Adventure in New Zealand [Vol.II.]

Edward Jerningham Wakefield

First published by John Murray in 1845

Digitised and made available online by the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.

Epub © 2013 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927279-57-1

[TITLE PAGE]

ADVENTURE
IN
NEW ZEALAND,

FROM 1839 TO 1844;
WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE BEGINNING OF THE BRITISH COLONIZATION OF THE ISLANDS.

BY
EDWARD JERNINGHAM WAKEFIELD, Esq.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1845.

[TITLE VERSO]

London: Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS, Stamford Street.

[CONTENTS]

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

CHAPTER I.

Bridle-road – Wreck – Taupo war-party – The Rev. Octavius Hadfield – Proofs of his worth as a missionary – Wanganui – The process of becoming a store-keeper – The feudal attachment of the natives secured by trading – Pig-hunting – Dogs – E Kuru's ardour for the chase – Troublesome natives – Conduct of Mr. Matthews, a Missionary Catechist – He is justly reproved by E Kuru – Missionary, heathen, and civilized natives – Waitotara – Inhospitality – Panic of natives on first seeing a horse – Amazement – The country about Wanganui – Climate like the south of Spain – Winds – Showers – Lawlessness – Pig-stealing – Den of thieves – Wreck of the Sandfly ..... Page 1

CHAPTER II.

Appointment of Officers in England – Progress – Shops – Rope-makers – Outrages by Rangihaeata – Tapu on the Beach – Complaint to Police Magistrate – His answer – Neglect of the Cook's Strait settlers by Governor Hobson – No tribunals – Effect on natives – News from Auckland only through Sydney – Absurd nomenclature – Kindness to natives – Of Government – Of the colonists – E Puni, a gentleman – Answer of the Governor to the Magistrates' address – The Clendon job – Appointments – Finance – East Coast of Middle Island – Port Cooper – Public meeting – Native found dead – Warepori excites the natives – Alarm – Helplessness – Volunteers – Special constables – Impressions of natives – Disgrace of Mr. Davy – Judge and Attorney-General – Distant legislation – Secret calumnies – Defence of his choice by Captain Hobson – Ill-treatment of Company's settlers ... 22

CHAPTER III.

Arrival of the Governor – Public meeting – Undignified landing-Empty levee – Mr. George Clarke, Chief Protector of the Aborigines – Degradation of chiefs – Mr. Clarke's unfounded charge

against Colonel Wakefield – Countenanced by the Governor – Natives consent to leave their Pa – Sudden refusal – Perpetuation of the noxious Pas – Deputation to the Governor – His abject appearance – His own description of it – Mr. Hanson and Mr. Earp – "Government fever" – The Governor refuses to fulfil the Agreement of 1840 – Mr. Clarke's letter – Evil effects of indulgence on natives – Example – Misprotection of the Aborigines – Hiko repudiates his bargain – I am requested to become a Magistrate – "Nelson" Colony – Negotiations – The Governor goes to Akaroa – Dinner to Captain Arthur Wakefield and Captain Liardet – Toasts – Dispute about the site of Nelson – Proclamations – Appointments – Things left undone – Stifling of Native Reserves – The colonists and the Governor – Lieutenant Shortland and Mr. Clarke the real Governors – Their private interest at stake ........ 42

CHAPTER IV.

Voyage to Wanganui – Too late for selection of lands – Police Magistrate – Jail – Manufacture of hams and bacon – Departure for Taupo – -Ascend the Wanganui – Curious missionary chief – Rigorous discipline – Quarrel between natives – Speech of a youth – Scenery – The Pass in "The Place of Cliffs" – Giddy ascent of cliff – Monument – My attendants – Baggage – Tributary of the Wanganui – Slow progress – Forced march – Towai, or "Black Birch" – High table plains – Rain – Tonga Riro Mountains – Legend of Taranaki – View to south-west – Roto Aera, or Lake "Yes, indeed" – Rest – Lake Taupo – Boiling springs – A fine chief – Villages on the lake – Visit to Heuheu – Feast – Haka, or Dance – Waitanui Pa – Well-behaved natives – Proceedings for damages – An Artist in Tatu – The process – Natives play draughts – Local attraction of the compass – Mr. Blackett – Journey from the Bay of Plenty to Taupo – Volcanic district – Farewell to Heuheu – His speech – Tapu on the summit of a mountain – Mr. Dandeson Coates – Distinction between religious respect and landed rights – Native irony – Return from Taupo – Skirmish – Sacred sand – Sulphureous river – Effect of sunrise – Rolling ranges – Flax gardens .. 80

CHAPTER V.

Progress of Wanganui – Mr. Wansey's attempt to settle – Consequential airs of the Police Magistrate – Arrival of E Kuru –

Penalty inflicted for saluting him – Ludicrous proceedings – Anger of the natives – Guests – Bell's Farm – His management of the natives – Interview with two repudiating chiefs – Their proposal – Journey to Wellington by land – The great chief of Manawatu – Effect of an appeal to native hospitality – Purchase of Manawatu district by Colonel Wakefield – Excellent results of Mr. Hadfield's missionary teaching – Houses for travellers ... 125

CHAPTER VI.

Foundation of Nelson – Mr. Thompson – First Court of Quarter Sessions – First trial of a native – Legal position of natives – Causes for complaint against the Governor – His selection of Magistrates – Vast claims to land – Government Estimates – Legislative Council – Discontent of the Auckland population – Maketu, the murderer – Public Meeting – Neglect of the harbour by Government – Mr. Hanson – A colonist who has become an official – The Bishop – Murder of Milne – Villages – Signs of progress – Horticultural Society – Produce – Statistics – Harvest weather – Surveying "Cadets". – Accident of Captain Liardet – Wretched state of Auckland – Population of Cook's Strait – Inefficient Government Institutions – Second Newspaper – Nelson and New Plymouth – Mr. Earp – County Courts – Government Land-sales – Fleeting news from the capital – The Governor's Speech – Details of the Estimates – Injustice to Cook's Strait – Public Meeting ....... 144

CHAPTER VII.

Voyage to Nelson – Blind Bay – Nelson Haven – Site of Nelson-Gaiety of the landing-place – The infant town – Quail – Climate – Calm weather – Cattle – Coal and limestone – Selection of lands – Native Reserves – Colonizing character of the Nelson Gentry – Captain Arthur Wakefield – His name among the natives – Dr. Imlay, of Twofold Bay .... 177

CHAPTER VIII.

Public Meetings – Outrage committed by Rangihaeata upon settlers – Mr. Murphy, the Police Magistrate – Increasing lawlessness of the natives caused by impunity – Mr. Spain, the Commissioner of Land-Claims – Mr. George Clarke junior the Sub-

Protector of Aborigines – His qualifications – Petition at Auckland for the recall of Governor Hobson – Wretched condition of Auckland – Introduction of pheasants and bees into Wellington – Mr. Wicksteed appointed to succeed Captain Liardet at New Plymouth – Blood horses from Sydney – Court of Land Claims – Its mischievous action – Changed notions of the natives – Complicated proceedings – Evidence of E Puni – of E Tako, a Repudiator – Mr. Tod's case – Dilatory progress – Effects – Government negligence – Latest dates from Auckland reach Wellington through Sydney – Mildness of Winter – Unceasing vegetation – Natural pasture – Steam-mill and Brewery – Mechanics' Institute – Mr. Kettle's Exploring Expedition – Gorge of the Manawatu – Plain of the three rivers – Formation of the country – Native legend – Plain of the Ruamahanga – Its nature and extent – Wild hogs – Return by the Hutt Valley – Salubrity of the climate – Central position of Wellington ... 189

CHAPTER IX.

The Chief E Ahu – He quells Rangihaeata's noisy arrogance – He avoids the missionary natives – Journey to Otaki and Ohau – The chief's son, Wahine iti – Lakes – The Patriarch Watanui – Inland journey – Rangitikei – Obstructions offered to settlers by missionary natives – Mr. Mason, the missionary – Mr. Dawson, the Police Magistrate – Native dispute – Consequences – Good faith and honest pride of Rangi Tauwira – The town of "Petre" – E Kuru accompanies me to Wellington – Inland path – Bivouac – Race – The Oroua, or Styx – Exaggerated missionary notions – Hypocrisy – Its punishment – The surveying station – Steam saw-mill – Reconciliation of two hostile chiefs – The Patriarch's family – A noble result of Mr. Hadfield's missionary teaching – Rauperaha sends his slaves to obstruct settlers on the Hutt ......... 221

CHAPTER X.

Rauperaha's slaves on the Hutt – Veracity of natives – E Puni's present – Native labour – Fires – Furniture woods – Boats – Neglect of Nelson – Stagnation at Auckland – The Bishop arrives – Stifling of the Native Reserves – -Their value misrepresented – Their real value – Unjust reproaches against the plan – Outrages by natives at New Plymouth – How quelled –

Proposed arbitration – A Harbour-master appointed – His fitness for the office – Whales – Doings of the Bishop – Want of a Church – Death of Mr. Young – Mr. Deans migrates to Port Cooper – Calumnies against Colonel Wakefield – How refuted – Meeting at Auckland – Distressed condition – Remedies proposed – Illness and death of Governor Hobson ... 243

CHAPTER XI.

Lieutenant Shortland assumes the Government – His friendly promises – State of Auckland – First Corporation election in the borough of Wellington – List of Aldermen – "Old Jenkins" – First sitting of Supreme Court – Case of Rangihaeata – Judge Martin's decision – Horticultural Shows – Weather – Pitone races – Enlivening scene – First emigration from Great Britain to Auckland – A newspaper printed by a mangle – Picturesque mill – Captain Daniell's farm and road – Beauty of the scenery about Wellington ....... 266

CHAPTER XII.

Phormium tenax, or flax – Details of its manufacture – Flax-trade hitherto unsuccessful – The reasons – Flax agitation – Otaki – The Rev. Octavius Hadfield – His energy and disinterestedness – His wise benevolence – Results of commerce on the natives – Inducements to engage in trade with them – Opposition of Rauperaha and Rangihaeata – Good class of emigration – "Puffers," "grumblers," and "good colonists" – Advantages of an exclusive club – Mr. Charles Buller's description of "the gentlemen" colonists – Disgrace of Mr. Murphy – The Police Magistrates governing Cook's Strait – Fire of Wellington – Good results – Shipping – Death of Warepori – Sketch of the causes of his illness and death – Captain Smith's expedition to the South – Colonel Wakefield's visit to Auckland – Its harbour and the neighbouring country – Its society – Parkhurst boys – Picnics and balls at Wellington – Exports – Dye-bark – Titoki oil – Mr. Swainson's troubles with Rauperaha's annoying emissaries – His vain appeal to the authorities – Rauperaha's slaves continue to encroach – Christmas sports at Wellington – Horticultural productions .... 283

CHAPTER XIII.

Concluding selection of lands – Murder of a native woman at Cloudy Bay – Disputes with the natives at Tauranga – Lieutenant Shortland proposes to enforce the law – The Attorney-General considers the natives not British subjects – Mr. Clarke supports him – Arrival of Lieutenant Shortland at Wellington – His reception – Speeches about land – Tact of E Puni – Copper ore – Return of Mr. Petre from his visit to England – Race-horses – Mr. Cooke drives cattle to New Plymouth – Dicky Barrett and Mr. George Clarke junior – Arbitration – Mr. George Clarke junior promoted – Discussions about compensation for land – A mad native – Windmill – Comet of 1843 – Mr. Spain proceeds towards the north – A native murdered by another native in Wellington – The murderer goes unpunished – Interview with Rauperaha – His allies – His irritated and threatening behaviour – Proposed journey – The rata, or flowering myrtle .... 321

CHAPTER XIV.

Journey to Wanganui – Wahine iti joins me – His relations object – He asserts his own authority – Mr. Spain, the Land Commissioner, at Petre – Upright conduct of an old chief – Death of Mr. Mason – The Rev. Richard Taylor – Spirited behaviour of E Kuru – Journey towards Taranaki- – Bridle-road – Missionary opposition – Luxuriant country – Food for cattle in the forest – The tutu, a poisonous shrub – Signs of a settlement – Suspension-bridge – Advantages of having no port – The yeomen of New Plymouth – Contentment in a good climate – Security bestowed on Taranaki by the Whites – Flocking of natives to the district – New claims – Suspension of the Company's operations – Negotiations with Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke junior – Coast near Cape Egmont – Religious feuds among natives – Inhospitality – Changed character – A captive belle – E Kuru's home .... 337

CHAPTER XV.

First rumours of the massacre at Wairau – Rauperaha's message – E Kuru's offer of an armed force – The Police Magistrate's version – Fears of E Ahu for his son – Earthquake – Escort of natives – Kindness of Watanui – Affecting scene at Ohau –

Rauperaha a missionary – His stratagems – He drives a herd of cattle back – Dispute with other chiefs – Speeches – Rauperaha insults the Queen of England – His kingly bearing – His powerful eloquence – Arrival at Wellington – Evidence relating to the Wairau massacre – Lord Stanley's episode – The truth about Rangihaeata's wife – No Coroner – Alarm at Wellington – Enrolment of volunteers by the authorities – Battle of Manganui in the North – Caused by the Government . ... 361

CHAPTER XVI.

Arrival of Major Richmond and fifty-three soldiers – The volunteer drilling proclaimed illegal – By inadvertence – Meetings of the local Magistrates – Deputation to reconnoitre – Visits to the Hutt and Porirua – Proceedings of the Magistrates – Petition – Lord Ripon's remarks on it – Mr. Clarke's Maori Proclamation – Lieutenant Shortland's Proclamation – Mr. Clarke's Official Report – Heartless population of Auckland – Effects of the Acting Governor's Proclamation – Judge Martin's rule of Court – Honourable conduct of Mr. Fox – Public remonstrance to the Judge – Mr. Spain's proceedings – Negotiations respecting the arbitration – Outrage committed by a native – Arrival of H. M. S. North Star – Sir Everard Home's letter to Rauperaha – Taupo Bay at Porirua – Taiaroa – Farm near Otako – Disturbances at Nelson – Indifference of the Government officers .... 402

CHAPTER XVII.

Review of the condition of the natives – Their intercourse with the whalers – Church Mission – Samuel Marsden – His object and plans – His doings in New Zealand – Purchase of a site – Deed of conveyance – Wise benevolence of Marsden – Progress – Increasing influence – Captain Laplace – Failure of Marsden's project, how caused – The independence of New Zealand – – How concocted – Details of coincident missionary land-sharking – Progress of labours – Wesleyan Mission – Struggles and perils – Revival – New Zealand Association opposed by both missionary societies – Income of the societies – Their expenditure in New Zealand – Hostility delegated to local missionaries – Results of missionary labours – The Government and the natives – Want of system – Treaty of Waitangi – Official and literal translations – Disre-

garded by both parties – Incongruities of Government – Conflicting systems for the good of the natives – Confusion produced in their minds – Results to be dreaded – Hopes for the appointment of an able Governor – Drown colonies and chartered colonies – Captain Grey on aborigines – Known prejudices of Captain Fitzroy ......... 432

CHAPTER XVIII.

News of the appointment of Governor Fitzroy – Modified agreement between the Company and Lord Stanley – Expedition of H. M. S. North Star – Negotiations for the recovery of a stolen boat – Letter of Rauperaha – Major Richmond at Nelson – Warrant against Rauperaha and Rangihaeata – Ridiculed by Sir Everard Home – Dismissal of the frigate as unnecessary – Effect of impunity on the natives – Disallowance of Ordinances – Land Claims Bill – Corporation Bill – The Company's offer to build a lighthouse – Obstructed by Government delays – Proceedings of the Wellington Corporation – E Waho rescued by natives from the Police – Letter of Major Richmond – Conduct of Mr. Clarke junior – Rauperaha's son – False rumours at Otaki – Threatening behaviour of Rangihaeata – Conversation with Rauperaha – His statements – Correspondence – -Trial of E Waho – Menacing movements of natives – The Hutt road – Haunts of lawless natives ......... 472

CHAPTER XIX.

Arrival of Governor Fitzroy at Wellington – Auckland officials – Levee – Discouraging opinions of the Governor – Public rebuke – Effect – Dispersion of the assembly – Taunts of the natives – Private interview with his Excellency – Accusations – Captain Fitzroy's demeanour – Friendship towards the natives – Captain Fitzroy at Nelson – Dismissal of Magistrates – His Excellency's interview with Rauperaha at Waikanae – Sir Everard Home shakes Rauperaha by the hand – Reflections on Captain Fitzroy's decision – Some account of Captain Arthur Wakefield – Major Richmond appointed Superintendent – Captain Fitzroy and the land-claims – Reasons for leaving the colony – Prospects of the colonists – Of the natives – The only hope – Return to Europe.

