1846 - Marjoribanks, A. Travels in New Zealand - CHAPTER VI

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CHAPTER VI.

The greatest deception that has been practised on the people of this country in regard to New Zealand is, that those interested in its prosperity, when stating its wonderful fertility, keep almost entirely out of view the extent to which this fertility extends. They tell you that the crops are the finest in the world, and the soil the finest in the world, and the climate the finest in the world, and though this may be all true enough, yet they too often conceal the circumstance, that not above one-tenth part of that country can ever be rendered productive, thus reducing the available land within a comparatively narrow limit. Mr. Thorp, says, "Above half of New Zealand is mountain, one entire scene of rugged volcanic distortion; perhaps nearly one-fourth is swampy, and one fourth plain or available land. If the pound

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an acre gentleman, find his lot cast on the mountain or in the swamp, he may pray for a speedy deliverance." 1

Nearly the whole country to the north of the river Thames, extending in length, upwards of a hundred miles, excepting the missionary settlements, is in a great measure barren and unproductive, being either sandy or very mountainous, and covered with the Kauri pine. Indeed the Northern Island is more or less mountainous throughout, and the Middle Island is sadly cut up by the enormous ridge of mountains called the Southern Alps.

Nothing perhaps will give a better idea of its rugged and mountainous nature, than the description of the land contained in the different titles of the proprietors in that country, who were obliged to give in their claims to the commissioners appointed by Government, for all the lands they had acquired. In addition to a short description of the land, the value or consideration given for it, of whatever nature that might have been, had to be specially stated in the claim given in, and the whole was then inserted in the Government Gazette. Mr. Oakes of the M'Leay River, New South Wales, I observe, acquired 300 acres near Hokianga, from a chief, as the price of a mare, valued at £50, so that this chief probably wished to have a little equestrian exercise. It was better, however, that he should ride on a horse than on pigs, as some of the natives did fifty years ago with three of them, as they took them for horses, and rode two to death, killing the third for entering tabbooed burying ground. Blankets and calicoes seem to have

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been the chief things given, and they are generally stated in these claims as at the Sydney prices, a very proper distinction, as these were about double the English prices, and they were allowed three times the Sydney prices. The following are a few of the claims which I have selected from those which appeared in the Government Gazette of 20th July, 1841, published at Auckland.

The first is that of George Green, of North Shore, Sydney, whose claim is thus stated: --"Twenty thousand acres, more or less, viz. all that piece or parcel of land situated in the northward part of Stewart's Island, bounded towards the north by that part of the Straits extending from Rogetty Point to Oronta Point, about five miles; towards the west of the ocean four miles; towards the south by a line running about parallel to the north coast in the Straits, about five miles; towards the east by a line running from Oronta Point to the east part of the line last mentioned, about five miles.

"Alleged to have been purchased from John Toawack, with the consent of Toby Patrick, Auroa, John White, and Tyroa--Consideration, £30 Sterling."

"Release from John Towack to claimant, dated 24th October, 1838."

The following is another claim of the same party, --

"George Green, as above, claimant--All that piece or parcel of land on Middle Island; bounded on the north, east, and south sides, by other parts of the Middle Island; and on the west by the waters of the South Pacific Ocean, and fronting thereto forty miles or thereabouts, commencing at a point called Waukerpito, bearing south-east forty miles; then by a line running to Mistaken Bay forty miles or thereabouts. Contents not stated. Alleged to have been

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purchased as above. --Consideration £200 Sterling. Release as above, dated 31st October, 1838."

Here our enterprizing friend makes a wonderful bargain, having purchased a tract of land forty miles square, for £200, so that he must have intended to have become a New Zealand chieftain, and to have eclipsed the native chiefs altogether.

