1854 - Malone, R. E. Three Years' Cruise in the Australasian Colonies [NZ sections only] - CHAPTER XVII. New Zealand... p 249-265

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CHAPTER XVII.

THE three islands of New Zealand extend from 34° to 48° south latitude, and lie in the shape of a crescent, the horns being north-east and south-west; the longitude of the extremes are 166° and 179° E.; their shape is so very narrow, irregular, and uneven, that it would be incorrect to give any mere estimate of their area as anything but for what it is worth; it may be about eighty thousand square miles or fifty-one million acres. Besides the three great connected islands, there are the dependencies of the Auckland and Chatham islands; the one to the southward is 51° south latitude, and the others to the south-eastward. They were discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642, and by him the part seen was called Staten Island, and afterwards New Zealand, from its resemblance to his own country: this resemblance we now see existed only in Tasman's brain. It is very odd that this voyage of Tasman, which should have nearly discovered New Holland and New Zealand, should have been for so long unfollowed up; and it was not till 1776 that Cook, by his accurate survey, brought both discoveries into use. From two words much used by the native,

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"Tavai poenamoe" and "Eia heina Maori," Cook named the two upper islands; they were afterwards called New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster (the southern one), or Stewart's Island. These names are dropped now, and the different divisions of the colony of New Zealand, called by the official names of the chief towns of the provinces. When discovered, they were thickly populated with a magnificent race of men, who proved hospitable till irritated, when they became revengeful, and proved, in innumerable instances, that cannibalism is a fact. There were no animals of any kind, if we except the native rat, called Kiore, a small marsupial animal; and dogs, supposed to have been introduced at some time by a Spanish ship from its name. The natives lived entirely on fern-root and fish, with the exception of their occasional treat of a little man-meat. Whalers found their seas favourable for their occupation, and introduced gradually European goods, with European vices and none of its civilization: the changes produced may be supposed from the chief articles sold to the natives, rum, muskets, powder, shot, tobacco, and blankets, which latter, where they could get it, they invariably preferred to their raw flax dresses. The whalers got in return, potatoes and a few vegetables, and pigs from those left by Captain Cook, which increased wonderfully, and are now wild in every part of the three islands and adjacent dependencies. The Church Missionary Society in Sydney, hearing so much of the people, determined, in 1814, to try and introduce Christianity; and the Rev. Dr. Marsden proceeded there, and it became the greatest scene of their labours, and has brought forth much fruit. To Dr. Marsden and his coadjutors and successors may, without doubt, be

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attributed, under God, all the wonders produced by Christianity in these islands. The history of the world does not give us a parallel instance of any scheme of civilization (not even excepting Christianity itself) producing in so short a time such effects as in this colony. From cannibalism and disgusting obscenity, and an almost total absence of any religious idea, except the making sacred the harvest, the fish, and the dead, the Maories, or natives of New Zealand, are, in forty years, a Christian people, reading the word of God in their own language, and, to a man, (even the aged ones) becoming imbued with highly good general ideas of life. In their manners they are dignified without forwardness, ingenuous, hospitable, and straightforward; the old habit of tattooing is almost universally given up by the young, and European costume adopted; and occasionally they may be seen, even at the Governor's parties, I believe, dressed well and looking like gentlemen. The men are very strong and handsome, and the women, though stout, very pleasing and good-looking; and the half-caste, the offspring generally of whaler's men with the Maori girls, really beautiful. There are many instances lately of very respectable and even well-connected whites marrying the girls, and a few Maori men marrying English girls. The men are industrious, and make excellent sailors. They cultivate the land in the European manner, and possess ploughs, oxen, horses, &c. At one place alone they have ten thousand acres under wheat, according to Sir George Grey's statement. They ride well, and take great care of their horses; their houses are becoming cleaner, but there is certainly great room for improvement here. They learn the value of money perfectly, and

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do not sell their labour at too cheap a rate; in fact, avarice may be called their peculiar vice, but with it is mixed a great deal of generosity. I have seen an old chief at Auckland who recollected Captain Cook. While in the hotel one day with some officers of the 58th, an old white-headed, bent-double Maori came to the window, dressed in some cast-off European clothes, with an old beaver hat on, and bowed to his friends the officers, who told me he was about the oldest Maori alive. We asked him in, and he came and sat down, and called for ginger beer, which he drank off with great apparent delight; he would not take spirits, wine, or beer. When asked about Cook, he smiled with pleasure, and putting his hand to the top of his stick, pointed out to us that he was "that high" when he saw Captain Cook, or about ten years old, which (this was in 1851) would give his age at ninety; he could walk well with the help of his stick, could speak, see; and hear well; a Maori boy always attended him, and walked respectfully behind him. He hinted, but not at all in a servile way, that he would be glad of any old clothes, and was promised some by W------. This old chief, Tamewha, is now dead, (1854.) The present native population may be about 110,000 in the whole islands.

