1845 - Martin, S. M. New Zealand: in a Series of Letters - LETTER II.

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LETTER II.

BAY OF ISLANDS, 1839.

BEING about to sail in a day or two for the River Thames, in a small coasting vessel, I must before departing redeem my pledge, and resume my remarks on this part of the country, with which I have had now sufficient time to become pretty well acquainted. From the nature of the country around the Bay of Islands, the communication between the various settlements is altogether by water, which makes travelling rather expensive. The boats are generally manned by natives, the demand for whose labour has become so great since the influx of Europeans, that none can be procured to pull an oar, even for half a day, at less than one dollar.

The house of the British Consul or Resident is opposite to Kororarika. In front of it he has erected a flagstaff, on which the New Zealand flag waves, the superintendance of the daily hoisting of which appears to be the only duty which the Consul discharges. I was offered a letter of

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introduction to him by a friend in Sydney, but, from the character of the Europeans I have already met, I am not sorry I did not accept of it. Mr. Busby is a very extensive proprietor of land in New Zealand. Like the missionaries, with whom alone he associates, he has been not unmindful of his private interest, whatever way he may be discharging his public duties.

Paihia, the chief Church Missionary station, is on the same side of the Bay as the British Resident's house, but farther from the entrance of the harbour. It is beautifully situated, and contains several well-built houses, which are occupied by three or four missionaries. There are no natives near it, the most of them being either resident at Kororarika, or at a large Pah four or live miles farther up the Bay. Probably Paihia was selected because of its distance from the natives: it is hard to discover any other reason--and yet one would imagine that a missionary would plant himself in the heart of a native settlement. I cannot understand the object of the Society in permitting their missionaries to congregate in bodies of three and four at every station. They would surely be more useful scattered over the country.

The Church Missionaries have a very powerful rival in a French Roman Catholic Bishop recently settled at Kororarika--a person of great zeal, distinguished talents, and much humility. He is fast recommending himself and his doctrines to both Europeans and natives. He has public worship morning and evening at his house, which is attended by almost all the natives at Kororarika. It is worthy of remark, that these natives have hitherto withstood every effort of the Church Missionaries, and were, indeed, abandoned as hopeless. The success of the Bishop is therefore more likely to be owing to liberal presents of blankets

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than to any impression made by his preaching or doctrine. The Europeans say that the natives will abandon him whenever the presents cease, I suspect, however, that the forms and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church are much more likely to affect the minds of uncivilised and naturally highly superstitious men, than the more simple service of the Protestant churches. As Missionaries, the Jesuits, to which order Bishop Pampalier belongs, have been, generally speaking, eminently successful, and I strongly suspect, from the character of the New Zealanders, that the Roman Catholic religion will make progress among them: be that as it may, the Jesuit missionaries will, at least, produce one good effect--that of stimulating the other missionaries to exertion; a thing, by all accounts, not a little required. Nearly every native at Kororarika wears an emblem of the Church of Rome, either in the shape of a cross around his neck, or a small figure of the Virgin fastened with a piece of tape to his ear.

Since my arrival here, I have had an opportunity of seeing something of the natives and their customs, as their Pah is nearly in the very centre of this settlement, and several of the chiefs of the tribe are men of considerable importance, in time of war at least.

Many of them wear European clothing, but the blanket, is held in highest estimation. The young and better-clad females wear a loose garment made of print or calico.

About a week ago they had an extraordinary mourning over the bones of some children of one of the chief men, which had been just removed by the aged father from a distant part of the country, where his sons had some years before then been killed. All the relations and connexions of the tribe were assembled on the eventful occasion, and the weeping and wailing lasted for three days. The women,

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as is always the case, acted the part of chief mourners, which they did to greater perfection than even the Irish themselves. If one could judge of their sorrow by their fierce howling and yelling, and the cruel gashes they made in their cheeks every now and then with pieces of broken glass, it must have been indeed intense. It was the most hideous sight I ever witnessed. The exhibition was altogether more like that of fiends than human beings. What a degraded and cruel monster ignorance makes of man! Being ignorant of the language, I could neither understand the meaning of the words of their lamentation, nor could I discover what benefit they expected either to themselves or the deceased by thus cutting their faces and besmearing their bodies with their own blood, which flowed abundantly.

