slave) in a red coat, and fancied that there could be no difficulty in a Maori with a musket in his hand, beating a man whom he so frequently saw incapable of taking care of himself. Then came naturally enough, among the young men the desire of measuring their strength with these terrible soldiers, of whom they had been accustomed to think with so much dread, and this feeling, acting on the vague and undefined fears which all-- young and old--entertained that somehow or other, by some

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juggling which they could not understand, and at a time when they least expected it, their land was to be taken from them--produced a feverish restlessness which vented itself in robberies and various acts of petty aggression, and occasioned a number of daring and discontented young men to congregate in the Northern part of the Island, where they found a congenial spirit in the now far famed "Heki." Thus, with a bankrupt government and a large native population gradually rising into turbulence, Captain FitzRoy assumed the reins of Government with an empty Treasury, and a military force of One hundred and fifty men to protect six or seven scattered settlements. No wonder that he failed! Few men would or could have done otherwise; the wisest would have been he who strongly represented the state of things to the British Government, and then quietly sat down with folded hands untill men and money had been sent to him.

Next comes Captain Grey, who previously to his arrival had acquired among the natives the rather unfortunate prestige of being the "fighting" Governor, the soldier who was come to set them all to rights, and to take their Land from them by force. It is difficult to say how such an idea originated, but that it existed there can be no possible doubt--and it is most unfortunate that it should have been so, because it necessarily induced a feeling of distrust on the part of the Natives, which was calculated to irritate their worst fears, and tended very much to embarrass the intercourse between them and the Government.

Proud of the destruction of Kororarika and elated with their subsequent successes against our Military and Naval force at Okiahou and Ouhiawai, the Natives in the neighbourhood of the Bay [of] Islands, at the period of Captain Grey's arrival, were little disposed to treat for peace. Captain FitzRoy's injudicious proposal of terms was scornfully rejected, and a long period of inaction having

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elapsed it was necessary to strike a blow and endeavour to do something. Kawiti's Pah [Ruapekapeka] on the River Kawa Kawa was accordingly invested, and after resisting for some time successfully all attempts made to capture it, was taken by surprise one Sunday morning, when by the ingenuity of our native allies, it was discovered that the defenders were all engaged outside the Pah in celebrating Divine Worship. Possession however was not secured without a severe struggle, and an attempt was made to retake it, which had nearly proved successful. Eventually however the hostile Tribe was repelled, the Pah destroyed, and the British force commenced its return to the Bay of Islands. So great however was the apprehension of an attack from the natives en route, that the march soon became a hasty and ill conducted retreat; all order and discipline were lost, Officers had no command over their men, drays loaded with ammunition stuck in the mud, left without escort, and every man making the best of his way regardless of others, to his destination. Strange as this may appear, it is nevertheless strictly true. Had the hostile natives who were certainly in the neighbourhood taken advantage of this scene of confusion the whole detachment would have been cut off, and the guns and ammunition captured.

Nothing indeed is more remarkable than the chivalrous feeling they exhibited throughout the whole war, in never attempting to cut off detached parties of our men, or supplies of provisions which were always sent without escort, through a country where nothing would have been easier than for a dozen natives to have intercepted them. And it was well known at the time that they were always aware of the transit of the supplies, but they have been often heard to say that they did not wish to deprive the soldiers of food, and that there was no glory in fighting with hungry men. After the destruction of Ruapekapeka--

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Kawiti's stronghold--all parties being tired of the war, the period for planting potatoes having come round, of which our native allies were as anxious as our enemies to avail themselves, there was not much difficulty in patching up a peace, which was accordingly done, the principal part of the troops was withdrawn and the Governor returned to Auckland. The snake however is scotched, not killed, and it is to be feared that Heki will not long remain without excuse for renewing his hostile demonstrations.