The next is that of "William Wright, and William S. Grahame, merchants of Sydney, claimants. --Forty thousand acres, more or less, viz., all that piece or parcel of land or ground situate or lying and being on the river Otamatea, and known by the general name of Te Wairau, commencing at the creek or river Kaiwaka, and following its course to the creek Pounau, and then along the Pounau, including the mountains Pepo Watu, Te Rangi, and Pupu Rangi, and all the land on that side of the Pouri Uri, then from the first mentioned creek Kaiwaka, along the course of the Otamatea, following its windings, including the Wairau and the Wi to Parawinuama, and then including Parawinuama and Kouwakatu, thence to the aforesaid Pupu Rangi, including all the land on that side of the river, extending back to what the natives call Tokirau. This land is alleged to have been purchased from Paikea, a chief residing on the river Wairoa--Consideration given is stated to have been £65 in cash, and goods to the amount of £687. 6s. 10d. amounting in all to £752. 6s. 10d. Deed from Paikea to claimants dated 10th January, 1840."

The next is that of James Busby, Esq. the British consul, or resident as he is called, at New Zealand; who gives in no less than eleven claims to upwards of 50,000 acres of land, so that he must have been a

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very enterprizing consul. Of these I shall only insert the two following; the first is as follows, --"Two thousand acres, more or less, situated in the district of Waitangi, at the Bay of Islands; bounded on the east by a mangrove swamp; on the south-east by the river Hutia and the middle of a swamp, in a direct line to the river Waitangi, above the fall; on the south by the river Waitangi; on the west by the top of the range of hills stretching from the river Waitangi, over the hills called Tanpare and Moerewa, to the hill Tananui; and on the north by the ridge of hills extending from Tananui to Terakanihi, whence it is bounded by the land purchased from the Puke tribe. Alleged to have been purchased from Kamera, Te Tao, Parangi, Wakarua, Taro, Puhiahia, Puri, Ripa, Ngoua, Tuhirangi, Peia, Te Arapiro, and Wieru--

Consideration, cash and goods to the amount of £21. 2s. 6d. Sydney prices."

The second is "James Busby, as above, claimant. -- Twenty-five thousand acres, more or less, situated at Wangarei or Bream Bay, on the east coast, about fifty miles south of the Bay of Islands; bounded on the north by the harbour of Wangarei; on the east by the sea; on the south by the top of a range of hills commencing near the sea, called Kukunui, and stretching inland to the mountain called Tangi Hua; and on the south-west and west by the hill called Puke-Moki-Moki, and the Wai-a-horu, and from thence to a hill called Warau, and over the summit of Mount Tikerangi to the harbour of Puri Noa. Alleged to have been purchased from Tirerau, Motutara, Amotiriri, Teakiriri, Te Karkeare, Tutahi, Iwitahi, Waka Ariki, Pou, Kawanui, Tauwite, Toru, Kahunui, Hamiora Maru, Parihora, Umaugawa Te Haimgere,

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Te Rou, Hori Tipoki, Tipeue, Hari, and Pauri Kaitangata. -- Consideration, cash and goods to the amount of £193. 0s. 6d. Sydney prices."

The last I shall insert is one in the Port Nicholson district, where Commissioner Spain held his Court, on 16th May, 1842. This claim is stated in the Government Notice as follows: "Case No. 118. -- John Terry Hughes of Sydney, merchant, claimant. -- All that land known by the name of Porerooa, from the rocks upon the north-east side of the river Porerooa called Kicketoa, north-east by north thirty miles, and is bounded on the east by a range of snowy mountains; to the south by a range of hills three miles from Port Nicholson, upon the south-west side of the river Porerooa to Teeti Bay; from Teeti Bay south-east by east to the south branch of the Porerooa river. (Contents not stated.)"

The above are sufficient to give some idea of a country which that eminent individual, Joseph Barrow Montefiore, Esq. late merchant of Sydney, now of London, in his valuable evidence before the House of Lords, had the audacity to say, in the ardour of his enthusiasm, "was in scenery, climate, and productiveness, a, perfect paradise." It appears to be a singular sort of paradise at all events, --unlike what mankind in general look forward to, --being composed chiefly of mountains, hills, ranges of mountains, ridges of mountains, tops of mountains, snowy mountains, creeks, bays, lagoons, and mangrove swamps. When making out a description of the land in this paradise, they seem just to have stood on the top of one ridge of mountains, and looked across to another; then taken a glance at the ocean in the distance; then turned their eyes towards some creek, lagoon, or man-