At the end of three days they all assembled in a yard in front of the residence of the chief, who, on account of having come in contact with the dead bodies, was for a certain time tabooed: the effect of which was, that so long as the taboo or sacredness lasted, he could neither enter his own house nor any other, neither could he with his own hands assist himself to any food, but must like a child have it thrown into his mouth by some other person. The object of their assembling together was to address themselves to the old chief, doubtless with the view of congratulating him on his arrival with the precious relics, the children's bones, which were in a box beside him. One chief after another got up and delivered himself of his oration, pacing backwards and forwards; some with great vehemence, if not fury--and others with solemnity, and even dignity. The manner and action corresponded very much with the appearance, age, and temperament of the speaker. When they had all spoken, the old chief himself rose, and ad-

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dressed them at considerable length, and the whole was finished with a feast consisting of potatoes, cumeras, eels, pork, whale flesh, dried sharks, and a variety of other fish, together with several calabashes of rendered lard or oil, which they took out with their hands and ate with great relish: it was in fact a truly savage feast, for they ate till they were unable to eat more, and then, like the wild beast after devouring its prey, they went to sleep. The lard and the whale flesh were what they appeared most to relish; the latter they had fortunately procured a few days before from the carcasses of two whales, which had been caught by a vessel then in the harbour, and which, after the fat had been cut off, were brought to the beach and delivered over to the natives, who cut them up in first-rate style with their tomahawks, each trying who could carry off the most. The flesh of the whale, like fish and all animal food which they eat, is dried in the sun without salt or any other preparation.

From all that I could ascertain, the natives at the Bay of Islands are fast dying off through intemperance, and the introduction of European diseases; the females in particular are very short-lived, and sadly disproportionate in number to the other sex. They are most likely the greatest sufferers from European intercourse and European diseases. They are also the most frequent victims of infanticide--a crime very prevalent among the aborigines of this country.

Much has been said, and I fear with considerable truth, regarding the immorality of the European population of New Zealand, and the Bay of Islands in particular: but to every general charge there must be some exceptions; even in Sodom and Gomorrah there were a Lot and his family. Of late years the character of the European population of this country has undergone a change for the better. The

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old runaway convicts are disappearing, and giving way to a more respectable class of emigrants from the neighbouring Colonies, who, on account of the facility of obtaining good land in this country, and because of their limited means, perhaps from a dislike to the penal Colonies, are now flocking in numbers to it. Several such persons are settled at Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and other parts of the country, and it is to be hoped that their presence and example will produce a moral effect upon the rest. The runaway convicts are already, I am told, fast disappearing, and betaking themselves to some of the other less frequented islands of the South Sea. They appear to bear about with them something of the Cain-like mark, which cannot admit of intercourse with their own countrymen without a revelation of their guilt. They come on the first wave of Colonisation; but when the strong and full tide sets in, they are driven off the coast. Like the useless weed which springs on the newly-raised coral island, they soon give place to a better vegetation. Do not suppose, however, that there are not still quite enough of them here, in the shape of sawyers, grog-sellers, and native traders; but their influence is by all accounts now happily on the wane. A love of order, and a desire to maintain the security of life and property, appear to be growing even in the settlement of Kororarika. As a proof of this, I must inform you, that the inhabitants of this place have already laid the foundation of a government, simple and primitive, but very effective, as far as the object in view is concerned.

The subjects of powerful and civilised countries may laugh at the idea of a few Europeans in a remote island of the Pacific, unconnected with, unpatronised, and even abandoned by their mother-country, organising themselves into a form of government; but such is nevertheless the

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fact; and primitive as that government is, it establishes beyond a doubt, that necessity will teach men, without the assistance of hereditary lords or kings, and with very little expense, to maintain a government suited to their own wants and requirements.