CHAPTER I

ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

CHAPTER I.

Bridle-road – Wreck – Taupo War-Party – The Rev. Octavius Hadfield – Proofs of his worth as a Missionary – Wanganui – The process of becoming a Store-keeper – The feudal attachment of the Natives secured by trading – Pig-hunting- – Dogs – E Kuru's ardour for the chase – Troublesome Natives – Conduct of Mr. Matthews, a Missionary Catechist – He is justly reproved by E Kuru – Missionary, Heathen, and civilized Natives – Waitotara – Inhospitality – Panic of Natives on first seeing a Horse – Amazement – The Country about Wanganui – Climate like the South of Spain – Winds – Showers – Lawlessness – Pig-stealing – Den of thieves – Wreck of the Sandfly.

TOWARDS the end of May, I sent the Sandfly on to Kapiti, and started to join her by land; wishing to see the progress of the road, and to visit the wreck of the Jewess. I was accompanied by Lieutenant Thomas, who had engaged in the survey department of the Company's service, and was proceeding to Wanganui by land to assist Mr. Carrington in the completion of the survey, with five or six additional labouring-men. The bridle-road had been completed to the distance of about seven miles from Port Nicholson; and from thence we pushed on by a rough surveyor's line till we reached the old path from Pitone. We slept at Parramatta; and the next day I travelled on to the wreck, Mr. Thomas staying to collect some of his things still remaining at the whaling station.

The Jewess had been driven ashore on the sand, only about half-a-mile north of the rocky coast. I

here found the captain, who had not yet deserted her; as well as Mr. Carrington from Wanganui, who had been allowed to come to Wellington for a short holiday; and two travellers from Taranaki, who had accompanied him from Wanganui. The vessel was still whole, and we slept in the bunks of the cabin that night, though the high tide, causing rather a smart surf after we had got to sleep, rocked her about, and washed into the cabin through the holes in her bottom. Mr. Churton, a Wanganui settler, had been a great loser by this wreck. Most of the cargo had belonged to him; and although Mr. Hadfield had succeeded in persuading some of the natives to return a few of the stolen things, they only brought back trifling articles, such as pins and tape, pretending to know nothing of the more valuable goods. Between the vessel and Waikanae I met a large body of Port Nicholson natives, who had been to a conference at Waikanae on the subject of a threatened attack of the Taupo war-party.

It appeared that after ravaging Waitotara, from which all the inhabitants had again fled, except a few too old and infirm who were taken, killed, and eaten, the taua of the Ngatipehi had come down to Otaki; and that a union of their force with that of the Ngatiraukawa had been proposed, in order to revenge the defeat at Waikanae in October 1839. The Port Nicholson natives, on the receipt of this news, had mustered 200 or 300 men under Warepori, Epuni, and Taringa Kuri, and hastened to join their relations. Mr. Hadfield had succeeded in frustrating all these warlike preparations. This gentleman had, after very laborious efforts, and in one instance at the peril of his life, managed to acquire a very extensive and honorable influence over the hitherto fierce

THE REV. OCTAVIUS HADFIELD.

chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa. Watanui and part of his family had become mihanere, as well as several other chiefs of rank; and Mr. Hadfield had wisely managed to introduce the new doctrine without destroying the native aristocracy. He thus dissuaded Watanui, and through him the great part of the tribe, from fighting. Heuheu, I heard, had been furious at this successful interference with his designs; but had ended by confessing himself fairly beaten, when Mr. Hadfield calmly and courageously presented himself before him in the midst of his anger, overthrew his reasoning, and reproached the old chief in the conclave of his people with a want of the dignity and deliberation suitable to his place of kaumatua or "patriarch."

I had not yet been introduced to Mr. Hadfield's acquaintance; but I already began to feel sorry for the prejudices which I had entertained against him on first hearing that he had come with Mr. Williams. All the natives, whether converts or not; spoke in the highest terms of his conduct in every particular. I knew, intimately, many of his more immediate followers at Waikanae, some of them of high rank among the tribe; and could not help imbibing from them some of that respectful admiration for his character which they were proud of acknowledging. His scholars were plainly anxious to deserve his praise and affection, rather than bound to their duties by an irksome restraint. In comparing the persuasion which they had adopted with that of the Wesleyans under the guidance of Mr. Aldred, they were proud of the difference between the tu or "bearing" of the two missionaries, because theirs was so distinctly a rangatira. The heathen natives, too, who had enjoyed an opportunity of observing or conversing with Mr. Hadfield, confessed that he had all the qualities of a chief, and that

he was a pakeha ngawari, or "mild white man," who did not discourage their ancient customs by anger or coarse tokens of disgust, but by gentle reason. They also admired his manly courage, of which they had noted more than one proof, and his art of gaining the love of the natives even before he had converted them to his creed. Even the corrupt and profane beachcombers and whalers of Kapiti would go out of their way to say a good word or do a service for Mr. Hadfield. "He is a missionary," they would say, with an oath; "but he's a gentleman every inch of him; and when he can do a poor fellow a good turn with the maories, why he will!" They respected him, too, for not interfering, unless applied to, in their dealings with the natives.

With this voluntary and unanimous testimony from all quarters, who could help feeling rejoiced that one good missionary had already acquired so much influence in the immediate neighbourhood of the settlements?

The whaling was at this time going on with great spirit; and I sailed away from Kapiti one morning in the midst of an animated chase, the whale and the boats having crossed my bows more than once.

I now remained at Wanganui for some time; and sent the Sandfly backwards and forwards under the charge of a steady sailor whom I had engaged.

My house was full of goods of various kinds belonging to the settlers, who had not yet got their houses ready to receive them; and I soon found myself as it were forced into keeping what would be called a "store" in America, or a "shop" in England. In trading with the natives, I was obliged to procure all sorts of things from Wellington; and I had numerous applications from people who wanted small quantities,

WANGANUI.

and could not get them anywhere else. The same with tea, sugar, flour, and other articles of food, which I took advantage of the trips of the schooner to bring up in bags, casks, or cases; so that I was very soon a shopkeeper in spite of myself. However, I had by this time learned to be anything that might be required; and the "shop" was for some time as amusing an employment as anything else. I have no doubt my books, kept in my own way, would have afforded much matter of laughter to any one brought up as a tradesman. I seldom received money payments. Pigs from one, labour from another, wine from a third; stationery or wooden planks, spades, cart-wheels, or window-frames from some other customer: such was the kind of barter which prevailed. I think that the only customer from whom I ever received cash for a long while was Mr. Mason, the missionary, who paid me in hard silver for two kegs of tobacco.

For this shopkeeping or trading, indeed, I had no vocation; and I entered into it with no views of gain. But as the trading with the White settlers seemed to be an almost indispensable condition of maintaining the sort of feudal attachment, which I have already described, of a large body of natives, I did not disdain to be a shopkeeper for what seemed to me so useful an object. I found that few things had so civilizing an influence over the natives as this kind of commerce, founded on friendship and honour; and I was content to go on losing a considerable sum of money, while I gained their respect and esteem – while I introduced many of the habits and customs of civilized life by showing a due respect for those customs of savage life which are respectable – and while I was enabled, as I imagined, to exercise an extensive and beneficial effect upon the intercourse between the two races.

I had a large herd of swine running in the swamps and fern-ridges at the back of the settlement. For a long while I had turned out all those which I bought young or in bad condition from the natives, after branding them over the tail. They got very fat as they grew, the feed being excellent about here. The succulent root of the raupo, or bulrush, is a very favourite food of the hog, and the fern was also of good quality.

When I wanted to catch a number to send to Wellington, or to kill and salt down, a grand hunt took place. I had bought one or two good dogs, and bred them to the sport. They soon learn to beat the ground, and follow the scent of a pig; and take great delight in the chase. If large and strong, and found in open ground, a hog will often give a run of some miles, and you follow the dogs on foot through high fern, reeds, wood, scrub, and swamp, till their barking and the snorting of "porker" give notice that he is at bay. The pig-dogs are of rather a mongrel breed, partaking largely of the bull-dog, but mixed with the cross of mastiff and greyhound, which forms the New South Wales kangaroo-dog. The great nurseries for good dogs have been the whaling stations, where they bred them for fighting. It soon became a fashion for travelling settlers like myself to have a pack of pig-dogs, known for their strength, skill, and courage, whether in fighting or hunting. At a rude settlement such as Wanganui, they served also to protect the house from the depredations of the wandering sawyers, and other loose adventurers, who were getting more daring in their undertakings, and from the annoyance of a few among the natives who began to pilfer, or to breed quarrels by rude and insulting behaviour. On one occasion during my absence, the White savages

PIG-HUNTING – DOGS.

had laid a plan for the forcible entry and plunder of my house and several others; but one of their own party betrayed them, and my agent and a few others took the due precautions, and then sallied out upon the gang before they were prepared, and gave them a good licking with their fists. Thus we were living under club-law; and a good watch-dog or two were no despicable guardians of a house, and were very desirable companions out-of-doors at night.

But to return to the hunt. The hog once at bay, bold and unskilled dogs rush straight in for his nose, and are often severely wounded by his long tusks or his hoofs. An experienced dog, without allowing him to escape, watches his opportunity to seize the jowl or the root of the ear. A dog that persists in seizing the legs, or any other part, is generally shot by his owner, as the practice spoils the hams, and is considered contrary to rule. When the dogs are fast, no struggle of the hog, no dragging of the dogs through bushes or swamp, succeeds in shaking them off; and the native lads run up and fasten thongs of the flax-leaf round the hind-legs. If the animal is very wild, they also bind the fore-legs and even the muzzle, as the weight of the dogs, and fatigue, prevent much resistance. The pig is rarely killed in the field, as it is considered more sportsmanlike to bring him in and show him off alive; so that the hunting-knife or rifle, although sometimes carried in case of necessity, is rarely made use of.

This was comparatively tame work to the wild and fatiguing chases, which I have at times enjoyed with E Kuru and a troop of the maori lads, in districts near the river where the hogs had been undisturbed for many years, and were claimed by any one who caught them. Especially in the district between the Wanganui and Wangaihu rivers, we used to spend whole days in this pursuit. E Kuru was a keen

sportsman, and well skilled in pig-hunting. He took great pride in my excellent dogs; and also in beating me, which he generally did from his superior activity and knowledge of the country. I have often been completely thrown behind, and lost my way among some of the wooded hollows into which we have descended from the open table-lands; and when I at length found my way to the river, and got home an hour or two after dark, dead-beat and faint with hunger, having been afoot since my breakfast at sunrise, I would find E Kuru smoking his pipe after a comfortable meal, swelling with triumph at having returned some hours before, with two or three fine porka.

I found that the settlers had to complain more and more of the annoying conduct of a great number of the natives. The surveyors were more often stopped in their work by parties, chiefly from Putikiwaranui, but almost invariably mihanere. This continued at still more frequent intervals after Messrs. Thomas and Carrington, who were delayed for some time at Waikanae by a circumstance which I shall have to notice hereafter, had returned to complete the survey.

The influences which caused this interference were not difficult to discover. Indeed, no great pains were taken to conceal their origin.

Mr. Bell had arrived in safety with his cattle, after some difficulty in crossing the quicksands of the Turakina and Wangaihu. Having an early choice, he had obtained from those before him an engagement not to choose the land on which he should set to work, and prepared to plant himself on a spot, which the surveyors told him was outside a public reserve, made with some view to a town, if allowed by the Company in England on certain conditions. This was in a valley, about two miles back from the pa where Mr,

CONDUCT OF A MISSIONARY.

Mason resided. Mr. Bell was very soon warned off by one or two of the natives, who threatened to burn any house he should put up, and prevent his settling. Mr. Mason, on his application, had refused "to say a word which had to do with land to the natives." Bell afterwards removed to an equally good spot higher up the river on the same side; partly on account of the trouble from the natives, and partly because a gentleman who had joined the above-mentioned engagement not to interfere with his selection, had changed his mind as soon as Bell's location pointed out the best spot. In the new place, Bell finally established himself, not without plenty of obstruction from the natives; but how he overcame this we shall see hereafter.

About the same time, Mr. Matthews circulated very industriously among the settlers, that the whole purchase of the place had been a farce from beginning to end; that the natives who signed the deed and received the payment formed but a very insignificant and uninfluential proportion of the owners of the land; that the payment made was not more than one hundred pounds' worth of goods; and that E Kuru, who was said to have managed the whole transaction, and to have secured the largest share of the goods, was hardly a chief, and had not the slightest right to dispose of the country near the sea.

Thus, while the natives began to be divided into two great parties, those who supported and those who repudiated the bargain, the repudiators being almost without exception mihanere, the settlers began to take these long stories for granted, and to grumble and complain that they had been deceived. The "repudiators" grew daily in numbers and obstinacy; and openly confessed, when pressed to explain themselves fully, that Mr. Mason told them "that the settlers

"would take all their lands and drive them inland, and that their wives and children would die of starvation and misery." So plausibly, however, did Mr. Matthews tell his story to the settlers, that they consulted and held meetings, and questioned and cross-examined me as to the process which I had adopted, till I at length lost patience, and told them at a meeting (at which Mr. Matthews had pointedly contradicted my assertions as to the negotiations at which I was present and he was not) that I was no longer Agent of the Company; and that I had reported my proceedings at the end of my temporary agency in buying the place to the principal Agent in Wellington; and I then left the room.

E Kuru took more direct notice of the insults thrown in his teeth. When some native reported that Mr. Matthews had called him a tutua, which may be fairly translated by the English "plebeian," he ran up to Mr. Matthews's house, and loudly reproved him before a large crowd of natives. I was not present, but heard the scene described by several bystanders.

They described E Kuru as having arrived panting with indignation and anger, but carefully restraining his language. Across the fence of the garden he taxed the catechist with his evil tongue, in plain but not undeserved terms. He accused him of carrying about lies, of defaming one who had done him no harm, and of kindling anger between the natives and their White friends; and asked him whether that was the ritenga or "creed" of a missionary. Although knowing that Mr. Matthews had been of very inferior station in life, 1 the savage did not even retort this upon the Christian

MISSIONARY AND HEATHEN NATIVES.

teacher who had so gratuitously attempted to lower him in the esteem of the White settlers.

E Kuru had till now set the example to his people of following the worship of the missionaries; but from this moment he resolutely and firmly abandoned the new doctrine.

It was a matter of constant observation, now, among all classes of settlers, that the results of the missionary system of instruction were not by any means satisfactory, in a general point of view. At Wellington no less than at Wanganui, and at other places where there were no white settlers, this fact began to startle the impartial observer.

The only good result that appeared to have been obtained, was the strict and rigid adherence to the mere forms of the Christian religion, and a knowledge of reading and writing in their own language. But it was hardly a matter of doubt that the conversion penetrated no deeper than the mere forms; and it was to be regretted that the instruction given generally was purely religious. The mihanere natives, as a body, were distinctly inferior in point of moral character to the natives who remained with their ancient customs unchanged, and also to those who, in the immediate neighbourhood of Wellington, had acquired some degree of civilization and general knowledge, together with the Christian creed. A very common answer from a converted native, accused of theft, was, "How can that be? I am a mihanere." And yet at some places, such as Patea, where their religious enthusiasm was carried, in form, to the most extravagant pitch, they maintained the very worst character for honesty and courtesy to a stranger. My agent, who had been in one of the boats that was wrecked there, described to me both these traits in their present state. It must be

remembered that no white man had dwelt there, and that they rarely saw one except on a trading or missionary visit. The missionary system had therefore enjoyed a fair trial without the interference of civilization.

They were all mihanere or converts; many of them called themselves "the Apostle Paul," "the Apostle Timothy," or the "Apostle Luke;" "Martin Luther," "Ezekiel," or "Solomon." They sang hymns night and day, almost incessantly; discussed at length obscure points of doctrine, and even words introduced into the books, which were new to their language, with indecent virulence; and carried this exaggeration of religion so far, as to be weaving a gigantic and splendid mat in the pa, which they told all inquirers was for Ihu Karaiti, and therefore not to be sold!

And yet the greatest circumspection could not prevent them from pilfering to an unlimited extent from the traders; they were harassing and overbearing in their dealings, prone to cheat in bargaining by any dishonourable trick, inhospitable in the highest degree, and claiming payment for the very slightest service or gift, such as even fetching a calabashful of water from the river.

The Wanganui settlers had observed a great deal of the same spirit among the mihanere natives with whom they had dealings. But they all acknowledged, that neither the Taupo natives, nor the followers of E Kuru, nor those others who were under any good and powerful chief, could be accused of these bad qualities.