In the meantime disturbances had taken place between the Europeans and natives in the neighbourhood of Wellington--the Company's principal Settlement in Cook's Strait. A murder had been committed, a stockade attacked by the natives and many lives lost. The natives were eventually driven out of the valley of the Hutt, and the Chief Rangihaieta and his party entrenched themselves at Porirua, about 12 Miles from Wellington. Old Rauparaha appears to have conducted himself with his usual craft, and without rendering active assistance to his countrymen, doubtless was not willing to take an active part against them. In August 1846 however Captain Grey took it into his head that he was not only secretly aiding Rangihaieta but that he had actually joined in a plot to entrap the Governor and the whole Military force. There does not appear to have been the slightest evidence in support of this notion, which rested solely on the ipse dixit of some of our native allies--Rauparaha's enemies of course. However on the mere suspicion, a party of Soldiers was dispatched, who gallantly captured the old man in his bed before daylight in the morning. He was taken on board H. M. S. Calliope at Wellington where without trial or enquiry of any kind he was detained untill the month of June 1847 2 when Captain Grey brought him

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to Auckland and placed him in the charge of our two friendly Chiefs "Te Whero Whero" and "Neni" or "Tamati Walker" as he is now more commonly called. It would be difficult to imagine a step more absurd and injudicious than this apprehension and detention of Rauparaha. A high spirited fiery and vindictive old man, one of the most powerful chiefs in the Island, he will never forget or forgive the indignity to which he has been subjected, and will never be satisfied untill he has revenge. And in addition to the bad effect produced on the mind of the old Chief himself, it has been a means of producing in the natives generally a want of that faith and confidence in the British Government which, to a certain extent, they had always previously entertained. They are now afraid of placing themselves under any circumstances within our reach, lest they should be treated like Rauparaha.

How the matter may be looked upon in England it is impossible to say; but it is strongly deprecated here by all except the New Zealand Company and its people. A more serious affair however than this occurred shortly after, namely in October (1846). A native named Martin Luther, a relative of the Chief Rangihaieta, was surprised by some of our native allies, having--as his countrymen invariably have, in time of war particularly--his musket and cartouche box with him. He was taken into Wellington, tried by Court Martial on a charge of being found in arms against her Majesty!! and hanged forthwith. Captain Grey who was in Wellington at the time of his capture, is said (and I fear but too truly) to have told the Commanding Officer that if he could make out any charge against Luther, it might have a very good effect in intimidating the natives. The officer, not too scrupulous of course--and attaching no greater value to human life, especially the life of a poor savage, than soldiers usually do--took the hint; and poor Luther was sacrificed. This transaction was loudly

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stigmatised at the time as a deliberate, cold blooded judicial murder, and such it was. Instead of intimidating the natives it has had the effect of inducing a deep and deadly-spirit of revenge which has shown itself in subsequent occurrences. What the ultimate results may be it is impossible to tell.

And now the seat of war is removed to "Wanganui," a wretched little settlement in Cook's Strait, about 80 miles NW. from Port Nicholson. The River has a most dangerous bar at its mouth which is scarcely at any time practicable for boats. There is a little good land some distance up the river, and here the New Zealand Company induced some of its unhappy victims to take their land. The Settlement is, or rather was, situated about 5 Miles up the river, and here a small number of Europeans located themselves. Their number never exceeded from 170 to 180, of whom the far greater part were children.

As this unhappy settlement has attained, and seems likely to retain, an unfortunate celebrity in New Zealand history, it is of importance to trace its origin, and the primary cause of all the mischiefs which have subsequently arisen. These are very little known, especially in England where they have been most sedulously kept in the background. I will however now detail them, and can vouch for their authenticity. The New Zealand Company being unable to provide land for its settlers in the neighbourhood of Wellington naturally turned its attention to other places, and the river Wanganui having been favorably reported of by its surveyors, Col. Wakefield despatched his nephew Edward Jerningham Wakefield for the purpose of purchasing the Land on that river from the natives. Jerningham [came] from Wellington [and treated with] an old chief named "Kurukanga," who was understood to have some claim to the Land, and from whom he purchased to a considerable extent--a certain payment was made to

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this chief, and to him only. No attempt appears to have been made to ascertain if there were any other claimants to the Land, or to satisfy [them] if there were. The land was soon after surveyed by the Company's Surveyors, and some of the settlers who had purchased and paid for the Lands in England were forthwith put in possession of sections at Wanganui or "Petre" as they called it.

The Natives in the interior, at the head of the River, soon found out that the Europeans had taken possession, and immediately came down on the Settlers, claiming different portions which they averred that the Chief Kurukanga had no property in, and no right to sell. Much litigation took place in consequence--it is the old evil, which is at the root of all the misfortunes which have beset New Zealand to the present hour.