Such a government has, under the name of the Kororarika Association, been established at the Bay of Islands for some years. All the respectable--indeed, all the inhabitants of the Bay of Islands are members of it. Residence in the place, and the payment of a small annual sum, entitle to the name and privileges of membership. The affairs of the Association are managed by a Chairman or President, a Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and a Committee of Management. The united officers form a Council judicial, legislative and executive. The limits of its jurisdiction are at all times confined to the Bay of Islands. It may indeed be regarded more in the light of a police establishment, than an attempt at setting up a formal government; although it takes cognisance of civil causes as well as criminal offences. All cases are heard on evidence before the chairman and committee, whose decision is final, and bound to be enforced by any and every member of the Association, on pain of expulsion, or a higher punishment, as the case may be. Minor offences are punishable by pecuniary fine. Higher crimes, which include the refusal to pay just debts, involve expulsion from the settlement. Very aggravated offenders, besides the above punishment, are also made to endure the still further disgrace of being tarred and feathered; a sentence, the execution of which is always entrusted to the chairman, as being the highest and of course the most honourable of the functions of his office. This sentence has been on several occasions executed. The unfortunate culprit, after

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being divested of his garments, has his person smeared all over with tar, and is then covered with the feathers of two or three domestic fowls, which are killed for the occasion. Thus adorned, he is marched through the settlement, followed by all the Europeans and natives. As might be expected, the subject of such treatment is not likely again to trouble the Association by his presence amongst them. While the powers of the Association are thus high and summary, they are said to have been seldom abused, capital punishment being very rarely inflicted. They have been, however, accused in one instance of having abused their office, by inflicting capital punishment on a person named Campbell, who came to Kororarika, on account of a Sydney grocer, to recover a debt from an influential member or officer of the Association. As payment of the debt, a charge was preferred against poor Campbell by this person, for some real or imaginary offence committed by him within the jurisdiction of the Association. He was tried, and sentenced to be tarred and feathered, which was duly and promptly executed. But notwithstanding such charges as these, it is allowed by every person acquainted with the state of the Bay of Islands at the time of its formation, that the Kororarika Association is a very good local institution; and if its benefits could be extended all over the country, it would materially add to the security of life and property.

In the present state of New Zealand, with a very scattered European population, and a numerous semicivilised native race, it is scarcely to be expected that an internal government can be established on a scale and with power great enough to preserve order throughout the country. Every settlement of any importance must imitate the example set by the Bay of Islands, and organise for itself

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a police, which is doubtless all that can be looked for in a rude and primitive state of society. The country settlers and agriculturists must, on the other hand, as they do now, continue for some time longer to place themselves under the protection of some powerful chief, and accommodate themselves as much as possible to the peculiar circumstances of the country, by respecting the customs and even prejudices of the aborigines. Acting on such a principle, it is wonderful to conceive, by all accounts, what amount of peace, safety, and security may be enjoyed among a savage and even cannibal people like the New Zealanders. I am told that there is scarcely an instance of their wantonly injuring Europeans or their property, if they manifest ordinary discretion and propriety of conduct. It is true that some depredations have been committed on Europeans visiting the country; but the fault has been invariably on the part of the Europeans, in either actively engaging in the wars of the tribes with one another, in outraging their feelings by violating their customs and prejudices, or more frequently by unjustifiable interference with their women. From all that I have seen and heard of the natives myself, I should not have the slightest fear or hesitation in settling among them.

The climate of the Bay of Islands appears to be exceedingly mild and temperate; very little, if anything, colder than Sydney in the winter time, and by all accounts much less hot and more equable in summer. There is, however, very little inducement to settle in this place, as all the land around the harbour is very barren and unproductive. Some of the small bays would doubtless answer well for gardens and orchards; but the land is in general so steep and hilly, that cattle and horses could never be used to assist the efforts of the husbandman. At Tipoonah, another Church

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Missionary station, about fifteen miles distant from Kororariki by water, and about the same distance from Waimate by land, there is, I am told, an extensive tract of very available land along the banks of a river; but I imagine it is nearly all in the hands of the missionaries, who appear to be excellent judges of land.

Two larger rivers empty their waters into the Bay of Islands, about twenty or thirty miles from the entrance of the harbour. On the banks of these rivers there are extensive tracts of excellent land, which will before long be made available, but they are at present reckoned too far distant and too difficult of access to be occupied by Europeans. As the carriage of produce, whether by land or water, is always expensive in a new country, the most accessible lands will, in the first instance, be selected, even if they should not be the richest. I hear great accounts of the fertility of the River Thames--a district upwards of a hundred miles to the southward of this place; but I have not as yet fallen in with any person who has seen the land, or can speak from personal observation. I hope, however, soon to be able to inform you of the correctness of these reports. I have not seen any land in this part of the country that I should desire to occupy or purchase: it may be different with that on the Thames.