The only case of theft that occurred during the visit of the Taupo war party had been unknown to me, until the stolen things were restored to me. It appears that one of the Rotorua allies, against whose evil designs Heuheu had so vigorously guarded, had taken, through an open window of my house, a large pocket-compass and

MISSIONARY AND HEATHEN NATIVES.

a pair of nail-nippers, probably mistaking them for a tinder-box and a bullet-mould. The old chief, on discovering this when the party returned to their homes, paid the thief two blankets, a cloak, and a double-barrelled gun, to get the things back, and then sent them to E Kuru, who gave them to me.

It is worthy of record, that the Taupo natives, on returning to their home, carried with them the bones of their late chief Tauteka in much state. Wherever these bones had rested, a carved post or other monument was erected to commemorate the event. In the midst of the space which had been occupied by Heuheu and his party among the white settlers, on their passage either way through the place, a small canoe, stuck upright and adorned with carving and painted designs, showed where Tauteka's remains had stopped on their way. This custom bears a curious resemblance to that of our Edward, who erected crosses at Tottenham, Waltham, and other places, to mark the progress of his queen's corpse.

The Putikiwaranui natives plundered a considerable quantity of the goods which they had persuaded some of the settlers to place under their charge during the visit, and then exacted very large utu for the care which they had taken of them. A body of mihanere natives, engaged by a Mr. Nixon to remove his goods back to his house in their canoes, took a sudden fancy to a cask of tobacco which was among them. Upon his refusing to bargain with them for a certain number of pigs in exchange for it, they hustled him into the water at the landing-place; and while he was thus disabled from resisting, the cask was put into another canoe and paddled quickly up the river. They paid him for it, at their own price, in pigs, long afterwards; but this was entirely a matter of option with them.

The natives about Wellington were becoming a useful and industrious race. Almost every settler had two or three attached to his establishment, who acquired some knowledge of the English language and of the useful arts. Many were building houses after the European fashion, and adopting European clothing; they were learning the use and value of money, and the forms of commerce to a certain extent; and some of them had acquired great decency, and even polish of deportment, by their constant and familiar intercourse with the colonists of all classes. It may be worthy of note, that Epuni was building a wooden cottage with boarded floor, a door, and glass windows, in the pa of Pitone; that his son, E Ware, acted as pilot to an emigrant ship, having boarded her outside the heads, in a whale-boat manned by his own countrymen, all dressed like English sailors, and brought her in to the anchorage in front of the town; that E Tako and Richard Davis took to European clothing entirely, and that both had deposits at the bank; while Davis had bought, a horse for eighty pounds, which he used to let out, with saddle and bridle, at ten shillings a day; and that the captain of the ship London, when half his European crew had deserted the ship, found no difficulty in engaging eight native hands for the voyage to India and England.

In the perfectly wild tribes, the high sense of honour and dignity among the chiefs, and their absolute political authority, served to maintain a certain integrity and straightforward conduct towards the stranger; and those who had talents to acquire authority, had also, with but few exceptions, the will to exercise it with justice and kindness towards the White man by whom it was merited.

In the partly civilized tribes, which were at the same time converted, the political authority of the

MISSIONARY AND HEATHEN NATIVES.

chiefs was already much weakened; but its place was supplied, to a certain degree, by the example of law and order, and by the stirring spirit of emulation; that is, by the influence of the civilized community.

In the merely converted tribes, the authority of the chiefs was suddenly and totally overthrown, without the substitution for it of any political organization, in order to save the tribe from anarchy.

This view was confirmed by my subsequent observations, as the consequences of the two systems became more and more developed.

I had occasion to verify the account given me by my agent of the Patea natives, during a visit which I soon after made to that neighbourhood. It being a matter of urgency to me to overtake a party who had travelled on foot towards Taranaki, I borrowed Mr. Matthews's horse, and rode in a few hours to Waitotara. The horse was known and cared for at that place; but I thought the people rather more distant in their behaviour to me than they had been before. Luckily, I found that liberal payment would buy hospitality from these savages of degraded character; and so I did not starve. I overtook the party of Englishmen here, and they also loudly complained of the mercenary and sordid spirit of the inhabitants. Having a good store of tobacco, however, we procured an abundant supply of piarau, or "lamprey," which is taken in large numbers in this river and some others in this neighbourhood, when the waters are swollen. There was no lack of other food; but that, as well as firewood, house-room, and even cold water, had to be paid for through the nose. This was in a new pa, built with very strong stockades and deep trenches, between the foot of Te Ihupuku hill and the river. The pretty grove of Karaka trees which I had formerly seen growing round

the base of the hill had been mercilessly cut away, that no besiegers might lie in ambush beneath their protection.

Another object of my journey was to establish a trading connexion on a more permanent footing with the natives of the Wenuakura river. Those who had received me so kindly on my former visit, had sent messengers to me at Wanganui, begging that I would send them a resident trading agent, and promising to build a house for me.

Getting away early from the inhospitable village of the Ngarauru, I pushed along to the northward. To avoid the tedious sand-hills on the top of the cliff, I struck out a path for myself a little further back, and passed along fine open pasture-land, watered by numerous small streams.

As I had got a mile or two in advance of the pedestrians, and rode fast along the last part of the beach, I was not seen by the inhabitants of the pa, until close to the river. They then ran down on to the beach. By this time I had plunged into the river, which here flows over soft and shifting sands. The horse's body was nearly hidden; and though many of my old friends here had recognized me, and shouted "Tiraweke ! – "Haeremai!" they evidently thought that a native was carrying me on his shoulders. There were now nearly a hundred natives collected, many of whom had never seen a horse before, crowding over each other to give me the first greeting.

With two or three vigorous plunges the horse suddenly emerged from the water, and bore me into the middle of them. Such a complete panic can hardly be imagined. They fled yelling in all directions without looking behind them; and as fast as I galloped past those who were running across the sandy flat and

PANIC ON FIRST SIGHT OF A HORSE.

up the steep path leading to the pa of Tihoe, they fairly lay down on their faces, and gave themselves up for lost. Half-way up the hill I dismounted, and they plucked up courage to come and look at the kuri nui, or "large dog." The most amusing questions were put to me as to its habits and disposition. "Can he talk?" said one; "Does he like boiled potatoes?" said another; and a third, "Mustn't he have a blanket to lie down upon at night?" This unbounded respect and admiration lasted all the time that I remained. The horse was taken into the central courtyard of the pa; a dozen hands were always offering him Indian corn, and grass, and sow-thistles, when they had learned what he really did eat; and a wooden bowl full of water was kept constantly replenished close to him. And little knots of curious observers sat round the circle of his tether-rope, remarking, and conjecturing, and disputing, about the meaning and intention of every whisk of his tail or shake of his ears.

I met at this village with great kindness from all my old friends. Several mats, which I had paid for while in the process of manufacture when here before, were delivered to me on this occasion.

At Patea, whither I accompanied the travellers the next day, we again met with rude and inhospitable treatment; and I returned from thence in two days to Wanganui.

I had, during this long sojourn at Wanganui, a good opportunity of forming an opinion of the country and climate. Pig-hunting, or accompanying the surveyors on exploring parties, I soon became acquainted with most of the district between the sea and the broken country which closes in upon the river about fifteen miles up. For that distance the river runs

through a broad valley, which, with its tributaries, seems dug out of the surrounding table-land. The ascent to the high ground is in most places steep, and groves of timber of various extent diversify the surface of the valleys. In these, for the most part, is a rich swampy soil, prevented from thorough drainage by a belt of pumice-stone and sand, varying in breadth, which forms the cliffy banks of the river, and bears a growth of high fern. The table-land is for the most part open; in some places teeming with rich pasture, and covered with soil fitted for agriculture; in others light and sandy, but clothed with high fern. The tops of the forest in the hollows, and the summits of the wooded mountains higher than the table-land, bound the view towards the towering peaks of Tonga Riro. When once on the top of the table-land, you might imagine yourself to be on a low and extensive flat, the eye being carried over the top of the numerous hollows, formed by streams, to the next table. These hollows are in some places broken into the most romantic shapes. About five miles up the right bank, especially, is a circular indentation in the table-land, with a deep narrow valley leading to it from the flat near the river. Quaint hillocks and ridges, heaped against each other in the most fantastic forms, and feathering groves of timber, are scattered about the bottom and sides of this natural amphitheatre, of about two miles in diameter, which we christened "The Devil's Punch-bowl." The surface of the table-land is generally so flat, that swamps are formed on its very highest terraces, and large natural ponds are found in many elevated spots.

The climate, although in the middle of winter, was delightful. Dr. Peter Wilson, one of the settlers, who had long resided at Xerez and Seville, did not hesitate

CLIMATE.

to compare it with the south of Spain. He only qualified this opinion by asserting that so full-bodied a wine could not be grown here; but that he would answer for one like the light wines of Germany or eastern France. This part of the island, well out of the funnel formed by Cook's Strait, is free from the rushing currents of wind which almost always blow in the neighbourhood of Wellington, one way or the other. There, too, the broken nature of the country, rising into lofty and irregular pinnacles close to the sea, in the projecting tongue of land which contains Port Nicholson and Palliser Bay, causes the prevailing westerly wind to puff in squally and uncertain gusts. All along the uniform country between Otaki and Taranaki, a land-breeze prevails during the night and early in the morning, and is generally followed by a sea-breeze which tempers the heat of the day; but both are moderate and steady in their action. Whole days of cloudless calm and light breezes prevail in summer as well as winter; and violent gales are of rare occurrence. The difference in temperature is but little between winter and summer: there is perhaps more rain in the winter months. But in all the country near Cook's Strait, the climate may be called showery rather than rainy. Rain is often heavy for a time; but rarely obtains dominion over the weather for more than two or three days. And everything dries quickly in the fine-weather intervals; so that though it is rare to be a fortnight without rain all through the year, there is no complaint of excess of wet, and you never hear the question asked which so often meets you in England, "When shall we have some fine weather?"

The lawless state of the place became daily more annoying. I had to lash my cook, who had travelled hither with the Taupo party, and who delighted in

the sobriquet of "Coffee," to the big post in the middle of the house, with my dog-chains, for theft; intending to send him to Wellington in a schooner, which was to sail the next morning. But he proved to me that I did not understand thief-taking, or at any rate thief-keeping; for he slipped his irons in the night, and started to the northward. I afterwards heard that he was a deserter from the detachment of troops at Auckland, and an accomplice of "Mickey Knight" and his friend, in their robberies in that part of the country.

I had another rather serious instance of the disadvantages of being without law. Three or four loose characters, who had arrived from England in the London, kept the licensed grog-shop which was near my house, and encouraged all kinds of ruffians, as a kind of feudal retinue, by liberal distributions of spirits. It was frequently hinted to me that they salted down a great many more pigs than they ever bought from the natives, or turned out with their brand. My dog had got so fond of the sport, that he would follow any one who held up a rope to him as a sign that they were going to catch a pig; and many of the large hogs were not to be caught by inferior dogs. I detected my neighbours of the grog-shop hunting and killing my pigs as coolly as if they had been their own; and one morning one of the members of the worthy firm came and enticed my dog for the purpose of doing it with more gusto. As soon as I found this out, I went down to the grog-shop, where the hunting-party were consoling themselves with copious draughts of gin for their sorrow at having been deprived of two large pigs bearing my brand by my agent, who had caught them in the fact. I entered into the joke, and cheerfully begged that the innocent amusement of robbing me might now cease, as the pleasant excitement of doing it without my

DEN 0F THIEVES.

knowledge could no longer be said to exist. One of the firm, a poor half-starved and very vulgar son of a tanner, who had in some way obtained the aristocratic name of Burleigh, grandiloquently offered me satisfaction with "swords, pistols, or any other weapon," for what he had done. When I quietly declined this kind offer of satisfaction for stealing my property, and told the hero that he might think himself lucky if I did not put him into gaol for felony, he laughed, and said, "There was no law in New Zealand; there was no fear of his getting put into gaol!" I then gave him fair warning that I would try my best; but by the time I got to Port Nicholson, he had decamped on board an American whaler lying at Kapiti, along with the runaway carpenter, who had also assisted in the felonious amusement. Thus I had no means of securing a ruffian, who had made use of the Government licence for selling grog, to encourage others to assist him in robbing me, and to form head-quarters for a den of thieves.

Yet, during all this time, I would have engaged to provide a very efficient constabulary, extending for twenty miles on the three main tracks by which bad characters could arrive or escape, by means of the authority of E Kuru, and some other native chiefs, on whom dependence might be placed, and with no expense except when called into action.

About the beginning of August, I received intelligence that the Sandfly had struck on a rock in making the anchorage at Kapiti on a dark night, and had sunk with all her cargo. As there was some chance of getting her up again, I proceeded by land to Waikanae, with two native lads to carry my blankets and provisions.

After finding all efforts to raise the vessel vain, I proceeded to Wellington

1 He knew this from Captain Chaffers, who had seen Mr. Matthews at Kapiti, and recognized him as having been sent to Terra del Fuego, in H. M. S. Beagle, as a sort of missionary. He said he acted as gun-room cook on the voyage.

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER II.

Appointment of Officers in England – Progress – Shops – Rope-makers – Outrages by Rangihaeata – Tapu on the Beach – Complaint to Police Magistrate – His Answer – Neglect of the Cook's Strait Settlers by Governor Hobson – No Tribunals – Effect on Natives – News from Auckland only through Sydney – Absurd Nomenclature – Kindness to Natives – Of Government – Of the Colonists – Epuni, a gentleman – Answer of the Governor to the Magistrates' Address – The Clendon job – Appointments – Finance – East Coast of Middle Island – Port Cooper – Public Meeting – Native found dead – Warepori excites the Natives – Alarm – Helplessness – Volunteers – Special Constables – Impressions of Natives – Disgrace of Mr. Davy – Judge and Attorney-General – Distant Legislation – Secret calumnies – Defence of his choice by Captain Hobson – Ill-treatment of Company's Settlers.

DURING the month of June, two or three vessels had arrived from England bearing immigrants and passengers. Their news consisted of the appointment in England of a Judge, Attorney-General, and Land Commissioner for New Zealand. The latter officer was said to be appointed for the special purpose of investigating and reporting upon the claims to land in Cook's Strait, not held under the Crown. A third colony, to have a town, harbour, and district of its own, was talked of as in active preparation by the Company, as one of the measures of vigorous colonization consequent on their acquisition of the Royal Charter, and their agreement with the Government, which required them to double their capital, and guaranteed to them an undoubted title to upwards of a million of acres of land.

PROGRESS OF WELLINGTON.

Progress had been made in the signs of civilization in Wellington itself. A large and well-furnished chemist's shop, with the due allowance of red bottles and blue bottles, and glass jars full of tooth-brushes and sponges, and gay labels of quack pills and ointments, showed a broad front to the beach near Barrett's hotel. As this shop, which gloried in the sonorous title of "Medical Hall," was close to the usual place of disembarkation for passengers, it became a much-frequented morning lounge; especially as Dr. Dorset and another of our oldest medical friends were partners in the establishment. Many other equally gay shops began to ornament the bustling beach. Two clever rope-makers had begun the pursuit of their trade on a large scale, using the phormium tenax as prepared by the natives; and they received ample support from all classes, there being a considerable demand for small rope for the running rigging of ships, fishing-nets, and whale-lines for the stations in the Strait.

The trading and cattle vessels from Sydney and the other colonies brought news of a more brotherly spirit shown towards us by the inhabitants of those countries. The newspapers no longer teemed with unmitigated abuse of the place and the people; and a few staunch advocates contradicted the less frequent calumnies, and took up the cudgels which our newspaper had got tired of using against such mean adversaries.

Rangihaeata and his followers had destroyed some of the bridges on the Porirua bridle-road, and in some places trees were purposely felled across the narrow path with a view to prevent the easy passage of travellers. No notice of these acts of aggression was taken by the Police Magistrate.

A trading-boat from Cloudy Bay to Wanganui had been wrecked near Rangitikei; and the crew had been

drowned, including a Ngatiraukawa chief, named Koraria, who was a passenger. In consequence of some outrages committed on the body by the Ngatiapa natives, a party of the Ngatiraukawa had made an excursion across that river, had killed 100 pigs, and taken the wife of Hakeke, the Ngatiapa chief, as a slave. But they had moreover tapued the beach between Otaki and Rangitikei, thus preventing the passage of native or white man in either direction for a considerable space of time. It was this which had delayed the surveyors in their journey to Wanganui. Many other parties, bound thither or to Taranaki, had been grievously detained, to their serious inconvenience in many ways, by this stringent application of one of the old maori customs. Koraria had been a brother of Watanui, and the observance of the tapu was therefore most rigidly enforced.