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grove swamp, and when all this was done, guessed the probable contents as nearly as they could. In giving the contents of the land they almost invariably use the words "more or less," two remarkably convenient words in a country like that, as with the aid of two such valuable words, they could hardly go far wrong. If they sold, for instance, 10,000 acres of land, and they turned out to be only seven, the word "less" would apply in that case, and the natives were too wide awake ever to think of giving much more. But in regard to ascertaining the precise quantity, it was totally out of the question, as from having to wade through creeks, lagoons, mangrove swamps, and rivers, and scramble over rocks and precipices, they must either have been drowned or dashed to pieces; and where the value of an acre, as at that time, was scarcely a penny, it was not worth their while even to wet their feet, and far less to run the risk of perishing in making the attempt.

I have now given you an impartial account of that singular country, pointing out its numerous advantages, and not concealing its disadvantages, the latter consisting mainly in the mountainous nature of almost the whole county; and shall allow you to judge for yourselves whether, upon the whole, it be an eligible field for emigration. I should certainly be sorry to dissuade any one from going, who may consider it advisable to do so; but neither will I call upon you as my venerable friend Peter Doran has done, to free yourselves from bondage and slavery here and hasten there, for the scripture hath said, "Go not forth from thy kindred, lest a worse thing befal thee."

The climate being in many respects superior to our own, and the land where it is good, being rich to a

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degree, will probably insure a steady course of emigration towards it, and I am of opinion that an annual emigration of 2000 individuals will find employment, if scattered judiciously over its romantic shores. To expect, however, that an emigration to that extent would be felt as a relief to the overgrown population of this country, is as absurd as to expect that a single spoonful of turtle soup thrown into the parish soup-chaldron, would convert the whole into turtle soup.

There is one great advantage, however, which emigrants who go now to New Zealand, have over those who went there in 1840, namely, that the price of every thing has fallen at least the one-half since that time, and in some cases two-thirds. Potatoes have fallen from £10 the ton to £4. Beef and mutton from 1s. the pound to 6d.; pork from 6d. to 4d.; the quartern, or 4 lb. loaf, from 2s. to 8d.; fowls from 8s. the couple to 3s.; tea from 5s. the pound to 2s. 6d.; raw sugar from 6d. to 3d.; eggs from 6s. the dozen to 2s.; fresh butter from 3s. the pound to 1s.; and fish, (such as it is,) for a mere trifle. When we keep in view this comparatively low price as regards all the necessaries of life, and consider that the present average rate of wages is, for mechanics, two guineas per week, and for labourers one guinea, it will readily be seen, that to the working classes, at least, it presents a fair field for emigration, to the extent mentioned above; and it is satisfactory also to know, that by the latest accounts, every person who is steady and willing to work can now find employment.

A considerable opening for miners has taken place within the last two or three years, by the discovery of very extensive copper mines at the Barrier Island,

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about fifty miles from Auckland, where that interprising individual, Mr. Charles Abercromby of Sydney, the owner, has nearly one hundred men employed in the workings. The ore is of very superior quality, containing upwards of forty per cent. of pure metal.

Before concluding, I shall give a short narrative of one of the most cold blooded murders to be found in the pages of history, committed on five individuals, by a maori or native youth, son of Ruhe, one of the greatest chiefs at the Bay of Islands, and only sixteen years of age. The victims of this atrocity were Mrs. Roberton and her two children, a boy about eight, and a girl about two years of age; --Isabella Brind, about three years old, the natural daughter of a Captain Brind, by a native woman--the daughter of Rewa, the head of the Ngapuhis, who principally inhabit Kororarika; and Mrs. Roberton's man servant, Thomas Bull, about thirty-five years of age.