After the Missionary settlers, the island gradually became Anglicized; and land was bought of the natives and possessed by Englishmen, who, after many quarrels relative to their possessions, which were claimed by various individuals, or having been improperly sold by natives who had merely a part of a joint right, called upon Government to enforce the claims, and gradually Government became, from umpires, possessors--after a long series of rows with the

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natives, sometimes of a most sanguinary nature--of the whole country, by perfect permission of the natives, with the proviso that no land of any description is taken possession of without a voluntary sale of it first by the native owners. A company, called by charter the New Zealand Company, obtained peculiar privileges and monopolies from Government, but managed so badly by buying land from not de facto owners, that purchasers from the company became, in many instances, ruined, and eventually the undertaking failed; and now the whole of the islands are united into the one colony of New Zealand, governed by a governor-in-chief with a general assembly, divided into the provinces of Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, and Nelson, each governed by a superintendent and a legislative council; both the general and legislative councils being elective, and the qualifications for both members and electors exceedingly low and open to all men, even to a large portion of the natives.

The provincial council has immense power, especially of money matters; all the proceeds of customs and all the revenue being provisional, except a third of that derived from the post-office and customs, and the land revenue, which are for the general revenue of the colony. The superintendent will be a Lieutenant-governor under another name, being elected by the people in place of being appointed by Her Majesty; and in most cases he will appoint, it is supposed, an executive council of heads of departments to assist him. Indeed, the government of the colony of New Zealand may, in truth, be said to be now the most liberal in the world.

From north to south and east to west, throughout

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the islands, the country is one of mountain and of flood, of healthy breezes and cooling springs. It possesses mines of gold, copper, and manganese, with slate and coal. Generally speaking, it is densely wooded, the underbush being extremely thick and difficult to penetrate, and very different in this respect from the continental colonies near; but there are at Canterbury and a few other places large blocks of grass land, specially adapted for cattle and sheep. A range of high mountains runs like a backbone through the centre of these islands, from north to south, with ribs to the coast at right angles--some of the peaks being active and almost all the others extinct volcanoes. Rivers in every direction flow from the great range between the ribs to the coast and water every spot, and lakes exist in every direction, some of them hot and volcanic. Mineral baths exist near almost every chief town of New Zealand; and the climate is of all in the word the most healthy, and most like England. I must add that it is oftener than in England unpleasant, though healthy, from the extremely-high and constantly-occurring gales of wind that blow; and the incessant rain, which, whatever rain journals may show, is much greater than in the west of England. The climate of the southern provinces, about Otago, &c, and Stewart's Island, is of course much colder; but still, from the water surrounding and encroaching everywhere, inland and on the coasts, it is equable, and in fine weather I never felt more delicious, invigorating feelings than those produced by the clear atmosphere, the lovely scenery, the blue sky, and the bracing winds of a New Zealand day. But altogether I prefer Van Diemen's Land, which is in the same latitude, but has not so much wind or rain.

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The gales off East Cape and in Cook's Straits are incessant and furious, and westerly winds prevail. Were I to choose my residence in New Zealand, I would pitch my tent in the delightful little settlement of Nelson, about ten miles from town, and I think that would be perfection. Wellington is too mountainous, Auckland too dreary-looking, but Nelson is a lovely little place; Taranaki has no port; Otago is too Scotch; Canterbury a riddle. No! Nelson with its quiet, unostentatious way is a delightful place, and right in the high road of traffic, with coal and minerals near, besides a large tract of fine sheep-land at the Wairau and all round to the Pelorus, which tract has been recently bought from the natives, and is available for purchase or lease. There is land communication between all the settlements of each island, but at present it is merely by walking in many parts. In all the continental colonies land is supposed to be the property of the Crown, and sold to purchasers as such; in New Zealand it is first purchased from the natives by the Crown and then sold.