On the 1st of July, the aggrieved travellers had made a formal application to the Police Magistrate at Wellington for his official interference; thinking that, after the proclamation of the sovereignty of the Queen of England over New Zealand, the officers of the Queen would feel themselves bound to forbid the obstruction of the natural highway by any class of Her Majesty's subjects.

But Mr. Murphy had met the question in a very easy and diplomatic style. His official answer "deeply regretted the inconvenience to which the applicants were subjected; but he had no power to interfere with what was an immemorial and recognized usage among the natives."

He hinted at the probability that "this and similar customs might become the subject of acts by the Legislative Council of the Colony;" until then, he could "discover no grounds which would justify his

TAPU ON THE BEACH.

interference." He added, that he understood the tapu had been laid on the beach "simply in consequence of the death of a chief, and not from any desire to injure the English settlers in the country." "To attempt violently to break through it, therefore," he concluded, "would probably excite feelings of hostility to the settlers, which would involve greater eventual inconvenience than any that can be experienced from a temporary interruption of communication, and might therefore be inexpedient, even if it were strictly legal." And so they had to wait until the natives took off the tapu of their own accord, or accepted heavy payment for a permission to pass. The beach had only just been made free, when I came from Wanganui.

In the town itself, the want of authority vested in the sole legal officer was producing great mischief. Numerous persons were squatting on the lands reserved for public purposes, and destroying the ornamental timber upon them. They were not ejected, as the Police Magistrate probably thought that such a course "might be inexpedient, even if strictly legal."

Now that people were locating on the most available lands, both in the town and in the neighbouring country districts, much complaint was made against the evil of non-resident proprietors. Many of these had given but very limited powers to their agents, restricting them in most cases to the granting leases of seven years' duration. And the industrious colonist passed with reluctance and heart-burning to some less available situation, while some of the best sections lay idle and unoccupied under such ridiculous conditions, to be increased in value merely by the exertions of those who built or cultivated on the surrounding land.

The indignation at Captain Hobson's neglect of the settlement was fast increasing in violence among the settlers. Daily examples of its evil effects were presented to each member of the community. People of all classes began to sum up the various grievances of which they had to complain, and to inquire what proofs had been manifested of the "kindness and consideration," which Lord John Russell had recommended to be shown towards the colonists of Cook's Strait, in his instructions to Sir George Gipps on the first appointment of Lieutenant-Governor Hobson?

To pass over the treatment of the loyal colonists as rebels in their first connexion with the Government, the first feature of kindness was the crimping of the labourers in the Chelydra, and the withdrawal of the troops.

As though in jealousy of the fine harbour and its increasing commerce, the harbour-master had been dismissed, and no other appointed in his place. No provision of any kind had been made for its pilotage or lighting; the only pilots being volunteers, recommended by the Company's Agent, and unable to claim, legally, any remuneration for their services.

Notwithstanding Lord John Russell's very specific instructions for the establishment of tribunals of all kinds, the whole provision for justice had been, for eighteen months from the arrival of the Lieutenant-Governor, a single police court, with undefined authority and scanty jurisdiction. Thus, in the wretched hut which served for a jail, – where prisoners were heavily ironed, in order to prevent them from walking through the straw walls, – two men, committed for trial, and who, until fully convicted, were to be considered as innocent, had been incarcerated upwards of eleven months. And in a community in which much pro-

NEGLECT OF THE SETTLERS BY CAPT. HOBSON.

perty was daily changing hands, and very numerous commercial transactions took place, debts remained unpaid, and contracts unfulfilled; wills were unproved and unexecuted; and trespassing, in its various forms, occurred daily and with impunity.

The natives had begun to ridicule the idea that "Wide-awake's" white men were cared for by the Governor or the Queen. The soldiers, while here, had only been used once, and then without effecting the object for which they had been called; and in too many instances, both before and after their removal, the natives had been allowed to see that the person in authority steadily refused to interfere when a settler was aggrieved by their increasing insolence and extortion. Instances were gradually multiplying to prove that this spirit of non-interference excited in the minds of the natives a reckless and presuming disposition; and that such connivance at their caprices and cupidity could not fail to excite the very spirit of hostility to the settlers, which the Police Magistrate professed to dread as the consequence of a firm repression of these bad dispositions.

Very children in their ideas, the natives could not appreciate the merciful forbearance and peaceable respect for the law which prevented the settlers from retaliating or acting for themselves; and it appeared to them that the pakeha were a timid and submissive race, relying entirely for defence and protection on distant chiefs, who neglected their tribe in the most marked manner. And already many of the colonists who felt the warmest interest in the welfare of the natives, began to dread lest this state of things might last too long, and lest the mercy and generosity of the superior race might at some period become exhausted by continued and increased irritation, till the strong and civilized European should turn in anger on the simple savage, confessing his inferiority too late.

Towards the end of July we had a batch of news from "Hobson's Choice," as Auckland was very generally called. This came by a cattle-ship from Sydney, as our dates from that place were two months later than those from our own metropolis.

From Adelaide, Port Philip, and Hobart Town we had also two months' later news than from the seat of Government, which Captain Hobson had chosen on account of "its centrical position."

The three islands had been proclaimed, in accordance with instructions from the Colonial Office, as New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster. Except in official papers, these names have never been used, from their great similarity and inconvenience. I doubt whether, even at this day, the great majority of European inhabitants know which is which without looking at a map.

The proclamation had been accompanied by another, recommending the Europeans to be "kind to the natives."

This advice came with peculiar grace and naivete from the Auckland Government, which had not yet pretended to produce a farthing of revenue from the valuable reserves of the natives at Wellington. It had not made the slightest provision for their education or comfort. It had not cared whether they were hungry or fed, naked or clothed, clean or dirty. It had taken no pains to make them acquainted with the laws under which they were now living. It had neglected every one of the statesmanlike processes necessary to assimilate this numerous population to the more advanced race with which they were daily coming into closer contact, by gentle and imperceptible degrees. It had not yet made an attempt, in any way, to secure for them the improvement of circumstances, both bodily and mental, which they had a right to expect on becoming

KINDNESS TO NATIVES.

subjects of the British Empire. Truly, the catalogue of native grievances against the powers that be, appeared already in as fearful array as those of the white settlers. They were still living in filthy villages, subject to disease from the accumulation of dirt, and their residence in ill-ventilated and closely crowded dunghills; still left at the mercy of wars, cannibalism, infanticide, and frequent scarcity of food from unskilful cultivation; still clothed badly and inadequately; still ignorant of all that it was absolutely necessary at this time for them to know. The neglected settlers at Port Nicholson had already done far more than the Government towards the moral and physical improvement of the equally neglected natives.

A paragraph from a Port Philip paper described the son of a chieftain as having attended the Auckland Governor's installation levee, and bowed, and offered his hand, and said "How d'ye do, Mr. Governor?" in Maori. "The Governor," it continued, "was much amused; and remarked that it was an excellent finale to the first levee in New Zealand." The Governor of New Zealand had been long enough in the country to have secured the respect and friendship of the native chiefs, and a dozen or two ought to have been at his right hand, proud of showing their gratitude for some substantial attention to the permanent interests of their people.

There was at this time scarcely a settler in Port Nicholson of any class who had not a whole family of natives forming a part of his own. Epuni would frequently walk the six miles from Pitone, in order to call on Colonel Wakefield, and his other friends in the town. And this not on a begging visit, for he had now too much property of all kinds to beg of anybody, but because he began to enjoy the pleasure of civilized

intercourse, and took pride in the friendship and example of his rangatira pakeha. Thus he would stay with my uncle for an hour, chatting about the improvements which he was carrying on at Pitone, in imitation of those in the town, watching with admiration the progress of the garden, or the preparation of the lawn for seed, talking over the news from Auckland, learning something of our laws and institutions which was not beyond his understanding, and becoming more fit, at each visit, for being raised to the social station of his friends. He seemed to take especial pleasure in having the opportunity to teach his sons and younger relations a lesson in good behaviour by these visits to well-behaved people. Epuni himself was a gentleman in every sense of the word, and would have been recognized as such in any society. I never saw him do an action, make use of a gesture, or betray a feeling, inconsistent with the most refined good manners. It needed no recommendation from Auckland to make one kind to him and his. There was an influence in his very look and speech, which must have disarmed the most ungenerous despiser of savages.

On the 25th of July a small trading schooner brought the Governor's answer to the address of the Magistrates, and other news, direct from Auckland. This was the first arrival from that place since the 3rd of May.

The answer inferred that the "circumstances, tending to disturb amicable relations between him and the settlers of Port Nicholson," were attributable to them. His Excellency held it inexpedient to discuss here the suggestions which the Magistrates had thought fit to offer on the government of the colony; but he assured them that their interests should be cared for according to the instructions which he had received from the

THE CLENDON JOB – APPOINTMENTS.

Colonial Minister, and that any present or future suggestions for the benefit of the "Southern district" should "receive due consideration."

He concluded by an intricate statement, that "he had reason to hope, when the arrangements of Government were fully complete, that many of the inconveniences of which they complained would be found susceptible of easy adjustment, and that he would not allow himself to believe that he should be denied the satisfaction of soon meeting the settlers at Port Nicholson on terms of mutual confidence and support." This was certainly carrying the language of diplomacy, if not to the terseness, at least to the ambiguity of a Delphic oracle.

The first number of a newspaper published at Auckland, and also the first number of the New Zealand Government Gazette, published there by authority, were received by this opportunity. The independent paper, called the Auckland Herald, made a very respectable appearance, and promised to take a good stand among the press of the South Seas.

The principal Government doings had been a fresh arrangement of the Clendon job, by which the vendor of "Hobson's Folly" was to receive a part of his payment in 10,000 acres of land, to be chosen according to his own taste, in the immediate vicinity of the town of Auckland. A considerable balance was also to be paid him in cash.

The following officers had been gazetted: – Edward, a brother of Lieutenant Shortland, as Private Secretary; Colonel Godfrey and Captain Richmond, as Commissioners of Land Claims; a Mr. Coates, as Sheriff; David Rough, who married the Governor's governess as Harbour-master of Auckland; and Robert A. Fitzgerald, as Registrar of the Supreme Court and

Manager of Intestate Estates. Lieutenant Shortland soon afterwards married Mr. Fitzgerald's daughter.

Three coroners and health officers were appointed for the Bay of Islands, Auckland, and Port Nicholson respectively; that for Wellington being Dr. Fitzgerald, who had been appointed Health Officer some time before.

A long list of land claims at the north were advertised in the Gazette, in the order in which they were to be investigated. And a proposed Government sale of suburban and country allotments, near Auckland, was postponed till September.

A subscription of nearly 500l. had been raised in Auckland for the building of a church. Mr. Churton, appointed Colonial Chaplain, had handed in to this list a small sum from "former parishioners at Threapwood," which there was every reason to believe he must have received while under an engagement with the Church Society to afford his spiritual aid to the settlers of Port Nicholson.

A finance minute, issued at Auckland, set forth a receipt of somewhere about 50,000/., and an expenditure exceeding that sum by several hundreds. But the actual receipts had been 41,000l. advanced from New South Wales, and 21,000l., the produce of the land-sale. Out of this profuse expenditure, which seemed scarcely to be explained, it was at least certain that not more than 1000l. had been expended for the benefit of the community at Wellington. The Governor's experiments in founding cities had been very costly, if not strikingly successful.

Captain Daniell and Mr. George Duppa returned just at this time from an expedition in the Balley, having been requested by Colonel Wakefield to observe and report upon the country and harbours in and near

PORT COOPER – PUBLIC MEETING.

Banks's Peninsula, with a view to the selection of a site for the expected colony of "Nelson." They had coasted from Kaikora, or the Lookers-on, to the north side of the peninsula, and Mr. Duppa had ascended the banks of one of the rivers which flow into Pegasus Bay, for eight miles from its mouth. They described the isthmus, which connects the peninsula with the main, to be not a sandy neck, as hitherto represented in the charts, but a broad extension of the level, low, and fertile country which reaches from the broken ground of the peninsula to the foot of the snowy range of Southern Alps, and extends far to the north and south, watered by several small rivers. They united in describing this tract of country as affording rich pasturage and excellent soil, and sprinkled with numerous groves of pine timber. They also spoke in the highest terms of the harbour of Port Cooper, and Port Levi, now called Port Ashley.

As the last paragraph in the Governor's letter to the Magistrates seemed to imply that he was really "coming," a meeting was held on the 30th of July, to consider the manner in which he was to be received.

Mr. George Butler Earp presided; and 250 people of all classes were present.

A motion was made, which met with the support of Mr. Hanson, for the preparation of a merely formal address to the Governor, expressive of the satisfaction of the settlers at the visit of the Queen's representative to this port, and of their unfeigned loyalty to the British Government. The very proposers, however, of this measure, declared that they had signed the petition for the recall of the Governor, and that they were still of the same mind. These were Mr. John Wade, an auctioneer, and Mr. Rowland Davis, a carpenter; the two great leaders of the "popular" party in the Wellington

discussions. Dr. Evans, in a masterly speech, proposed an amendment to the effect that, while the Governor's intentions towards the settlement remained uncertain, any public expression of opinion on the occasion of his expected visit would be premature and inexpedient. This amendment was seconded by Mr. Molesworth, and, after some animated discussion, carried by a very large majority.

Early in August, a large vessel arrived from England, with immigrants and a principal agent, Captain King, R. N., for New Plymouth, and proceeded to that settlement.

On the 5th, an affair of a very serious nature had taken place at Wellington. The dead body of a native had been discovered on the flat behind Te Aro pa, by two Europeans. Two doctors expressed their opinion that he had died of apoplexy. The body was removed, by the natives of the tribe to which he belonged, to their pa at Kai Wara Wara. Mr. Murphy obtained their permission to have the body opened, in order that the medical men might give their opinion at a coroner's inquest. Just as this was about to be done, Warepori came up to the spot, furious and bent on mischief. He forbade the proposed proceeding, and endeavoured to persuade his countrymen that the man had been murdered by the white people. His fiery eloquence had its wonted effect in stirring the wild passions of his audience. A sudden excitement and thirst for revenge was soon produced; and threats of "blood for blood," and utu for their countryman's death, were loudly made. Mr. Murphy was described as having retired pale and panic-struck from the scene; and he found it necessary to send round to a large number of the colonists to hold themselves in readiness to preserve the public peace, should any violence be attempted. His

NATIVE FOUND DEAD

call was responded to by an immediate muster of a large body of the settlers. Their promptness and determined appearance had a sedatory effect on the natives, and a slight degree of quiet was restored towards night.

A meeting had been called for this very evening, on some question connected with the proposed Corporation Bill. Previously to proceeding on its intended business, the meeting was addressed by Colonel Wakefield, Dr. Evans, Mr. Wicksteed, Mr. Murphy, and several other persons, on the subject of immediate importance. Captain Hobson was severely censured for having so long left the settlement in a defenceless position, and the following resolutions were unanimously agreed to: –

"First, – That the executive authority, vested in the Police Magistrate resident in Port Nicholson, is inadequate to the wants of the settlement."

"Second, – That the mischief arising and likely to ensue from this want of sufficient executive power is solely attributable to the neglect of the Government, placed several hundred miles distant from Port Nicholson, the principal settlement in these islands."

"Third, – That unless the Queen's representative speedily adopts measures to remedy this evil, it will become necessary for Her Majesty's faithful subjects to organize the means of protection against disturbers of the public peace and the opponents of British law and authority, which is presumed to be established in New Zealand."

The meeting then proceeded with its original business.

The natives still continued to assert that the man had been murdered by the white people. They supported their assertion by an ingenious piece of ex parte evidence. The native had been driving a pig with a flax rope; and it was found, they said, tied up near

the corpse, by means of a knot, which they recognized as of pakeha tying, and never used by the Maori people. This, even if true, was of course very insufficient proof; as a native might have done the deed, and then tied the pakeha knot in order to throw the suspicion on the wrong shoulders.

The continuation of this belief among the natives, and the flocking of large numbers into the pas in and near the town, whether to weep over their relative or to discuss the matter, induced a serious apprehension that an attack was meditated by them. To inspire confidence, Mr. Murphy invited a large number of settlers to attend at the court-house on the following day, Friday the 6th, and swore them in as special constables for a fortnight. During Saturday and Sunday great excitement prevailed; armed watches were kept; and some foolish and timid people raised false alarms by spreading exaggerated reports and firing guns during the night. The natives continued to talk and bluster in the different pas in their usual noisy way; and an instance was shown of their imaginative powers by the minute representation of the whole proceeding as supposed to have taken place, performed by a chief in one of the villages before a large audience of both races.