Mrs. Roberton was the widow of a Captain Roberton, whose mother resided in Edinburgh, prior to her departure for New Zealand in November 1842, for the purpose of looking after the effects of her deceased son and his family. That lady, (who is now nearly eighty years of age,) waited upon me in Edinburgh in 1839, on hearing that I was going to New Zealand, and gave me letters to her son, who had settled at the Bay of Islands, but not having gone to that part of New Zealand, I forwarded them by post, and had a polite letter from him when at Sydney, acknowledging their receipt. He was drowned shortly afterwards, when sailing in a small boat, and in sight of his own house, though, unfortunately, no assistance could be given to him.

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It is a remarkable circumstance in the history of that lady's family, that he was the last of five sons who have all shared the same fate, that is, been drowned.

His widow, who was a Sydney lady, resided in one of the numerous islands from which the Bay of Islands derives its name. This island belonged to her husband, and she and her family were its only occupants. She had employed this young chief, who was a remarkably powerful lad, to assist her white man servant, Thomas Bull, in some of her farming operations, and Thomas having told Mrs. Roberton that he was a lazy fellow, he watched the opportunity when he had fallen asleep, to split his skull open with an axe. Mrs. Roberton having accidentally happened to come upon him when in the act of doing so, he judged it advisable to despatch her also with the same instrument, and then the two female children. Mrs. Roberton's son seeing what was going on, fled to a mountain close by, but the monster overtook him, and threw him headlong over the rock, two hundred feet high, so that he was literally dashed to pieces.

You have here a melancholy picture of man in a savage state. This boy had evidently been naturally of a ferocious disposition, and brought up with the notion, perhaps, that to kill strangers, or those of another tribe, when he had an opportunity, was a praiseworthy act; so that he probably felt no more compunction at killing these five individuals, than if they had been as many rats. The dread of eternal punish-

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ment had never been instilled into his mind; and from all risk of temporal punishment he had no doubt trusted that his own tribe would protect him, and he knew that they would never punish him themselves. Indeed his father only gave him up from the apprehension that the Kororarika tribes would kill him on the spot, in consequence of the murder of the grandchild of Rewa, the chief of the Ngapuhis. He was thus the slave of passion and not of reason, and unquestionably the creature of most unfavourable circumstances. He was taken to Auckland, tried, condemned, and executed on the 7th of March, 1842, with great formality. We may judge from this, in what a sad state the world would be placed, were all moral and religious influence withdrawn. Among mankind in a state of civilization murder is considered the most atrocious of all crimes; no temptation or provocation whatever, except self-defence, being considered a justification of it. The murderer himself becomes, moreover, frequently a prey to remorse, which Dr. Adam Smith characterizes as the most dreadful of all the sentiments that enter the human breast. This sentiment is made up of shame, from a sense of the enormity of his crime--of grief for the effects of it--of pity for those who have suffered by it--of fear of eternal punishment, and of dread of temporal punishment, from a consciousness of the justly provoked resentment of all rational creatures; for in the 35th chapter of Numbers it is written, "For blood it defileth the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it." These feelings combined constitute the sentiment of remorse; and so overpowering is its influence over man in a civilized state, that many instances are on record, (and

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one in particular, occurs in the Edinburgh Courant, of 23d May, 1844,) of those who had escaped detection, delivering themselves up even years afterwards to undergo the punishment prescribed by law for their offence; declaring, at the same time, that their life had become so miserable, their conscience tormenting them both night and day, that even death itself would be hailed by them as a relief from sufferings which they could no longer endure.

Man, in a savage state, on the contrary, is an absolute stranger to these feelings. Were you to attempt to explain to him the meaning of the word "remorse" he would only gaze on you with wonder; and the word "cruelty" has never appeared in his dictionary.

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His mind may be said to resemble a garden, in which weeds have been sown instead of good seeds. Actions which we have been taught from our youth upwards to look upon with horror, and as contrary to the laws both of God and of man, he has been trained to consider as actually praiseworthy. His passions, from his earliest years, have suffered no control; his reasoning powers have been in abeyance, and hope has no influence over him, as he has but little to hope for. The passion of fear alone keeps him in check, and when that is removed, the natural savage propensities of his nature come again into play, and he returns as the dog to his vomit, or as the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.