By proclamation of Governor Sir George Grey, land in New Zealand is at 10s. per acre, fixed, when there is no competition, or at an upset price of 5s. per acre at public auction, when the land commissioner shall declare the land of inferior quality. This proclamation is held by some of the chief lawyers to be illegal; and the judge of the supreme court has warned intending purchasers that grants from the Crown, under this proclamation, can legally be put aside. Whether this state of doubt is to continue, I don't know; but it appears very ridiculous and hard.

The General Assembly of New Zealand, and not the Home Government (the Governor in the provincial

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assemblies), has the management of the land of the colony.

In 1850 a large number of influential and rich members of the Church of England, feeling the gradually collecting divisions in their church at home, particularly the great Papist tendency of a very talented, but vain and ill-directed class, as well as the leaning towards dissent of a portion of the evangelical members--and wishing that, in the Antipodes, its forms and worship should be established in their purity--planned an entire system of church colonization, and New Zealand was selected. They decided on a tract of land in the centre of the middle island, and sent there several shiploads of emigrants of this type, --capitalists, professional men, tradesmen, and labourers, with their families, and clergymen, with the promise of their chief town being made a bishop's see. They fixed a high price for their land, 3l. an acre; but this was to include payments for ecclesiastical and educational purposes, the surveys of the land, building of bridges and roads, and forwarding of labourers, all of whom, from the highest to the lowest, were to be of the Church of England. At the latter end of the year, Dr. Jackson was sent out as bishop-designate; but his commencement was unpropitious. I was at a meeting in Southvale, when he addressed a large audience three or four days before leaving, and prayed that the last building he might see on leaving England, should be the spire of Maher Chapel, Plymouth, and the first building after, should be the spire of the church of his new colony, to be called Christchurch. He left Plymouth, and meeting with foul winds in the Chops of the Channel, was blown back, and then saw the church on Maher heights again. On his arrival, differences with the

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Bishop of New Zealand, whose permission for the division of his diocese was necessary, and some affairs connected with the monetary arrangements of his former appointment at Islington, caused his return to England, and it another bishop, Dr. Jebb, is the present bishop-designate; and the colonists are anxious to get him, but, as yet, he is not consecrated. The Church system has gradually fallen into disuse, and now the emigrants may belong to any religious sect, paying, however, the same price for their land, a part of which sum goes, of course, to the credit of the Church of England expenses. The settlement or province now is on the east coast, in latitude 44° S., having a large peninsula called Banks' Peninsula, jutting out in its centre from the otherwise unbroken line of coast. It contains 2,500,000 acres, perfectly level, with a range of hills running parallel to the coast, and about fifty miles distant, as its present inland boundary. The ports are at Banks' Peninsula, and are by no means good. The land is generally a fine, grassy, pastoral country, differing from other parts of New Zealand in the general absence of wood; and it is a remarkable thing that hardly any natives existed there; those who were found there were attracted by a small French colony planted at Akaroa. The prairie nature of the land is eminently adapted for large sheep proprietors; and grain, fruit, and vegetables come to great perfection: twenty-two tons of potatoes have been produced, per acre, at Pigeon Bay. The climate is delightful; and when devoid of its sectarian character, the province must succeed. The speech of the superintendent of the province, at the opening of the first legislative council, on Sept. 27th, 1853, gives a most ridiculous specimen of a verbose, solemn statement; it fills several pages, but it gives

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some useful information on the present state of the province.

Of 24,485 acres sold, 21,008 are owned by, or let on lease to, residents, and from 4,009 acres appropriated for Church and educational purposes, 1,270 are leased and occupied; there are 3,400 acres under crop, and 7,500 fenced in. The stock consists of 100,000 sheep, 4,000 cattle, 400 horses; in the Canterbury block alone a million acres are taken up for pasturage.

The chief exports for the year ending June 30th, 1853, are 16 tons of cheese, valued at 1, 600l., celebrated in all the Australasian colonies as Port Coope cheese; wool, 8,290l.; the total exports being valued at 13,000l.

The exports were:--

£.

From Great Britain.... 20,521
[From] New South Wales.. 28,402
[From] Victoria.....2,085
[From] Van Diemen's Land.. 3,707
Total. - 54,715

£.

The revenue was.. 5,251
Expenditure... 5,212

And 68, vessels of 11,864 tons entered the port, 10 being registered of the port.