On Monday morning there was a large assemblage at the court-house; and one of the special constables proved the use of calling out undisciplined men and arming them on an emergency, by shooting a man in the next rank accidentally through the leg. Mr. Murphy published a "Government Notice" this morning declaring that there was no danger; but appointing commanders of the volunteers, places of rendezvous, special constables, and signals of alarm.

Two days afterwards the natives met, and performed their funeral ceremonies over the corpse; after which

IMPRESSIONS OF NATIVES.

everything remained quiet, and the excitement gradually subsided.

But the law of England had not been carried out. The body had not been opened, and the coroner's jury had not sat; though this might have cleared up the doubts. The natives had been too long allowed to indulge their "immemorial and established usages," and in consequence a "spirit of hostility" to the white man was probably treasured up, which might not have arisen at all had the natives been made long before to understand, respect, and obey the institution of carefully inquiring into the causes of every suspicious death.

With every wish that their simple friends should understand all these usages of civilization, what could the settlers do, when they had themselves to complain that too many of them were neglected in their own case? How could they preach of the benefit of laws which hardly existed, while the natives had before them the daily proof that the only man to whose authority the settlers bowed supported a different opinion, and wished to preserve their barbarous customs and untaught prejudices intact? The poor natives were most to be pitied. Hearing one thing from the colonists, who still wished to impress them with the advantages of civilized law, and then the contrary from the Police Magistrate, and his subordinates, who assured them that they should be allowed to follow their own wishes, is it to be wondered that they began to be influenced more by the words of him who had evident power to loose and tie, who could put irons round people's feet and hands, who had constables and boats at his orders, who said to the highest among the settlers "Do!" and it was done?

Mr. Davy, who had been sent by the Bishop of

Australia to supply the place of Mr. Churton, was only a candidate for orders, and therefore unauthorized to perform the ceremony of marriage. Mr. Hadfield had, during this period, kindly travelled from Waikanae more than once, to marry couples and to perform service on the Sabbath-day. During his short sojourns in Wellington, he had acquired the respect of the colonists as much by the polish and affability of his manners, as on account of the universal knowledge of the worthy way in which his missionary duties were performed.

About this time we were deprived even of the inadequate services of Mr. Davy, who had been guilty of two unpardonable offences. He had married several couples, although without power so to do. He had refused to give an account of nearly 50l., paid to him as one of the collectors of a charitable subscription for a public hospital. But the fact that he had been giving a series of champagne lunches and riotous bachelor's feasts sufficiently accounted for the defalcation; and he was ignominiously expelled from the club, of which he had been admitted a member, and scouted by every person of respectability. As no one would attend to hear him read public prayers, Colonel Wakefield, Mr. St. Hill, and some other gentlemen, arranged to take it by turns to perform this duty.

On the 14th of August, the Tyne had arrived in the port, bearing the Judge, Mr. Martin, and the Attorney-General, Mr. Swainson. I had the honour of being introduced to them at my uncle's house, when I arrived from Kapiti two days afterwards. A very high opinion was formed of the talents and capability for public action of these two officers; and great hopes were entertained that their addition to the official staff of the colony would cause a change for the better in our treatment by the local Government. It was gene-

DISTANT LEGISLATION.

rally supposed that they came from England imbued with that spirit of kindness and impartiality towards the Cook's Strait settlers which had distinguished Lord John Russell in his manly concessions to the Company at home.

It was felt that nothing could be worse, in a political view, than the present state of things. It was now three months since a word of official correspondence from the seat of government at Auckland had reached either Colonel Wakefield or Mr. Murphy. It was known, through the Sydney papers, and by casual information, that a Council composed of a majority of Government officials, was legislating at Auckland for the whole colony: but the great numerical majority of the inhabitants had no opportunity of expressing their feelings or wants to this body, while the Governor and his obedient Parliament could hardly be supposed to know anything of the desires or necessities of those for whom they were making laws. Besides this, it was known that profuse expenditure, from which this part of the colony derived no benefit, was paving the way for a taxation of which it would have to bear its share. It was certain that jobbing, in its worst shapes, for the good of the official inhabitants, had been allowed to usurp the place of the necessary measures of real advantage to the country generally, in the decrees which had as yet issued from the proclamation metropolis.

For nearly nineteen months the Governor had been promising, but omitting, to make that important visit to the principal part of the population which should surely have preceded his final choice of a site. And when the complaints of those whom he had thus neglected, and tantalized, and harassed, and oppressed, reached his ears, he had written letters condescendingly to say, that he should soon bear down the "olive, branch," and pacify the discontented insurgents.

It began to be thought that he was expecting to be recalled for the absurdities and follies already committed during his mal-administration, and that he had therefore postponed his visit indefinitely.

The settlers did not know then, that in May 1840, his Excellency had been writing despatches to the Government. in England, calling the loyal settlers "demagogues" and men "guilty of high treason;" that in October and November 1840, he had been depreciating the location and capabilities of Port Nicholson, only on the unfounded evidence of Lieutenant Shortland, in order to excuse his selection of a desert site, before he had compared it with that already colonized. They were not aware that Captain Hobson flattered himself for more than a year, that he should be able to stop all the complaints of those distressed, all the bitter feelings of those injured, all the resentment of those neglected, all the indignation of those defamed, by coming to "meet these people, clothed with that power and dignity which became his station," as he wrote to Lord John Russell. No rumour had yet reached Wellington of the long chain of concocted evidence by which his Excellency had secretly supported his hasty decision before the tribunal of the Colonial Office; of his unfounded abuse of the harbour and climate which he had not seen; or of his suggestions that the Company should no longer "be allowed to locate emigrants wherever their personal interests might dictate, or where, from the difficulty of communication with other parts of the colony, they would be placed solely at the mercy of the more wealthy settlers."

Thus the Governor depreciated the older settlement as under the disadvantage of distance from that which he had so capriciously founded many months afterwards, though he alone had produced the disadvantageous circumstance. So a man should knock another

SECRET CALUMNIES.

down, and then argue that the injured party ought to be deserted, and considered an inferior, because of his forcible degradation. So a despot might decree that the principal London market should be held on Dartmoor, and then complain that the porters of Covent Garden were placed at the mercy of the wealthy orange-dealers of London by the difficulty of communication with the uninhabited heath.

His Excellency knew that this string of despatches could not have met the eyes of the Cook's Strait settlers. He was probably confident that this secret and ungenerous vilification of his subjects, in order to serve a band of hungry and unprincipled flatterers, or to justify his own penchant for founding cities in a peculiar way, would never return round the world to stand side by side with his open expressions of conciliation and harmony. Thus he had been able to profess sympathy and friendly intentions towards those whom he had calumniated. He would hardly have been willing to present himself at Wellington at all, could he have predicted the public distribution of his unmanly aspersions against the inhabitants and their location.

The rule of the Colonial Office, which provides that a colonial Governor shall be enabled to send home his defence together with the accusation made against him by his subjects, does not provide that colonists shall be enabled to send home their refutation together with the calumnies heaped upon them by their legal protector.

Thus the Governor of New Zealand could safely write to the Colonial Office in order to disparage in the most unmeasured terms, a community of some thousand Englishmen, and immediately afterwards arrive to meet them "clothed in power and dignity"

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER III.

Arrival of the Governor – Public Meeting – Undignified Landing – Empty Levee – Mr. George Clarke, Chief Protector of the Aborigines – Degradation of Chiefs – Mr. Clarke's unfounded charge against Colonel Wakefield – Countenanced by the Governor – Natives consent to leave their Pa – Sudden refusal – Perpetuation of the noxious Pas – Deputation to the Governor – His abject appearance – His own description of it – Mr. Hanson and Mr. Earp – "Government Fever" – The Governor refuses to fulfil the Agreement of 1840 – Mr. Clarke's Letter – Evil effects of Indulgence on Natives – Example – Mis-protection of the Aborigines – Hiko repudiates his bargain – I am requested to become a Magistrate – "Nelson" Colony – Negotiations – The Governor goes to Akaroa – Dinner to Captain Arthur Wakefield and Captain Liardet – Toasts – Dispute about the Site of Nelson – Proclamations – Appointments – Things left undone – Stifling of Native Reserves – The Colonists and the Governor – Lieutenant Shortland and Mr. Clarke the real Governors – Their private interest at stake.

ACCORDINGLY, on the 19th of August, a little vessel came round the point about four miles from the town.

"Emigrant ship!" cried one of the loiterers on the beach.

"Whaler!" shouted another.

"No! it's a large schooner or a brig," said some knowing hand, looking with a telescope from the coffee-room of Barrett's hotel.

"Oh! a cattle-vessel from Sydney perhaps, – or a "Yankee full of notions" suggested some one in the gazing crowd which began to collect.

"Too small," said the captains and other nautical oracles; "no hay on the quarter for cattle; – not smart enough for a Yankee!"

ARRIVAL OF THE GOVERNOR.

"Perhaps only pigs and potatoes from Hawke's Bay or Wanganui, after all," said a passer-by, who had been attracted by the numerous levelled telescopes and the crowd of conjecturing gossips; – and he walked on.

"Now, she's in irons!" cried some sailor, as the vessel missed stays and drifted astern near the mouth of Evans's Bay; "What a lubberly craft!"

At length the unknown vessel approached the inner harbour, and the red ensign was made out at the peak, and the union-jack at the mainmast-head. It became evident that she must be the Government brig! She anchored off the hotel; union-jacks were hoisted at Colonel Wakefield's house, and at the straw hut in the Pipitea pa which served as a police-office and government-house. Boats put off from all parts of the bay, including the police-boat with the whole resident staff, namely, the Police Magistrate, the Health Officer, and the Postmaster; and a return boat soon brought word that it was positively the Governor.

The natives who heard of it laughed at the report. They said the ship was not half so big as the ships in which "Wide-awake's" tutua (common) white people came, and it could not be the Kawana. They pointed to the diminutive size and slovenly appearance of the craft; which certainly did look small among the two large emigrant barques, an American whaler, and two or three fine brigs and schooners, lying near her, and only deserved to be ranked as leader of the mosquito fleet of coasters which lay near the shore. They were sure we were telling them tito, "lies;" or hangareka, "making fun of them." "We had said so often that the Governor was coming; they would wait till they saw the Great Chief themselves."

That same evening a meeting took place at Barrett's hotel, which 400 persons attended. The discussions

on the proposed corporation measure had resulted in the appointment of two committees, one by the "aristocratic," and the other by the "democratic" party. The two committees, after mature deliberations, had concluded in uniting to recommend a draft of a bill to the inhabitants. The meeting on this night was met to approve of a memorial, prepared by Mr. Hanson, and which, urged the adoption of this bill by his Excellency. After great difficulty in confining the speakers to the subject before them, the chairman repeatedly explaining that no difference was made by the arrival of the Governor in the harbour, this memorial and the recommended draft of a bill were adopted.

The meeting dissolved, and then formed itself for the consideration of another affair. The name of Dr. Evans had been erased from the commission of the peace, on account of his ready acquiescence in the appeal which the colonists had made to him that he should assist Mr. Murphy on the bench. It was not till afterwards generally known that Captain Daniell and Mr. Moreing were also removed from the magistracy, because they had signed the petition for the recall of his Excellency. The meeting expressed their sympathy and respect for Dr. Evans, and their deep feeling of the insult which had been offered to the inhabitants of Port Nicholson by the arbitrary exercise of the Governor's authority in his case.

The settlers then retired; and, at each other's homes, at the hotels, or at the workshops, according to their respective classes, quietly commented on the arrival of Captain Hobson. But little gladness arose from the discussion, as they were convinced that they had an enemy to meet, instead of a kind guardian to greet with welcome. An admirable feeling of respect for their own dignity induced all to scout the idea of hiss-

UNDIGNIFIED LANDING OF THE GOVERNOR.

ing the Governor on his landing, or making any other active demonstration of dislike; but it was sorrowfully whispered how passionate a welcome from the true hearts of some thousand Englishmen would have echoed along the hills, had they been about to receive a ruler who had deserved common respect or gratitude.

The next day at noon, having engaged apartments at Barrett's hotel, his Excellency landed on the beach, close to the door. A considerable assemblage of the first people in the place had been standing on the road near the hotel and Medical Hall, previous to this time, talking over the rumoured intentions of Captain Hobson; but as his boat neared the shore, they stepped silently into the houses in a marked manner. I well remember that I was rebuked by a large party who had retreated into Dr. Dorset's sitting-room for even looking out at the window; but I was determined to have a good view of the expected "power and dignity." I was not disappointed.

As the boat grated on the silent and almost deserted beach, some nameless tuft-hunter came up just in time with a mob of about forty ragged labourers, whom he had collected among the idlers at a public-house, and they raised a very faint cheer, probably because badly paid for. Two still less reputable characters formed part of the deputation to receive his Excellency. These were Mr. Davy, the embezzling candidate for orders, and a drunken Sydney horse-breaker, named Bob Barrett, who had fastened a smart cavalry saddle-cloth on to a wretched old nag, and who rode into the water by the side of the boat, splashing the Governor and his suite all over, and begging him to ride in procession on the horse. Beyond this, I will venture to say that no land-owner, no holder of capital, no respectable mechanic or decent tradesman, no person who had a name to

lose, assisted at the disembarkation. Captain Hobson at last got rid of the troublesome jockey, and walked from the boat to the hotel, looking much mortified. He was attended by Lieutenant Smart as his aide-decamp, by his private secretary, Edward Shortland, and by a "mounted policeman on foot," as an orderly. The whole, affair looked as little like dignity and power as it possibly could. Five or six natives from Pipitea pa told us, as they went homewards, that they were much disappointed; that he did not look like a chief at all; and that they could not understand why he was said to have so much authority over all the white people.

A levee, held on the Tuesday following, was an equally complete failure. Besides the officers of the Government and of the Company, the latter headed by Colonel Wakefield, only about forty persons attended, chiefly new arrivals; and several of even this small number were butchers or shopmen dressed up for the occasion, who were delighted to be able to attend a levee at any price. But the real leaders of the community, whether by birth, influence, talents, education, wealth, or honourable feelings, did not afford his Excellency an opportunity of meeting them. One was at his farm, another fishing or shooting, a third building a chimney, or riding after cattle, another planing a plank, and all going on with their usual avocations, as though no Governor had been there. I passed the door of the hotel on horseback a few minutes after the levee had begun: I could see through the window that the room was nearly empty; and the aide-de-camp, who had to present the cards of visitors, stood on the steps of the outer door jingling his spurs,, and sunning his gay uniform, without being able to catch a single other customer for a peep at the lions. I could not help thinking of the four hundred well-behaved people who

LEVEE – MR. GEORGE CLARKE.

had filled the same room the night before to support their own liberties, but who cared not to gaze on empty "dignity and power."

They had sufficiently proved their constant loyalty to the Queen and their attachment to the laws of England; and were far too proud and honest to fawn on the hitherto unworthy representative of Her Majesty, till he should have displayed a disposition to make amends for his injustice, and to deserve their open countenance and support.

Among the passengers in the Government brig were – Mr. Halswell, who had been up to Auckland, to present his letters from Lord John Russell, and had sat in the Legislative Council, as one of the three senior Magistrates; a Collector of Customs for Port Nicholson; and a Police Magistrate, who had been appointed eight months before to assist Mr. Murphy as an itinerant magistrate for the out-settlements of Cook's Strait, but whose arrival had been delayed till now by the fact that there had been no means of conveyance to the seat of his duties.

The three-epaulet Surveyor-general, Mr. Felton Mathew, was also among the suite; as it was understood, to arrange about the Government reserves in this district.

Mr. George Clarke, the lay agent of the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand, and formerly a catechist and gunsmith of some skill, appeared as the Chief Protector of the Aborigines! It was said that he came to make the necessary arrangements for the placing of the native reserves on some advantageous footing.

This gentleman kept very much in the back-ground but there was a general inquiry as to who the man could be, that was always to be seen prowling about in

the pas, and holding much private talk with the discontented among the natives. He seemed to become a part and parcel of the Pipitea and Te Aro villages, though not one of the settlers even knew who he was. Some presents of blankets from the Government were handed by Mr. Clarke to the people of those villages, for distribution to the aboriginal population; but Epuni, Warepori, and several other chiefs of rank, refused to accept the donation through their hands, having received no sort of attention, or acknowledgment of their higher station from any of the official troop. Thus the door of Barrett's hotel was daily surrounded by the chiefs who had been of minor influence at the time of our first arrival, but whose immediate residence happened to be in the town, while the real chiefs held no communication with the Governor. And the settlers were hurt to see this tacit offence put by authority upon the dignity of those whom they had hitherto thought it advisable to honour and respect, as the worthy and influential leaders of the native tribes. 2

DEGRADATION OF CHIEFS.