The matter was referred to the Commissioner Mr. Spain, who determined that the purchase had not been completed by the Company, that the Natives were justly entitled to the land which they claimed, and had not received any payment for it. Mr. George Clarke, son of the protector of Aborigines, was then appointed to award to the natives an adequate compensation, with a view to extinguish their title. He awarded them the Sum of One Thousand Pounds, and at a meeting in the presence of the Commissioner at which Col. Wakefield, the Company's principal Agent was present, that sum was tendered to them by Mr. Clarke. The Natives refused to accept it, on two grounds (1st) That they did not wish to sell their Lands at all; (2) That the payment proposed was insufficient. On this, the Commissioner declared that he considered the payment quite adequate, and that if they refused to receive it he should nevertheless consider the bargain to have been completed by the New Zealand Company and that he should order the Money to be paid to the Local Government with a recommendation that it should

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be invested in some manner for the benefit of them--the Natives. This was accordingly done, and the money was paid to Mr. Clarke on behalf of the Natives. That gentleman having no means of conveying back to Wellington so large a sum as £1,000 requested Col. Wakefield to allow it to remain in his strong box, which was assented to. Shortly after, Col. Wakefield being in want of money, made use (for the Company of course) of this £1000, and deposited in its stead Bills on England for that amount. Soon afterwards the natives held another meeting on the subject of the Land at Wanganui, the result of which was that they resolved to accept the offer which had been made; and they accordingly communicated to the Local Government that they were prepared to take the £1000. On recourse being had to the Company's Agent, it was found that the Cash had been exchanged for Bills, and this being just at the period of the Company's Insolvency, its Agent was not in a position to replace the money. The Government, also in a state of Insolvency, Debentures its only Currency, was equally unable to meet the difficulty, and so nothing could be done in the matter. It was afterwards proposed that those Sections only which were already occupied by Europeans, should be purchased, as the means might possibly have been found of paying for them. But this the Company's Agent refused to assent to. Captain Fitz-Roy then offered to remove the Settlers to Auckland and give them compensation there, but this offer was indignantly rejected. The matter of the disappearance of the money which had been openly tendered to the Natives, was explained to them so as to exonerate the Government from blame, and so the affair of the purchase of Wanganui has remained to the present time (September, 1847).

Now throughout the whole of this transaction no one appears to have been struck with the impropriety, the gross injustice of endeavouring to force these natives to sell their

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Land merely because the New Zealand Company had committed its usual blunder of sending settlers to occupy Land which it had not bought. It may be--and I believe has been--urged that they merely wished to keep possession for the purpose of procuring eventually a higher price. Very probably--and have they not a perfect right to do so? Imagine a similar case in England. I hold a small Estate adjoining the property of a wealthy neighbour--to whom my Estate would be most valuable, and I know will become more so every year. What would be thought of an attempt to compel me to sell my property on the plea that I am keeping it solely with the view of getting a higher price? I see no difference in the two cases. Such, however, was the result of the attempt to purchase Wanganui, and thus matters stood on Captain Grey's arrival in the Colony. The natives from time to time continued to send hostile messages to the Settlers, telling them that the land was theirs and that they would certainly come down and take possession. The unhappy settlers were of course kept in a state of perpetual anxiety and suspense, never certain from hour to hour that they might not be attacked, their homes plundered, and their lives jeopardised.

Things remained in this state untill some little time after Captain Grey's arrival, when the Revd. Mr. Taylor the Episcopalian Clergyman for the district of "Wanganui" represented to the Governor that the disposition of the Natives was becoming in his opinion so seriously hostile that unless Military protection were extended to the Settlements, he did not consider the lives or property of the inhabitants secure. In an evil hour the ill-judged request for troops was listened to, and a Detachment of (I think) 150 men was sent there, who were to entrench themselves in a strong stockade on the Bank of the River and close to the Settlements. No step could possibly have been taken, more injudicious, more replete with danger to the

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European Settlers, or more likely to be productive (as it has proved) of disgrace to the British Arms. So long as the settlers remained there alone, they might and would have been annoyed and plundered, but their lives would in all probability have been safe. But the sending armed men to a place is, according to Native Custom, a declaration of war, a throwing down the gauntlet, a manifestation of your intention to fight. Nothing could have pleased them better. They immediately came down in considerable numbers from the interior, and from that time to the present continual skirmishings have been carried on, accompanied with considerable loss of life on both sides, but nothing of importance has been accomplished.