A large portion of the sums paid on purchase of land is kept in an educational fund; and as it is generally supposed that, from the nature of the colony, this goes to only the Church-of-England system of education, the superintendent says: "The State is not bound to educate its subjects in matters of religion, that is the proper business of the religious body to which the children belong; the business of the State is to educate in matters secular, and in those alone. But this doctrine is quite consistent with the admitted necessity of

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uniting religious and secular instruction in the education of youth. The education fund of the province should therefore be used, in all instances, to supply the secular instruction to schools set on foot by some religious body, guaranteeing that religious instruction shall be given to children attending it: for example, if the Church of England offers to provide religious teaching for a school, and guarantees an annual sum of money for that purpose, a grant would issue from the education fund of the province, to provide secular instruction for that school. Upon this principle, of the most perfect fairness to all religious sects, the State education fund should be expended."

Canterbury is to have a college, by their own account, to imitate the universities of Oxford, and Cambridge.

An awful proof of the cannibalism of the Maories took place at Banks' Peninsula, before the settlement was made. In 1830, two chiefs agreed with the captain of a British brig of 300 tons, that she should convey Heko, son of Te Pahi, and Te Raperaha and their people from the northern island to the country of Te Marinewie, Banks' Peninsula, where the war was to be carried on to extermination. There was a fine fleet of war canoes, with about one hundred picked warriors on board the English brig. The English captain describes, that Te Pahi and Te Raperaha caused their people to be concealed on their arrival. Te Marinewie went immediately on board the brig to negotiate for the trading, and he demanded two double-barrelled guns by way of tribute to himself. The trade commenced, Marinewie confiding fully on the Englishman's honour. After he had been seated in the cabin a short time, Te Heko and Te Raperaha jumped on him, as did all their people on all those who

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attended him on board. The scene which followed is too dreadful to describe. Under cover of night, Te Raperaha and Te Pahi and their men landed, and succeeded in capturing the wife and daughter of Te Marinewie; they sent them on board, and a work of death ensued, utterly indescribable for the horrible cruelties which were perpetrated. The whole population of the place who did not escape were killed, except about fifty, reserved to be taken back. At daylight the victors were seen, actively employed in cutting up and preparing for the steam-kettle the dead bodies of the slaughtered victims of the night. The crew of the vessel described the horrors they witnessed as beyond everything dreadful; the whole of the day was occupied in salting, and packing in baskets, heads and bodies to be conveyed back. Among the victims was a fine young woman near her accouchement, who was cut open, her unborn infant extracted, her head and part of her body salted, and the remainder, in presence of the captain, officers, and crew of a British ship, given to the pigs. Each basket contained a human being, and there were about a hundred baskets. During the passage back, the chieftain Te Marinewie and his wife, knowing the dreadful tortures that awaited them, strangled their own daughter; the captain then placed Te Marinewie and his wife in irons, to prevent them destroying themselves. It was understood that after undergoing torture, the heart of Te Marinewie should be sent to be eaten by Te Heko's mother, the widow of Te Pahi, who had been eaten by Te Marinewie; that Te Raperaha should eat his brains, Te Heko his eyes, Te Heko's sister his tongue, and the rest of his body be sent as presents to the chiefs of the interior.

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This stands, of course, alone; and the New Zealanders are now as peaceful as the peasantry of the United Kingdom. Several papers are published at Christchurch.

Potatoes are 6l. the ton; butter, 1l. 10s.; cheese, the best in the Australian colonies, 1s. the pound; wheat at 12s. the bushel; barley, 8s. to 10s.; oats 9s. to 12s.; turkeys, about 8s. 6d. each; eggs, 1s. 6d. to 2s. the dozen; mutton and beef, 7d. to 8d. the pound; tea, 2s. 6d. the pound.

Otago, the southernmost province of the New Zealand colony, comprises the southern part of the middle island. It was colonized first in 1847 by the Free Church party of the Church of Scotland, and with the design of forming a new Presbyterian colony. They were very strict going out in the ships, and some were horrified by others landing with their guns on a Sunday, so that their puritanical notions were invaded at once. The exclusive nature of the colony soon evaporated, but left a little condensed matter at the bottom, as their new council have just proved, they having restricted their grants of public money to schools adopting the "Shorter Catechism" of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The whole of the province may now be said to be eligible for purchase and occupation, the natives having sold all to the southward of a line drawn from Milford Haven on the west Coast, to Molineux Harbour on the eastern coast, a territory of four and a half million acres, for 2,600l. The whole of the middle island is now purchased from the natives by Government, and eligible for sale, with the exception of the Crown reserves for the natives. A Mr. Valpy has proved the practicability of present communication between