The branch of the local Government which was especially directed to the protection of the aborigines, when it had any fixed system, proceeded upon that of the missionaries, which consisted in at once overthrowing the native aristocracy without substituting any effective organization for that destroyed. The suddenness of the change seemed highly dangerous for so tender a nursling as the aboriginal race.

Captain Hobson, however, had carefully nursed a great chief, who was in opposition to some of the Company's land-claims. He brought with him Te Werowero, the Waikato chief, who had formerly conquered Taranaki from the Ngatiawa; and when Colonel Wakefield spoke to the Governor about the settlement of New Plymouth, his Excellency introduced Werowero as the "sole owner of Taranaki." He even afterwards paid him 250l. for that claim. Werowero visited his old enemy, Rauperaha, at Kapiti, and then returned to the north with the Governor.

It soon became very clear that Mr. Clarke had considered it the main part of his duty to collect every complaint that he could hear of on the part of the natives against the white people. But, more than this, a scene of which I was an eye-witness, proved that

the Protector had no great scruples as to exaggerating and improving upon these complaints, when they could be made to militate against the settlers or the officers of the Company.

The natives of Te Aro, who, it will be remembered, had first openly interfered with the occupation by the settlers of any land, had become much more discontented and distant towards the settlers since the arrival of the Wesleyan missionary among them. About four acres of land on which their pa stood, near the beach of the harbour, had been laid out as a public wharf and reserve for the site of a custom-house, and two private sections; but they had been unwilling for a long while to remove from the place. Colonel Wakefield had been more than once on the point of getting them to migrate to a block of 38 acres of native reserve, which included some of their favourite potato-gardens, about half a mile from the pa. But, after willingly accepting his offer of a sum of money or amount of goods as an inducement to the removal in the afternoon, they would, frequently change their minds suddenly, and behave in the morning in so sullen and repulsive a manner that it was evident some sinister influence had been at work. It soon crept out, for they are not clever at keeping a secret, that Mr. Aldred constantly advised them, and on the most unworthy grounds, never to leave their pa.

Thus the missionaries destroyed the chieftainship, one of the native institutions most worthy of preservation, and supported the preservation of the filthy and unwholesome pas; though a change which should affect the manner in which the Maories lived was perhaps the one most to be desired, and the one most easy to be effected by gradual and harmless degrees.

The Governor, attended by Colonel Wakefield and

CHARGE AGAINST COL. WAKEFIELD.

Mr. Clarke, paid this pa a formal visit, with a view to some satisfactory arrangement of their grievances. On Colonel Wakefield stating that a portion of the payment had been especially set aside, and sent hither by Warepori for the inhabitants of this village, a written paper was handed in to the Governor by one of the assembled natives. It stated, in the Maori language, that certain things had been sent here by Warepori as a present to his sister, who had married one of the men of the tribe; and that this present had never been considered as payment for the land. The paper correctly enumerated everything that had been included in this share of the property, which Warepori had intentionally made rather smaller than the others, though he took credit to himself, in addressing the Te Aro men afterwards, for raising them above their former condition of a slave-tribe, by giving them any. This I described in the fourth chapter of the first volume. 3

Mr. Clarke, in translating this paper, stopped at the word tuahine, "sister," and stammered, and smiled, and turned to the Governor, and hummed and hawed, and looked at the paper again, and then looked at Colonel Wakefield, and finished by drawing a long face and being very grave. Upon being pressed by the Governor to explain what he meant, he shuffled, and smirked, and sneered; and then held the paper out, and broadly asserted that it named these goods as the payment which had been given to "a woman, whom Warepori had let Colonel Wakefield take on board the Tory." The conception, and the manner of the insinuation, were both such as none but a low-minded man could have been guilty of.

It was well known by every one who had been on

board the Tory, that Colonel Wakefield had not even allowed the crew to bring women on board, although such a practice had been often sanctioned by the example of men-of-war at the Bay of Islands. I obtained a sight of the paper, and having read it carefully through, I flatly impugned Mr. Clarke's translation. Not only does the word tuahine mean "sister," but it is capable of no other meaning. Moreover, the words of the document were simply what I have related above, and it did not contain a syllable on which Mr. Clarke's accusation of Colonel Wakefield could be in any way founded, even by the most tortuous inference.

The Protector of Aborigines, however, persisted in his assertion; and when I had proved by appealing to the natives that tuahine meant "sister," and not "a woman," he tried to shuffle out of it by saying that this was the meaning of the word in the northern parts, the dialect of which I could not be supposed to know. John Brooks, who had resided eight years among the Waikato tribes, and two years in Cook's Strait, on being asked for his interpretation, confirmed me in repeating, that in the north as well as the south, tuahine never meant anything but "sister," and that the extraordinary insinuation of Mr. Clarke had not the slightest foundation in a single syllable of what he had pretended to translate. I shall never forget the crestfallen looks of Captain Hobson, who had turned triumphantly towards Colonel Wakefield on the beginning of this accusation, but who now positively quailed before his frank and open countenance. Colonel Wakefield looked inquiringly in the face of the agitated Governor; who seemed much ashamed of the whole affair, and suddenly, without assigning any reason, put an end to the conference.

Mr. Clarke followed in the official train with per-

COUNTENANCED BY THE GOVERNOR.

fectly unmoved and unblushing features. If he had been honest, and conscious of his own innocence, his face must surely have been flushed, and his manner agitated, while he lay under so grievous an imputation. The prospects of the aborigines, under the official protection of such a person, seemed indeed gloomy.

Only the next morning, however, the Governor gave his countenance to Mr. Clarke in a very marked way. He sent a message to Colonel Wakefield, inviting him to join another conference at Te Aro on that day, for the purpose of finally arranging the dispute with the natives. Colonel Wakefield answered, that he should be most willing, provided that Mr. Clarke were not allowed to be present. The only answer to this very natural demand was, that the Governor walked along the beach towards the pa at the hour which he had appointed, with the Protector of Aborigines on his right hand. Colonel Wakefield got on horseback, bowed to Captain Hobson as he passed the two, and rode to one of the cattle-stations out of town. No spectators attended the renewal of the parley with the natives.

This whole transaction will appear so incredible, when coupled with the fact that Mr. George Clarke remains, to this day, Chief Protector of the Aborigines in New Zealand, that I should hesitate to place these facts upon record, did I not feel confidence in the testimony of numerous men of unimpeached honour and integrity, who were like myself spectators of the memorable scene.

Before Captain Hobson left, however, Colonel Wakefield had succeeded in prevailing upon the natives of Te Aro to leave the pa, and to establish themselves upon some native reserves, in consideration of 50l. which he was to give them; having been authorized by

the Governor thus to treat for the arrangement. On the day before the Government brig sailed away, and when all the suite were on board, this had been agreed upon. The new location had been pointed out to the head men of the village, and the advantages of building new and more wholesome residences in this more roomy situation had been explained to them, and fully acknowledged by themselves. The next morning all differences were to be at an end, and a worthy example was to be set to all the natives in overcoming their prejudices to their own benefit, while they accommodated and conciliated their civilized neighbours. All parties were congratulating themselves on these happy results. In the afternoon, Mr. Clarke unexpectedly landed, and paid long farewell visits to the native villages. Mr. Aldred was observed to be in unusually close and confidential communication with the teachers and his leading catechumens on the same day. And in the morning they repudiated the agreement to a man, saying that they were not going to be driven from their pas, and that the Governor had told them it was not right. No persuasion, no reference to their former joyful assent had the least effect upon their sudden fit of obstinacy, and the whole affair had returned into its original difficulty. One or two efforts were subsequently made at various times, by Colonel Wakefield, by Mr. Halswell, and several other worthy persons who felt interested in the fate of these unfortunate savages; but without avail: – or if for a time attended with success, the most sanguine hopes were always, as before, suddenly and mysteriously overthrown.

So the wretched inhabitants have remained ever since in a crowded, filthy, and unwholesome state; confirming each other in all their idle and baneful habits of life; devoid of cleanliness in their dress and

DEPUTATION TO THE GOVERNOR.

their food; estranged in disposition, because isolated on principle from the white people; and thinned by diseases which are generated and confirmed by the want of ventilation, warmth, and comfort in their huts. The native pas, and the beach near them, remain to this day an eye-sore to the cleanly town of Wellington; they are nurseries for the virulent cutaneous diseases and pulmonary complaints which decimate the inhabitants every year; they are schools for idleness, ignorance, and therefore unfounded suspicion and jealousy of the white man; and they present glaring pictures to remind the settlers themselves that an obstinate and unprofitable obstruction to the agreeable progress and amity of both races is loudly encouraged and carefully perpetuated by the authorities. Consisting entirely of low, miserable, thatched sheds, with fires inside and no chimneys, leaning against dry wooden fences, these inhabited dunghills are dangerous to themselves and to the rest of the town, in case of accident by fire; they harbour troops of half-starved mangy mongrels, which rush out day and night upon every horse and foot passenger; and, although the inhabitants adhere very strictly to the forms of religion, the pa, like Alsatia of old, is a terra incognita under no supervision, which serves to conceal many a scene of the very worst debauchery. Such, however, is the acknowledged system on which the aborigines of New Zealand are now protected, and doomed to a progress which can only be likened to that of a lingering and pestiferous cancer.

Several deputations waited upon his Excellency during his stay, to present memorials on various subjects such as the proposed corporation measure, the duties to be imposed on spirits, the providing for the reception of foreign oil in exchange for refreshments furnished to

whalers in the port, and various other matters of the highest importance to the settlement. On these occasions the leading colonists did not hesitate to overcome their repugnance to meeting the Governor, and boldly stated all their grievances, earnestly urging the most prompt and efficacious redress. I was present at one of these scenes. The Governor and his suite were at one end of the long table in the large room at Barrett's hotel. Pressing close round the table were settlers of various classes, who took the occasion to mention many subjects foreign to that on which they had obtained an interview. Perfectly unanimous in their sentiments, one after the other spoke in firm but urgent tones. They made their complaints of past occurrences, or questioned the Governor on his future intentions.

The whole audience was struck with the uncollected bearing of Captain Hobson. He looked timidly from one to the other of the speakers, and hesitated, and stammered, and gave vague unmeaning answers. When repeatedly pressed to explain himself, he tried in vain to "clothe himself with the power and dignity which became his station:" and, throughout the interview, he reminded me of an offending school-boy who should have been brought up to be reproved, before an assemblage of scolding parents and teachers, unable to utter any remonstrance, or too humiliated and broken-spirited even to defend himself. To many in the room the exhibition was positively painful. I remember experiencing the same nervous feeling as though I were listening to the failure of a maiden speech, or the break-down of a middling singer in trying to execute a difficult passage.

On one point only was Captain Hobson firm, – in defending his Colonial Secretary, and approving of

THE GOVERNOR'S MISREPRESENTATIONS.

everything that he had done while here. To give this coup-de-grace to the smarting settlers, he made one vigorous rally, and seemed a man for five minutes.

When Captain Hobson had got back to Auckland, he found courage to describe this scene in a very different light to the Colonial Minister.

He described the very consistent and universal dissatisfaction of the men of note among the colonists, as "a great ferment agitated and excited by a venal press, and a few discontented spirits." He added in his despatch, that all their subjects of complaint had been anticipated by the previous provisions of the local Government; and that the "disaffected portion of the meeting, finding their principal grievances so promptly met and redressed, endeavoured to introduce many extraneous matters reflecting on the Government;" and that, as they were foreign to the purposes for which the interview was granted, he "took an early opportunity of dismissing the meeting."

He then reported with much pleasure to his Lordship, that he "received the warmest and most cordial support from by far the largest and most influential body of the colonists." He had the face to take credit to himself, that "even those opposed to his Government displayed no manifestation of displeasure or disloyalty," without adding that this arose from the forbearance of gentlemen, and the English feeling of loyalty, which forbade any unmannerly expression of disrespect towards him who, although a negligent officer, was still the representative of the Queen.

When long afterwards this despatch found its way back to Wellington in a published form, it was again remarked that a Governor might grossly misrepresent the actions and feelings of his subjects, without an accompanying reply from those so maligned.

In the same despatch, Captain Hobson dwelt with much emphasis on the recantation and adherence to his views of Mr. Earp, who had led the meetings for petitioning for the recall of his Excellency, and of Mr. Hanson, who had declared at one of the public meetings that the Governor had no place worthy of his acceptance, when accused by some frank democrat of having been bought to advocate moderate measures.

Only a fortnight after the eventful interview, Mr. Hanson was gazetted as Crown Prosecutor for the District of Port Nicholson; to which office was attached a salary of 250l. per annum.

Six days later, Mr. Earp was gazetted as a Justice of the Peace, and Member of the Legislative Council. In order to be qualified for the latter office, he had been placed at the head of the list, so that he might appear as one of the three senior Magistrates. This is a process probably of colonial custom, and very much resembles that of boys taking each other down at school. The fact was, that none of the existing Justices found it convenient to abandon their pursuits in the neighbourhood of Wellington, in order to have the empty honour of going 500 or 600 miles to debate in a Council in which the Governor secured a certain official majority on all occasions.

Mr. Earp was now treated in Wellington as one who had been wheedled by politeness and flattery into abandoning his party, and completely lost the confidence of the colonists whom he had for a time led, as soon as ever he was seen in obsequious attendance upon the Governor. Yet Captain Hobson made a great show of taking a representative for Port Nicholson back to the nominal Parliament at Auckland, and professed for a long while to consider his opinions as those of the great majority of Cook's Strait settlers.

THE "GOVERNMENT FEVER."

The going over of these two gentlemen to the enemy was one of the earliest instances of what afterwards came to be called "catching the Government fever." This idea of some Wellington wit very pithily expressed the manner in which the oldest settlers and most unprejudiced officials from England generally imbibed the distinctive manners, the vulgar haughtiness and importance, and the opinionated partisanship, of the Auckland staff, with their first draught from the Auckland treasury.

Colonel Wakefield was in constant communication with Captain Hobson on the various subjects comprised in the recent "agreement" in England. To the great surprise of most people, it soon got abroad that many of the despatches from the Colonial Office to the Governor were first made known to his Excellency by the perusal of copies which had been forwarded to Colonel Wakefield by the Directors. Many instances occurred in which Captain Hobson denied having received certain instructions, and was startled to find a copy of them handed to him out of a little packet of papers in the despatch-box of the Company's Agent. As all the despatches for the Governor had been forwarded to him, and received before his departure from Auckland, the absence of some of the most important among them, of which copies had been openly given to the Directors in England, looked very like gross neglect or intentional omission on the part of the home officials.

It soon became clear that the Governor would not carry out the whole spirit of the agreement, and that he would issue no titles to the land which the Company had a right to expect, until their purchases should be examined and proved before a Commission of Land Claims; thus placing them in precisely the same position as the other land claimants, and repudiating the

evident intention of the agreement to grant them a complete title at once, in return for their outlay and the cession of the greater part of their purchases to the Crown. He refused to acknowledge the great boon of the native reserves and civilization as a sufficient extinction of the native rights; and opened the way for a tedious and lingering consideration of those repudiations of the original bargain, which were daily arising from the knowledge which the natives had now acquired, of the immense value added to the land by population and commerce.

His ultimatum of concession, after much negotiation, was a proclamation that the Crown would forego its right of pre-emption in favour of the Company, over the districts included in the surveys for the preliminary, Wanganui, and New Plymouth settlements; and that a title would be given to the Company for such of these lands as should be proved to have been validly purchased by any one from the natives, the Company compensating all former purchasers according to the scale fixed by the Ordinance.

And he especially provided that none of the pas or cultivations of the natives should be alienated from them, except with their own consent. Colonel Wakefield was authorized to treat with the natives for the further purchase of such sites. This might doubtless have been effected at that time, by some little exertion and at a moderate expense. But the Te Aro case had been of fatal example; and although Colonel Wakefield, by continued efforts on several subsequent occasions, nearly overcame the difficulties even in that very case, he was constantly met by an unseen influence.