The Stockade, still incomplete, has cost £1500, to the present time (September, 1847)--half as much more than the purchase money of the Land. Five hundred British soldiers, with a corresponding number of officers of all grades, are shut up there, and dare not venture fifty yards from its Walls even to cut firewood, with which they are supplied from Wellington a distance of 80 miles at a cost of about £15 per diem! for that article alone. H. M. S. Calliope, the Colonial Government Brig continually and H. M. Steamer Inflexible frequently are employed in keeping open the communication by sea, and conveying stores and provisions to the besieged. Some time in the month of June the natives came down plundered the Settlement, killed or drove away all the Sheep and cattle and set fire to all the houses, in the very face and under the guns of the Soldiers, who were unable to prevent it. The Settlers had fortunately been forewarned and they retired into the stockade, sending their families to Wellington.

I have, however, omitted to mention that shortly before this occurrence, a respectable Settler of the name of Gilfillan had been attacked at his own door, about 7 Miles from the Settlement, by five young natives, from which he succeeded

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in escaping into the house. His unhappy wife, thinking from her knowledge of the general character of the Natives, that women and children were always secure from violence, persuaded him to escape through a back window and proceed to "Petre" for assistance. He did so, being himself severely wounded by a blow from a tomahawk, and on his return with the Police and some soldiers he found his poor wife and three of his children, one a girl of 14, murdered and most horribly mutilated. Two of the younger children escaped unobserved by creeping down into a swamp, where they passed the night.

The friendly natives were instantly on the alert, and a hot pursuit being made, the men were taken with the blankets and other of Gilfillan's property in their possession. Four of them were distinctly identified by Gilfillan and his surviving children, were tried by Martial law, condemned and hanged, acknowledging that they had committed the Murder. So atrocious and cold-blooded an act, one so opposed to everything we had hitherto known of the native character, excited universal alarm and horror. There had been no previous disagreement, no quarrel of any kind, no provocation given. It seemed a perfect mystery and is only to be explained as a declaration of war, provoked by the appearance of the Soldiers, which would be strictly in accordance with native Custom, or as an act of Revenge for the murder of Martin Luther at Wellington, which is well known to rankle in the native mind. However it be, no circumstance of equal horror has occurred since the foundation of the Colony, and it is truly astonishing that the settlers at "Wanganui" did not at once abandon their homes and betake themselves to Wellington. Fancying themselves secure, however, under the guns of the Stockade, they remained, untill their property was destroyed before their eyes, in the manner I before related.

Since that event the Natives have regularly entrenched

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themselves within a short distance of the Stockade, from whence they adopt every possible means of annoyance to the Troops. Frequent skirmishings take place, without advantage to either party, but the Natives know their strength too well to incur the risk of encountering our troops in open ground where they would have a chance of using the bayonets. They beat us in skirmishing and bush fighting, and to that sort of warfare they take care to confine themselves. The latest accounts from Wanganui (August) brought a silly, pompous despatch from Col. McCleverty who commands the troops, from which if it were possible to make anything at all, it would appear that an engagement had taken place and that the Natives had the worst of it. The subsequent arrival, however, of the Inflexible Steamer put us in possession of the real facts of the case. Two of the natives contrived in a most artful and ingenious manner to induce the troops to leave the Stockade and succeeded in drawing them into an ambuscade formed by a strong party of natives, who attacked the Soldiers with so much vigour that they commenced a precipitate retreat towards the Stockade, and so strongly were they pressed by the Natives, that had not Captain Middleton and Mr. Palmer (of the 58th) with about 15 men turned and charged with the bayonet many lives must have been lost. This however gave a temporary check to the natives, which enabled our men to reach the Stockade--not however without a loss of 3 killed and 11 wounded. One body they were compelled to leave behind. The loss of the natives could not be ascertained. This is the sort of warfare which will be carried on--if it be continued at all--our people always getting the worst of it, to the disgrace of the British name, and the destruction of that prestige which used formerly to accompany it. It is the very thing to delight the natives. They go away into the interior during the period of their agricultural operations, plant their potatoes, and then come