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this province and Canterbury, having been twelve days taking horses from Otago to Christchurch; but it is difficult travelling as yet. The horses swam the several rivers, and they got their goods across on rafts of driftwood. Before many years there will be perfect communication from Nelson, on the north, to Otago, the southern chief town of the middle island. The climate of Otago is the most severe of all the New Zealand provinces, but still for its latitude, 46° S., it is very moderate. It is like that of England, boisterous, cold, and wet; but splendid crops are got from the ground, and good health is enjoyed by the colonists: the soil is said to be very good and adapted for agricultural purposes. Dunedin, the Celtic name of Edinburgh, is the capital of the province on the eastern coast, having a large harbour, fourteen miles long. The land is well watered by numerous rivulets and a few rivers navigable for ships of three hundred to four hundred tons, descending from the high ranges of mountains in the interior, some being nearly seven thousand feet high. The southern coast is of a prairie nature. Eastward of the Molineux or Clutta river to the Jacob's river offers peculiar advantages for the formation of an extensive settlement. a plain, stretching forty miles east of the latter river, comprises six hundred thousand acres of rich soil, clothed with fine grass; timber is everywhere equally distributed. Eastward of this plain a chain of densely-wooded hills extend to the Molineux district, having, towards the sea, an elevation of two thousand feet. Inland they decrease in height, and the forest gives place to the finest pasturage, having an area of from seven hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand acres of fertile land: there is a complete scarcity of timber, but

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an abundance of peat is a substitute in the neighbourhood; and the natives grow their finest potatoes here.

Stewart's Island has only one hundred and seven Europeans on it; most of them are living with Maori women, many of them married. The Maories amount to two hundred and eighty. The white people mix a fishing with a farming life, and are generally men left from whalers. This island has a number of excellent harbours and well-sheltered coves, with every facility for vessels to refit, and get wood and water as well as cattle, when there is a settlement.

Coal and limestone have been discovered in the Otago province.

The markets at Dunedin (Otago) in September, 1853, were as follows: --Flour, per 100lbs. best, 1l. 10s., seconds, 1l.; bread, 1s. 2d. per 4-lb. loaf; wheat, 10s.; oats, 5s. per bushel; beef and pork, 4d. to 5d.; mutton, 5d. to 6d.; butter, 1s. 4d. the lb.; tea, 2s. 9d.; sugar, 4 1/2d. to 9d.; mould candles, 9d.; cheese, 6d. to 1s,; potatoes; per ton, 6l.; eggs, 1s. 4d. per dozen; hay, 5l. 10s. per ton; firewood, 15s. per cord.

New Zealand, till last year, 1853, having been divided into but two provinces, New Ulster and New Munster--instead of the six new divisions--the returns for former years are for those two provinces.

The imports and exports for 1851, to New Ulster, were, from--

	Imports.	Exports.
	£.	£.
Great Britain	49,359	6,846
British Colonies.	67,983	32,602
United States	3,605	6,722
Foreign States	1,786	1,536
	-- 122,733	-47,706

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	Imports.	Exports.
	£.	£.
Brought forward.	---122,733	---47,706
To New Minister, from
Great Britain	97,462	23,289
British Colonies	128,375	12,852
United States	951	..
Foreign States.	19	312
	---226,807	---36,453
Total	---349,540	---84,159

The shipping entered to and from New Ulster were,

from--

	Inwards.	Outwards.
	Tons.	Tons.
Great Britain	4,048	2,302
British Colonies	12,880	11,589
United States	17,549	15,740
Foreign States	3,098	4,735
Total	37,575	34,366

141 vessels, 2,480 men. -- 132 vessels, 2,265 men.

To and from New Munster, from--

Great Britain.	11,769	1,900
British Colonies.	16,535	18,747
United States	1,506	315
Foreign States	171	9,406
Total.	30,281	30,368

112 vessels, 1,668 men, -- 104 vessels, 945 men.

WHITE POPULATION IN 1851.

--	Males.	Females.
NEW ULSTER.
Auckland District.	4,921	3,919
Russell "	241	161
Wanganui "	120	68
New Plymouth "	845	687
Total	6,127	4,835
		10, 962

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265

--	Males.	Females.
NEW MUNSTER.
Wellington District	3,135	2,587
Wanganui "	350	196
Nelson "	2,317	1,970
Akaroa "	285	156
Port Victoria "	1,680	1,152
Otago "	994	746
Ahuriri "	108	18
Total	8,869	6,825
		15,694

SUMMARY.

New Ulster... 10,962

New Munster... 15,694

Grand total.. 26,656