Long after the departure of Captain Hobson, who had suggested that the above-mentioned authority should

MR. CLARKE'S LETTER.

be kept private, in order to prevent evil-disposed persons from interfering with its success, it was made known that Mr. Clarke had left the letter, of which a translation follows, with a chief of Pipitea, and that its contents had been widely circulated among the natives:

"Port Nicholson, September 10, 1841.
" Friend Wairarapa, – You ask for a letter from the Governor, that the white man may not drive you from your pas, or seize your cultivations.
"Listen to the word of the Governor: he says, that it is not according to our laws that you should be driven, if you do not agree to go.
"This letter is from the Governor.
(Signed) "CLARKE,
"Protector of the Natives.
"To Wairarapa, Chief of Pipitea."

It requires rather an intimate knowledge of the language, as well as of the general character of the Maori, to appreciate the full effect upon their minds of such an announcement.

The language is not rich, and therefore the same word, or sentence, has many implied meanings, as well as that suggested by the first glance. In speaking, the meaning of a native is expressed rather by his tone and accent, by his gestures and the working of his features, than by the mere words. In writing, therefore, what was only recently a written language, how readily might misconstruction arise from a sentence capable of implied meaning?

I have stated that the studied separation of the natives from the white people, and their comparative isolation in the pas, had already exercised a very material influence on their character. Nor must I omit the effect produced upon their minds by the secret insi-

nuations of artful and interested parties, such as Mr. Tod and other private land-claimants, or of others who, from their station as Christian pastors, should have been the last to employ such means. The poverty and ambiguity of the native language was a ready weapon in the hands of such unprincipled persons, because their advice and opinions, even when repeated in their own words, was capable of a harmless as well as of a mischievous interpretation. Thus the natives daily displayed increased jealousy of the whites, and more false suspicions of their ultimate intentions towards them. Prone to lay great stress on a heedless action or an insignificant word, painfully sensitive to expressions which they formerly considered as a joke, and learning to watch with diffidence and incredulity every proposition made for their own good, as though it were a plot against their quiet or their liberty, they were well prepared to view the letter of Mr. Clarke as a warning against premeditated fraud and deceit. The production of this letter by themselves, when pressed for the reasons of their varying and unconciliatory conduct, showed that they looked upon it as their armour against an unworthy ruse. The very mention of driving them from their pas led them to look upon the proposed bargains as excuses for their violent expulsion; and their dignity was naturally offended as much as their fears were excited.

Thus the final arrangement of this momentous question was indefinitely postponed, because the Government, instead of aiding to adjust it satisfactorily by lending its own influence and persuasion towards obtaining the free consent of the natives, threw its weight into the opposite scale by a manuscript mandate, which was hardly impartial even in its words, and was in effect strongly conducive to their conviction that it was ex-

MIS-PROTECTION OF THE NATIVES.

pedient to refuse offers, only privately sanctioned by authority.

Fancy an indulgent mother leaving her child with a dentist, authorizing him to draw his loose tooth, and give him a sugar-plum if he was quite willing. She then, instead of explaining to the boy how advantageous it would be for him, and herself kindly persuading him to have it out, leaves the room with nurse, who is told to whisper in his ear as she goes out, that mamma says, as it might stop him from going to see the pantomime, she'd have him know it's against law for the dentist to drag his tooth out if he doesn't like. Of course Master Tommy hesitates, and then plucks up courage to sit down, but at last sturdily refuses. And when Mr. Cartwright remonstrates, and kindly asks the boy's reason, he sobs out what nurse told him ma' said.

The theory was advanced by some persons, and among them were the greater number of the missionaries, that the moving from the pas would interfere with the religious duties of the natives. Surely a far-sighted and benevolent Protector of Aborigines would have jumped at the chance afforded him of establishing the religious as well as secular welfare of the natives on a more permanent footing, by removing them to improved residences on the native reserves, with convenient chapels and schools supported by the income from those parts not occupied, and with perhaps the white man's church, or the residence of some respectable and moral families, as examples on the neighbouring sections. Whereas the pa Pipitea, in which Mr. Clarke virtually advised them to remain, was only separated by an open stockade from the yard of the jail, in which felons were constantly walking, contained the police-court within its fence, and was contiguous to the beach, with its riotous pot-houses and its boat-loads of drunken sailors.

He might as well have advocated their remaining permanently in one of the low courts out of the Old Bailey, if removed bodily into the centre of Wapping.

But any extended views for the benefit of the aboriginal race may easily be supposed to have been far beyond the conception of such a mind as Mr. Clarke's.

His official Report of this visit to Port Nicholson shows clearly that he considered it his duty only to collect the existing complaints of the natives, and to encourage them in maintaining their stationary condition amidst the inevitable progress of a highly civilized community. He only speaks of present injustice done to them, and does not pretend to ponder whether greater benefits might not have been produced by the amicable concurrence of the natives in large and statesmanlike views for their gradual advancement and ultimate prosperity. He seems to have thought the reserves beyond his province, or unworthy of his notice; as neither did he take pains to make the natives acquainted with their existence or value, nor does he introduce in his official Report of this visit any plan for their comprehensive management, or even any acknowledgment of their importance.

When this document, too, had made the round of the world, it appeared that much in answer to Mr. Clarke's attacks upon the disposition of the settlers, and much qualification of his gloomy account of the discontent of the natives, with its causes, might have gone home at the same time, had an equal opportunity been afforded to both sides of the question at once.

A scene at which I assisted, and which is mentioned by Mr. Clarke in a manner not very complimentary to my veracity, will best exemplify the extent to which designing parties had been able to affect the natives, even previously to the arrival of the Governor. The

HIKO REPUDIATES HIS BARGAIN.

reader will remember the active part which Hiko had taken in the sale effected at Kapiti in Oct. 1839. He had arrived hither from Porirua, and was living at the house of the carpenter, whom I have formerly mentioned as having worked so industriously at Kapiti. This carpenter had now become the owner of a large public-house and tavern in the town. Having a claim to some land at Porirua, in right of an alleged purchase from Hiko and other chiefs, he made him various presents, and supplied him with grog ad libitum. I was called in one morning to relate to Captain Hobson what I knew of Hiko's part in the transaction at Kapiti. In the room were the Governor, Colonel Wakefield, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Hadfield, the Chief Justice, Dr. Dorset, and some other persons. I told briefly what I had seen and heard of the affair, and concluded by describing the way in which I held the pen straight while Hiko made the cross with it opposite his name. The deed itself was produced, and Hiko staunchly and flatly denied having ever seen it or made the cross. He said that he had not touched the pen in my hand, as I mentioned – that he knew nothing of the transaction alluded to – and that he had not sold Colonel Wakefield any land; and this in the face of Colonel Wakefield, Brooks the interpreter, Dr. Dorset, and I, who had all been present during the whole transaction, and at his perfectly voluntary signature, after full explanation of the deed. 4

The Governor then briefly admonished Hiko that he would not allow the road to be obstructed, as that had nothing to do with the land question; and the false chief, after promising to remove the trees which had been felled across it, returned to his grog-shop. I afterwards reproached him with his falsehood, having at one time held him in much respect; but he persisted in a firm denial: and I told him he had behaved like a slave, and I could never be his friend again.

Long before the opening of the Court of Land Claims, many of the vendors had become equally devoid of honesty and veracity. The pas had been gradually increased in extent and more substantially fenced, and numerous new cultivations had been cleared, for which the natives claimed the protection of the Governor's decree, as well as for those which they had cropped and abandoned. Every delay and indulgence served but to confirm them in attachment to their pigsties, and in fresh encroachments on the land unoccupied at the time of the Governor's very indefinite restriction, and unclaimed at the time when Mr. Clarke rushed into condemning the Company's claim without investigation.

Mr. Murphy had requested me to put in writing a description which I had made to him of the wretched

"NELSON" COLONY.

state of Wanganui, through the absence of any authorized person to restrain the excesses of the lawless vagabonds who infested that part of the country, in order that he might lay it before the Governor. His Excellency, in consequence, sent for me, and requested me to become a Magistrate, together with three other gentlemen living at that place. He also assured me that Mr. Dawson would include Wanganui in his itinerary visits about Cook's Strait: and that he hoped these measures, and the appointment of a small constabulary force, would allay the evil. I had felt much reluctance in allowing my name to be included in the commission of the peace, not unmindful of the dismissal of two gentlemen for the free expression of their political opinions. But as I had hitherto carefully avoided any active expression of my opinion on local politics, lest my relationship to Colonel Wakefield should be used to accuse me of undue prejudice in favour of the Company, I was persuaded to accept the appointment, in the hope of doing some good to my favourite settlement.

On the 28th, a fast brig arrived from Plymouth in 93 days, beating in at night under double-reefed topsails against a strong gale. This was the Arrow, a store-ship forming one of the preliminary expedition of the proposed "Nelson" colony. She announced that two barques, containing the rest of the pioneers, might be daily expected, having sailed in company with her. It was proposed to found this colony or some part of the Middle Island. At first restricted to the territory claimed by the Company in right of its original purchases, its projectors had been afterwards allowed by Lord John Russell to fix on any other site which, if found more convenient, might meet with the approval of the Governor.

On the 8th of September, the Will Watch arrived,

bearing Mr. Tuckett as Chief Surveyor, and a whole staff of assistants and labouring men for the new settlement.

Colonel Wakefield immediately applied to the Governor, requesting him to point out a site fit for the purpose, according to the conditions agreed upon between Lord John Russell and the Company. His Excellency suggested a place called Mahurangi, situated about fifty miles from the capital at Auckland; offering a site for a town, and 50,000 acres of land immediately adjoining it, there; and stating his confidence of obtaining from the natives the remaining 150,000 acres requisite for the new colony in the valley of the Thames or the plains of the Waipa. This arrangement would have been in direct contravention to the distinct provisions of the agreement, that the site should not be in the vicinity of the capital, lest the labourers of the new settlement should be induced to desert it, and lest it should interfere with the lands to be laid out in the neighbourhood of the capital itself. Mahurangi, moreover, was avowedly a very inferior harbour and district; and the Governor proposed to separate the suburban district of "Nelson" from its rural lands by a distance of 100 miles, with Auckland in the centre of the only road between them. So transparent a device for peopling his own pet metropolis was easily seen through by Colonel Wakefield. But the negotiations on the subject were interrupted by the departure of the Governor on a trip to Akaroa, on the 11th of September.

On the 18th, the Whitby arrived, bearing my lamented uncle Captain Arthur Wakefield of the Royal Navy, as Agent for Nelson, and the rest of his staff; and also Captain Liardet of the Royal Navy, as Agent for New Plymouth.

DINNER TO CAPTAIN WAKEFIELD, ETC.

I went on board the ship as she came in; and was much pleased to greet among the crew, besides my dear and good uncle, several younger relations and schoolfellows who had engaged as subordinates in the surveying staff of the new settlement.

On the 20th, a public dinner was given to commemorate the arrival of the expedition. The honoured guests were Captain Wakefield and Captain Liardet, and two officers of the French corvette lying at Akaroa, who had come up to buy provisions for their countrymen settled there. Seventy of the elite of the colony sat down, the chair having been taken by Dr. Evans. I shall not relate all the toasts which paid the due compliments to our guests, or proved our eager welcome of the new colonists who were about to join us on so large a scale. "Epuni, Warepori, and the Chiefs of Port Nicholson" were not forgotten, although they had escaped the notice of Captain Hobson. But when the chairman, without comment, proposed "the Governorof New Zealand," only about half-a-dozen persons besides the Company's officers rose to do honour to the toast, and made a feeble attempt to raise a cheer, which was drowned in the respectful silence of the great body of independent settlers, who sat still with their empty glasses upturned on the board.

A selection of lands at Wanganui having been fixed for the 27th, I joined with two other gentlemen to charter the Gem, a schooner of 80 tons; and obtained freight and passengers enough just to cover our expenses. The rough weather delayed our departure for some days; and we postponed the trip for one day longer in order to attend this dinner. The Surveyor-General of the Company, Captain Smith, had started by land some days before to superintend the selection; and had been followed by two or three land-agents and sectionists. As the principal portion of the selectors

were intending to proceed in the Gem, we made application to Colonel Wakefield to allow a messenger to be sent after the Surveyor, with a request to delay the selection, if possible, until we should arrive, in case we should be detained beyond the time fixed by bad weather or any unforeseen accident. On the 22nd we left Port Nicholson, with a crowded cabin full of passengers.

As Captain Hobson returned from Akaroa on the 24th, and finally left Port Nicholson on the 29th, I shall here complete the narrative of what he did during his stay at Wellington.

On his return, the negotiation as to the site of the "Nelson" settlement was renewed, and finally embodied in the shape of a correspondence between the Governor and the two Agents of the Company. It would be tedious to follow out the arguments adduced by both parties in support of their respective views. The Governor obstinately named Mahurangi as the fittest site; the Agents of the Company suggested Port Cooper, of which Messrs. Daniell and Duppa had brought back so promising an account. But his Excellency declared with some warmth that he would "not colonize New Munster." He disapproved of Port Cooper in a conclusive but somewhat intemperate despatch, in which he imputed motives of gambling and speculation to the Company's operations, in such language as to draw forth a pointed rebuke from Lord Stanley, who had become Colonial Minister by the time the correspondence reached England. Colonel Wakefield closed the negotiation by a despatch explaining the motives which induced him to fall back upon the original permission to select any site within the territory claimed by the Company, and named Blind Bay as a spot likely to be approved of by Captain Wakefield on due examination. And he ended

PROCLAMATIONS.

by "claiming only from his Excellency's justice due allowance for a conscientious difference of opinion, and his protection for their fellow-subjects destined for the proposed settlement;" a manly appeal, the long neglect of which has been too often charged against the local Government.

Captain Hobson had at length condescended to spend twenty-seven days among that part of his population which he had himself officially described as "from their rank, their numbers, and their wealth, by far the most important in the colony."

His further doings, during this short stay, may be gathered from a list of proclamations published by his command in the Wellington Gazette; some framed on the spot; others re-publications of those promulgated at Auckland on the 26th of July, but which were still almost unknown here on account of the distance and the unfrequency of communication.

These proclamations gave official notice of the assumption by the Governor of the powers of Vice-Admiral; of his approval of the town of Wellington, and a definition of its boundaries; of the approval of the jail as a common jail (and a very common jail it was); of the establishment of bonded stores; of the application of the New South Wales Police Act for towns to New Zealand; of the authority of the Crown Prosecutor to prosecute in his own name; of the institution of an overland mail to Wanganui; of the tenders to be made for the building of a pound; of the illegality of squatting on the Public or on the Native Reserves; of the establishment of a Court of Requests; of a description of the Reserves made by the Crown for public purposes; and of a prohibition against the cutting of timber in the belt of land reserved for the ornament of the town and recreation of the townspeople.

The appointments gazetted were the following: Mr. Murphy as Sub-sheriff and Police Magistrate for Wellington; Captain Smith and Mr. Edward Chetham of Wellington, Captain King and two other gentlemen of Taranaki, Mr. George White of Pitone, and three gentlemen of Wanganui besides myself, to be Magistrates of the territory; Mr. Halswell to be Chairman of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Requests, Sub-protector of Aborigines, and Commissioner for the management of Native Reserves for the Southern District; 5 Mr. Hogg, as Sub-treasurer and Sub-collector of Customs, with a Landing-waiter who had also come from Auckland; Mr. William Connell, a colonist lately arrived at Wellington, as Postmaster-general of the colony, to reside at Auckland; and Mr. Strang, one of the early Scotch colonists, as Registrar to the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Requests.

The Governor had thus made some of the appointments necessary for peace and order; had imposed taxes, and provided means for their collection. But this was all.

Several important appointments necessary to the well-being of the settlement had not been made. The extent and importance of the transactions carried on at Wellington, together with the distance from Auckland, rendered the appointment of a local Judge almost indispensable. Mr. Martin and Mr. Swainson had sailed for Auckland on the 6th of September.

No Harbour-master had been appointed. Auckland had been provided with a Harbour-master almost before any vessels entered that port; while Wellington, after receiving 200 vessels, and with a daily increasing shipping-list, was still without such an officer.

THINGS LEFT UNDONE.

And yet the shipping had never been more busy than during the Governor's stay at Barrett's hotel. As though to contradict his ungenerous adoption of the calumnies of his ignorant Colonial Secretary against the port, ships, brigs, barques, and schooners were constantly dropping their anchor, or getting under way, or tacking just under his bed-room window. Vessels from Sydney and the other Australian colonies, from South America, from England, whalers for refreshments, and a numerous flotilla of coasters were daily turning the point, sometimes with fair, sometimes against contrary winds. The wharfs and beaches were almost obstructed by the landing of goods and the activity of a port. Indeed those who did hold communication with his Excellency often heard him acknowledge that, as a port, nothing could surpass Port Nicholson, and that "they must not expect to see anything like it at Auckland."