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back and resume operations against the soldiers. Meanwhile there is the bare fact to astonish people in England. 500 British Soldiers regularly shut up in a Stockade by about 300 Natives. To attempt to dislodge them from their position would be almost impossible, on account of the rugged and wooded nature of the country which renders the conveyance of artillery and Commissariat stores almost impracticable. It is well known that if, during the war in the North, the natives had not from a purely chivalrous feeling, abstained from attacking the drays employed in conveying food, they might have starved all the troops into any terms they thought proper to make. It is unlikely that they will again act with similar generosity-- and if the difficulties of transport in the North were great, they are far greater in the South, the country being more broken and rugged. See then the advantage which the Native enjoys over the English Soldiers. The latter cannot and will not fight unless he gets his daily pound of bread, his pound of meat, and his Gill of Rum!--which must be conveyed to him wherever he may be at enormous cost. He is encumbered moreover when fighting with his thick clothing and heavy accoutrements; while the native with nothing but his musket in hand, and a cartouche box strapped round his waist, is active as a wild cat, and never wants for food, fern root and water which are to be had everywhere being sufficient for his subsistence. It is true that he will always have potatoes if possible, but still he can subsist for a length of time on the poorer food, if necessary. Another singular advantage he enjoys is his tawny skin and thick mat of black hair, which are scarcely discoverable among the fern and jungle, while the red jacket of the Soldier is a mark which it is scarcely possible to miss anywhere. Such are a few of the disadvantages under which our men labour in contending with the New Zealanders, and all who are at all acquainted with the country will allow

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that the utmost which could be done by any Military force in New Zealand is to protect the Settlements. Any act of aggression upon the natives would be sure to encounter defeat. Fortunately they are strong enough to protect themselves and their country, and have therefore little to fear either from the machinations of the New Zealand Company or the utter want of faith of the British Government. It is to be hoped however that the present most unholy war will be immediately put an end to by the abandonment of the wretched settlement, which should have been done in the first instance. The place was never worth fighting for, and when we consider that to this hour the Land remains unpaid for, no false principle of honor should prevent our doing an act of justice.

A very similar question arises at "Taranake" or New Plymouth, another of the Company's Settlements, which if not carefully and judiciously managed will be the occasion of another war. The Land at that Settlement was purchased by the Company's Agent from some of the natives having a rightful claim to it; but it appears that, at the time, a number of the rightful owners who had been taken prisoners of war some years previously by a hostile tribe, and detained in captivity, were unable to advance their claims or assert their rights. By the influence of the missionaries, however, these prisoners were after a while released, and immediately proceeding to their native settlements, found the land occupied by Europeans. Various little acts of aggression followed, as a necessary consequence, and the matter was referred to the Commissioner who decided that the Claimants having been taken prisoners of war, and detained as slaves by a hostile Tribe, had forfeited all claim to their lands; and on these grounds he made an award in favor of the New Zealand Company. This most strange decision was very properly set aside by Captain FitzRoy, who on a review of the whole case resolved that

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the natives' claim was just and must be satisfied. The Company resisted this award, and so the matter remains to this day (September 1847). Captain Grey, on his arrival, reconsiders the case, and forms a conclusion directly opposed to that of Captain FitzRoy. He tells the Natives that the award of the Commissioner was just, that they had no title to the Land, and that if they did not resign it quietly he would take it by force. This very injudicious threat, of course, had the effect of irritating the Natives, who declare that they will fight to the last for their Land; and should the threat be followed up (as has been talked of) by sending Troops to Taranake, there is no doubt that it will be followed by the destruction of that settlement, and by disasters and disgraces similar to those which have been incurred at Wanganui. 3

It is to be hoped however that warned by experience, Captain Grey will moderate that rashness which he exhibited on his first arrival in the Colony, and will not by so ill-advised a step incur the risk of involving the whole Island in war. At present he has his hands too full to think of it.

A few words before quitting the Southern part of the Island, on the present condition of Wellington. I do not however profess to give any information respecting this place as the result of personal observation, as it is some years since I visited the Settlement, but from authentic sources on which I can implicitly rely. As in all other parts of the Colony things are in a very stagnant state. Agriculture is making very little progress, but some of the principal settlers have formed large sheep establishments in the Valley of the "Wairarapa" about 40 or 50 miles from Wellington, which if the country continues tranquil, as it is at present in that neighbourhood, promises to turn out a profitable speculation. It is found that the fine wool'd

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sheep do not succeed so well as was expected in New Zealand, and these settlers have substituted Leicesters and other large sheep which fatten very rapidly and produce Mutton unsurpassed in England even. With a view to open up the country in this direction, a Military Road is in progress up the valley of the Hutt. Another also is being formed towards "Porirua" about 12 miles from Wellington and is I believe nearly completed. Native Labour has been employed on these roads to a great extent; and under Military or other native superintendence it is said to have answered beyond expectation. I shall have occasion to shew by and bye, how completely the same experiment has failed in another quarter, from the want of that efficient superintendence. The formation of these two Roads, was a judicious act on the part of Captain Grey, as it afforded the settlement the only possible chance of developing whatever resources it may be possessed of. May those resources be speedily brought to light--and may the settlers enjoy at last the reward of all their toil, privation, misfortune and disappointment. It is to be hoped that the very silly feeling of jealousy and rivalry which has so long been kept up, on their part, towards Auckland, will now subside. They have a Lieut. Governor of their own, they enjoy an immense proportion of the Commissariat Expenditure, as well as of the Parliamentary Grant, and surely have therefore every reason to be satisfied. The Auckland people do not envy them these advantages, they raise no senseless outcry about favoritism to the Company's Settlements; on the contrary, they will rejoice in their prosperity, and are quite content to rest their own advancement on the advantages which they know their settlement to possess. It is to be hoped this foolish feeling will now be forgotten for ever.

Captain Grey having acquired in South Australia some credit in a small way as a financier, was of course compelled, on his arrival in New Zealand to do something to

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sustain that reputation; more especially as the Treasury being empty, all source of Revenue cut off, and a vast amount of Government Paper money in circulation, it was absolutely necessary that something should be done. The great change of making the revenue not only equal, but even exceed the expenditure, was effected by a very simple process, which it did not require a Solon to discover-- abolishing, namely, every office that could possibly be abolished (and some that have since been reconstituted under different names), cutting down the unhappy Government officers to starvation salaries, and doubling the Customs duties. And when it is remembered how large a Military and Naval force came down with or speedily followed Captain Grey, it is not to be wondered at that such a measure should have affected the Revenue. The mere additional duty on the spirits used by the Military made a most extraordinary difference immediately. And it is to be observed that the enormous Commissariat expenditure, and the large profits made in consequence by the Merchants and Shopkeepers alone reconciled them to a measure, which a few months previously they would not have tolerated for a moment. Even under existing circumstances it is productive of considerable discontent (the duty being 10 pr. Ct. ad valorem on all imported goods British and Foreign) and has given an extraordinary stimulus to smuggling, which is openly carried on in Auckland in the face of day, there being only two Customs House Officers to protect a shore of considerable extent, and affording a variety of facilities for landing without observation. I have no doubt that had the duties remained as formerly at 5 pr. Ct., the Revenue would have been nearly, if not quite as productive, on account of the smaller inducement to smuggle.

One of the next proceedings of Captain Grey was the organisation of a Native Police force. A similar measure adopted in South Australia is said to have been attended

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with success, and therefore, of course, it became a pet project in New Zealand. A Force was formed partly-European and partly native, controlled by an "Inspector" and "Sub Inspector" and drilled and disciplined as Regular Troops. To give them their due, the progress they make in this part of their duty is wonderful. The facility with which they assume the habits of the regular Soldier, and the correctness with which they perform all their military manoeuvres, is really curious, and may teach us what dangerous enemies they would become should they, after acquiring our notions of discipline, turn their arms against us. So far the experiment appears to have been successful. But when it is demanded, of what use is this force? we are very much puzzled for answer. We only know that as far at least as Auckland is concerned, about forty men are employed to perform the duty, which used to be done by half a dozen Constables--and as far as we can see, equally well. And when the vast expense of this Force is considered, it becomes a serious consideration. The Inspector receives a Salary of £250 and £45 per Ann. forage allowance for a horse, the Sub Inspector £200, the Serjeants and Corporals 4/- and 5/-, and the Privates, Natives and Europeans, 3/6d. each per diem. This expense is for Auckland alone. At Wellington it is, I believe, much higher. Now almost the only duty these men perform for such enormous rates of pay, is to parade the streets of Auckland, chatter with their abandoned country-women of whom there are always numbers lying about the Streets, and occasionally apprehend a drunken man.

At Wellington however, Captain Grey says that their services are invaluable, and that he trusts entirely to them to keep open the land communication between that settlement and the disturbed districts. It seems rather singular that a line of military communication should be dependent entirely on Natives, but as I know nothing from personal observation

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of this part of the subject I will say nothing about it.

The great and crying evil, however, attendant upon this measure, is the effect it has had in demoralising the natives. This effect has been produced to an extent which would scarcely be credited, were it not as notorious as the Sun at noonday. Not one of these men but has two or three native women living with him in a state of the grossest prostitution. They are all addicted to rum drinking, and, their pay is all engrossed by those and other the most disgusting debaucheries. For their daily supplies of food they get credit with the Shopkeepers who never refuse to trust them knowing that they are in the receipt of a certain Sum from the Government. And thus they run on untill perhaps the man is discharged for misconduct, he retires to the interior and the shopkeeper loses his money. Now the source of all this mischief is the enormously high rate of pay assigned to these men, and the keeping them congregated in the Settlements, where contamination, were it only from an intercourse with the worst of Europeans, is inevitable. It is true, they are supposed to inhabit a sort of Barrack, and to be under some control when there, but it is notorious that the Police Barrack is the most disorderly place in the Town and that no discipline whatever is observed among them. Indeed so infamous a notoriety has this Police Force acquired, that notwithstanding the temptation presented by so high a rate of pay, no well conducted native will enter it. Of this I have known many instances. Now it is not necessary to enlarge on the mischief that must result from the dispersion in the interior among their own Tribes, of men discharged from this Force. Their employment has given them an insight into the habits of the very worst class of Europeans, and they have engrafted the worst of our vices on the natural imperfections of their own character. The fondness for intoxicating liquors has, I grieve to say, increased most

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extensively among the natives within the last 18 months, and there can be no doubt that this effect has been produced by the force of example among the lower class of Europeans with whom they are brought in contact, and by the high pay they receive, which must far exceed all the ideas which a Maori formerly entertained--in spite of his natural rapacity--of a fair reward for his labours. The whole thing is a crying evil, and all who really desire to promote the civilization of the Maori, and still more his moral and religious welfare, will use all possible means to induce the Government to break up and abandon this Native Police Force, which as far as the Natives themselves are concerned, is a measure of unmixed, unmitigated evil, as regards ourselves, is a matter of perfect moonshine. To suppose that they would be of any utility in case of disturbances with their own countrymen, is absurd, and if it be urged that they are useful in apprehending native offenders, I can only say, that during a tolerably extended experience, no difficulty was ever encountered in inducing Natives to apprehend evildoers among their own countrymen as well as among ours--provided the inducement of a moderate pecuniary reward were held out.

Another measure which has had a most injurious effect on the character and conduct of the natives, has been their employment on the Roads in the neighbourhood of Auckland. From the utter absence of all efficient superintendence, it has engendered habits of idleness and cunning, as injurious to themselves as they are to the people who pay them for doing nothing. The amount of labour they accomplish is absolutely insignificant; and so crafty have they become that a party at work on the road will keep one man on the look out (like crows plundering a cornfield) and if anyone is seen approaching they immediately commence working most vigorously--the moment the Traveller has passed they lie down and

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recommence their favorite amusement of smoking and gossiping. These men receive 1/6 per diem. I am far from saying that these wages are too high, or that the system might not be rendered extremely beneficial if properly worked out. But see how it is managed in Auckland. A Superintendant is appointed, a military officer who receives 10/- per diem in addition to his military pay for this extra duty. A party of Natives is employed at a distance of about six Miles from the Town, which has been visited by this officer once in the course of six months! Under him are employed three or four young men of 18 and 22, their only recommendation being some knowledge of the language. They neither have nor can have any authority, and their utter ignorance (as well as that of the Superintendant) of the commonest principles of road-making, prevents them from giving the men any instruction for the judicious application of their labour; so that they work on--when they work at all--just as they please, and the roads instead of being formed are deformed--and the money expended is literally buried in the mud--as everyone who witnessed the then condition of the Roads during the past winter (1847) will admit. True, all this is not the fault of the system, but of the mode in which it is carried out. The effect nevertheless on the Natives is the same and that which under good management might be rendered equally beneficial to both races, becomes from neglect equally injurious to both. For be it borne in mind that about £100 per week are squandered in this manner in the neighbourhood of Auckland alone. The only mode, I conceive, of rendering native labour available on the Roads, is to enter into a contract for their formation at so much per mile, binding the Contractor to employ natives. It would then be his interest to look after them which no doubt he would do effectually."

1   This is not strictly correct, as on at least two previous occasions, 1827 and 1836, the missionaries were constrained to take precautions for their safety, and indeed to withdraw from the more isolated mission stations.
2   Note by Mathew, "Authority, Mr. Buddle."
3   Note by Mathew: "Informant, Mr. Forsyth."

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