No Government buildings were appointed to be erected. The jail remained a straw hut, very much like a part of the adjoining native pa. The great barn which served for police-court, post-office, church, and court-house, still stood in the same state in which it had been deserted by the surveying staff – dilapidated, nearly tumbling down, and perfectly pervious to the wind in every quarter, with straw walls and earthen floor. But the large income to be drawn from the settlement by the newly enforced customs duties appeared doomed to be spent on Auckland.

The Governor could not refrain from frequent admiration of the site and capabilities of Wellington, though he never went beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the town, not even visiting the Hutt. He very much qualified the expressions which he thus loudly made use of in words, when he got to Auckland and began to write home. But we have already seen that his Excel-

lency did not scruple to misrepresent matters in order to defend his senseless choice to the Colonial Minister. Every one who heard him in Wellington felt convinced that he deeply regretted having made his election on the hearsay evidence of others. His visit to Akaroa had undeceived him completely as to one opinion which he had very rashly formed, that Auckland was a "centrical" position, because the Middle Island was hardly habitable, and not fit to be colonized; and the ease with which the shipping came and departed on their various errands in opposite directions, must have convinced him, as a practical naval man, that Cook's Strait, with its excellent harbours, and room for the evolutions of a navy, is a much more advantageous communication between the two coasts than the isthmus of three or four miles which separates the port of Auckland from the bar-harbour of Manukao, a port often closed for weeks together by the prevailing westerly winds.

The Governor's conduct with regard to the "Nelson" settlement was pitiful in the extreme. He left not a means untried of dissuading the foundation of this colony on the Middle Island, because he foresaw that any commencement of population there would more clearly point out the absurdity of considering Auckland a "centrical position." He raised up the claims of the Nanto-Bordelaise Company, at Banks's Peninsula, in opposition to the founding of Nelson at Port Cooper; thus, apparently, wishing rather that France should colonize New Munster, than that its occupation by Englishmen should prove the fallacy of his hobby. Even when they determined on Blind Bay, he tried to alarm the Company's Agents by the exaggerated account which he gave of the number of claims said to be existing in that district, in right of purchases prior to the Company's!

STIFLING OF NATIVE RESERVES.

Captain Hobson left the land question in its former uncertain state; reserving for the consideration of a Commissioner, who had not yet been heard of, the claims of the natives; and he did not even define these claims, so that they might not be augmented in quantity and extent during the indefinite delay.

Although the Native Reserves seemed to offer a very easy means of satisfying the natives in the meanwhile, he rather took pains to make them useless and unprofitable, than to have them explained to the natives, and worked for their benefit. I do not hesitate to assert, that, had a well-arranged plan for the management of these Reserves been carried into execution, even so late as after Captain Hobson's visit, and its effect thoroughly explained to the natives by the experience of its benefit, there would have been no case for the investigation of the Commissioner when he opened his court about eight months afterwards. Mr. Halswell, a gentleman of excellent education, of very kind and benevolent disposition, and extended views, who acquired the confidence and respect of the natives in a wonderfully short space of time, would certainly have succeeded in so establishing an improved state of things by means of the Reserves, that the Commissioner, when he began to take evidence in May following, would have found the natives overflowing with gratitude to the white people for having come among them, and for having taught them to live with so much happiness and comfort. But Mr. Halswell was made to understand that he could not be allowed to take more extended views as Sub-Protector than his chief, Mr. Clarke; and he was restricted, as the Commissioner of Native Reserves, during the short time that their management was left in his hands, to the granting leases of seven years' duration. It may of course be conjectured that none of the Native Reserves were let on

these unprofitably short terms. And Mr. Halswell, too, like Colonel Wakefield, was ignorant for a long while of the written instructions, as to moving from the pas, which had been left with his proteges by his superior in office.

Thus was the great boon to the natives, – the only real payment to them proposed by the system on which the Company wished to provide for their permanent benefit and easy amalgamation with the white settlers, – stifled in the bud by the author of a rival scheme of colonization, who seemed jealous of allowing others to do that good to the natives, for which he had forgotten to provide in the distribution of his own cities and districts of country. And when, long afterwards, the Native Reserves produced no beneficial results, because shamefully neglected by the Government at whose absolute disposal they had been from the beginning, it was common for supporters of the local Government to make this a reproach to the persons who had devised the institution, though they had possessed no control or influence over its guidance. "Look!" they would say, "what good has been done by the Native Reserves, which you so loudly boasted to be the real compensation to the natives for ceding their actual residences and cultivations?"

Captain Hobson must have left Wellington, deeply mortified at the manly independence of the settlers. Sensibly alive to the gross injustice of his conduct towards them, they had recorded their opinion in a manner which must have convinced him that they possessed enough self-respect to resent an injury. No Governor, perhaps, ever witnessed the disapprobation of a community so palpably expressed, so temperately restrained to decent expression, or so calmly and firmly maintained. He must have become aware that such a

THE COLONISTS AND THE GOVERNOR.

body of men were not to be neglected, and then appeased by a jest about an "olive-branch," or by a sop in the pan: that they were not to be trampled into remonstrance, and then awed into submission by a ludicrous attempt to display "power and dignity." In short, it must have been clear to him that they had brought from England the knowledge and intelligence, the education and manners, the high courage and generous mind, the warm friendship and undaunted advocacy of their own liberties, peculiar to British gentlemen; and that they saw through and despised his undignified jealousy and spite, his partiality to his own bantling settlement, and his obstinate perseverance in maintaining a destructive rivalry between the local Government and the northern settlers on the one hand, and the Company and its settlers in Cook's Strait on the other. They soon discovered that the interests of the natives, of the missionaries, and of the early settlers, were not considered by Captain Hobson for their intrinsic value, but as instruments to support his own scheme, and to crush its older, more successful, and more reasonable rival. And they fully understood that he had gone away, detesting, as much as he had learned to respect them; and that an unnatural war was still to continue between their legal protector and themselves.

Not yet despairing of ultimate justice from England, they again girded up their loins for the struggle; and, glancing carefully around at the naturally advantageous field of battle which they had chosen, they trusted to their own vigorous efforts, and looked forward to earning the victory at last, perhaps by a longer course of toil and disappointment, but therefore in a manner the more creditable to themselves. They began to say, what even now they do not cease to assert, that the gifts of nature to their adopted country, in soil, in position, and in climate, were so abundant as to warrant

the prospect that these alone would enable men of courage and energy to struggle through the political difficulties imposed upon them by a clique of men, who were certainly unworthy to tie the latchet of their shoe, in regard to their fitness for founding a colony.

For one allowance was perhaps due, and was by many people made, for the hostile and ruinous policy of the Governor. It was clear that he had never recovered the unimpaired use of his faculties, since his unfortunate attack of paralysis, soon after he first arrived at the Bay of Islands. His appearance in walking was that of extreme bodily infirmity; and his manner and speech were full of the whimsical obstinacy and crotchety churlishness of an irritable and debilitated mind. In this state, it was not wonderful that he became the tool of the very inferior men by whom he had surrounded himself; and the Government was described by settlers to the north, who had better and longer opportunities of observation than ourselves, to have been carried on from the first by Lieutenant Shortland and Mr. Clarke. As far as education and mental capacity are concerned, I have already had occasion to dwell on the utter unfitness of both these gentlemen for their respective situations. It remains to be added, that they were both more or less concerned in land speculations in the northern part of the island, which could not but have caused them to make very strenuous exertions for confirming the Governor in his original choice, against all demonstration and argument. A Mr. Brodie, who was residing at the Bay of Islands when Lieutenant Shortland assumed his office, says, in a publication which he dedicated to Lord Stanley, that, not many weeks after Lieutenant Shortland had been in New Zealand, "he, together with Mr. G. Cooper, 6

PRIVATE INTERESTS OF PUBLIC OFFICERS.

and Mr. Felton Mathew, 7 and Mr. D. Johnson, 8 purchased a large tract of country, in the Frith of the Thames, from Mr. Webster, for which they gave a bill of 1000l. Sir George Gipps, Governor of New South Wales, heard of the transaction, and severely reprimanded them; they were nevertheless allowed to keep the land."

The Colonial Secretary and the Chief Protector of Aborigines both held allotments of land in the most valuable part of the town of Auckland, as their share of the job so ably exposed by Mr. Dudley Sinclair, and so severely reproved by Sir George Gipps. Mr. Clarke, not behind the rest of the resident missionaries, laid claim to 5500 acres in the northern part of the island, and has since obtained a Crown grant of them.

Surely it was to the interest of these two officers, if they really had any influence over the Governor, to oppose the establishment of the Government at a place where all the land not required for public purposes was already appropriated, and rather to retain the Governor by all possible means in a district where the spirit of land-jobbing could at once obtain 21,000l. for 26 acres of a proposed town.

2 The Reverend Montague Hawtrey, whom I have already described as the essayist, in 1837, who had embodied in writing the views of the Association towards the natives, never ceased to feel a warm interest in the prosecution of those views. He wrote, in 1840, An Earnest Address to New Zealand Colonists with reference to their Intercourse with the Native Inhabitants; and the colonists cordially concurred in his philanthropic suggestions. In this paper Mr. Hawtrey says: – "The matter at which I look with the deepest anxiety is your treatment of the native chiefs. Upon this point your success or failure, as regards the aborigines, appears to me to depend. Not only justice to themselves, but a respect for the national importance of the New Zealand people, requires that the chiefs should continue to occupy as high a relative position after your settlement among them as before.
"I fear that this important point has not been sufficiently attended to by the Missionaries, and that the course of things at present going forward in New Zealand, is to depress the chiefs to the level of the lower orders. It is very evident that this is felt to be the case by the chiefs themselves. Many of you have seen the letter addressed by a New Zealand chief to Mr. Marsden. After mentioning several matters respecting which he requests Mr. M. to give them a law, he concludes his letter by the remarkable words: – "'Another thing of which we are afraid, and which also degrades us, is this, – slaves exalting themselves above their masters: will you give us a law in this?' This expression from a Christian chief is very affecting; and it is clear, that unless something be done for the purpose of obviating such a result, the natural consequence of the progress of civilization would be to degrade them from the position which they occupied in their savage state.

3 Page 93.

4 Mr. Clarke made an official report of this visit, which is not dated, but is enclosed by the Governor to England on the 13th of November, when he got back to Auckland. His Excellency calls it a Report on "the state of feeling evinced by the native chiefs in and about Port Nicholson, respecting the occupation of lands in that neighbourhood by the New Zealand Company." The Chief Protector of the Aborigines thus relates the occurrence: – "In the examination of the chief Hiko, in the presence of his Excellency the Governor, the Chief Justice, Colonel Wakefield, the Rev. 0. Hadfield, and other gentlemen, he could not be induced to acknowledge the place ever having been alienated; and according to the Company's interpreter, who could speak a little of the language, his (Hiko's) consent was not obtained willingly, but he denied ever having signed the deed produced by Colonel Wakefield, while, on the other hand, a nephew of Colonel Wakefield affirmed he had. One thing, however, appeared evident, that such was the purport of the document produced, that it was calculated to mislead the natives, who were altogether incompetent to trace its designs."

5 Mr. Halswell received no salary for the performance of the last two offices.

6 Colonial Treasurer, Collector of Customs, and ex officio Member of the Legislative Council.

7 Surveyor-General of New Zealand, who reported officially in favour of the Thames as the site of the capital, at the same time that Lieutenant Shortland furnished an unfavourable account of Port Nicholson.

8 Also a Government employe.

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER IV.

Voyage to Wanganui – Too late for selection of Lands – Police Magistrate – Jail – Manufacture of Hams and Bacon – Departure for Taupo – Ascend the Wanganui – Curious Missionary Chief – Rigorous discipline – Quarrel between Natives – Speech of a Youth – Scenery – The Pass in "the Place of Cliffs" – Giddy ascent of Cliff – Monument – My Attendants – Baggage – Tributary of the Wanganui – Slow Progress – Forced March – Towai, or "Black Birch" – High Table Plains – Rain – Tonga Riro Mountains – Legend of Taranaki – View to South-West – Roto Aera, or Lake "Yes, indeed" – Rest – Lake Taupo – Boiling Springs – A fine Chief – Villages on the Lake – Visit to Heuheu – Feast – Haka, or Dance – Waitanui Pa – Well-behaved Natives – Proceedings for Damages – An Artist in Tatu – The Process – Natives play Draughts – Local attraction of the Compass – Mr. Blackett – Journey from the Bay of Plenty to Taupo – Volcanic District – Farewell to Heuheu – His Speech – Tapu on the Summit of a Mountain – Mr. Dandeson Coates – Distinction between Religious Respect and Landed Rights – Native Irony – Return from Taupo – Skirmish – Sacred Sand – Sulphureous River – Effect of Sunrise – Rolling Ranges – Flax Gardens.

WE lay at Kapiti in the Gem two days; having engaged to pick up some of the goods belonging to Wanganui settlers which had been wrecked in the Jewess, and since brought over and stored on Rauperaha's island by the agent of Captain Mayhew.

One morning we enjoyed the sight of some spirited whale-hunts; four fish having been taken in the course of an hour, between Kapiti and the main.

Baffling N. W. winds, with intervals of calm, and the tub-like qualities of the schooner, detained us for seven or eight days more before we reached Wanganui. At length I steered her safely in, one calm morning at

TOO LATE FOR SELECTION OF LANDS.

high water, with boats ahead. She was then drawing nine feet seven inches. Opposite my house she was rather carelessly run aground on the mud-bank; but this did her no harm.

We found that the selection was over, our messenger having come too late. The passengers of the Gem sent a remonstrance to Colonel Wakefield, begging that the choice might begin again, as the two or three selectors who had arrived by land in time had secured the best choices for their high numbers as well as their low ones, the order of choice of absent persons being considered reserved till a future selection, when more sections should be laid open. Colonel Wakefield answered in the negative, as his message to have the selection postponed had been perfectly conditional on the assent of all parties concerned, including those who had taken advantage of our absence. He remarked that we had come by water of our own free will, and that the accidental delay was the fault of ourselves, if of anybody. Although I was a party interested, having long before bought three land-orders from a sectionist who had not had patience to wait till the survey was completed, I was compelled to acknowledge that the decision was just.

I remained rather more than a month at Wanganui, leading my old half-feudal, half-shopkeeping life; with the house full of goods and of guests, of natives and White people, of various classes. Pig-hunts and walks with the Surveyors into new districts again spent the time agreeably, and I became more and more attached to this part of the country. The missionary natives, however, were daily becoming more and more troublesome in their obstruction to the peaceable location of any of the sections selected; new repudiators, who had been parties to the sale, daily sprang up, and, after vain re-

monstrance, were expunged from the list of my friends and guests; and trading with them became daily more troublesome and disagreeable. Throughout these troubles, old Rangi Tauwira, and with him all the natives connected with E Kuru, stuck worthily to the bargain, and commented with indignation on the proceedings of the others.

Towards the end of October, Mr. Dawson, the Police Magistrate, arrived, with a small attendance of constables. It had been determined that he should take up his abode at this place, instead of itinerating, as had been at first suggested. The refuse of the population gradually disappeared from the neighbourhood on this establishment of authority. We subscribed to put up a temporary jail at our own expense, as the Government would not undertake to devote any funds to this purpose. A small but strong slab-house was built; and I subscribed the timber and shingles for the roof, having some men employed in supplying me with these things for my own house, from the groves of timber five or six miles up the country.

I now first started the curing of hams and bacon on a large scale, as the sending pigs alive to Wellington was a trade by this time overstocked, and therefore no longer profitable. One of the constables and another man were skilful hands at this work, and I engaged them at regular salaries to superintend the manufacture. Many others of the settlers soon followed the example. Hams and bacon became a considerable export; and those from Wanganui soon acquired a known reputation at Wellington and Nelson. They were much preferred to Westphalia and York hams imported from England, as these generally become somewhat rancid on the long voyage.

I now proposed to make a journey to Taupo, to see

DEPARTURE FOR TAUPO.

my old friends there. A chief of the Patutokoto tribe, named E Para, agreed to accompany me, with his attendants and family; and E Kuru sent me word that his Taupo wife and his elder brother would also join me with their suite. After preparing all the arms, goods for barter, provisions, and other requisites, I started up the river in my light canoe, accompanied by E Para in a large one of his own, on the 9th of November. We were bound to E Kuru's country settlement at Tata, 100 miles up the river, in the first instance. I have already described the scenery as far as Pukihika, about 70 miles up. The only new feature was the sight of Te Kau Arapawa pa in ruins; the houses, and fences, and trees, having been destroyed by the Taupo war-party on its return. The inhabitants were a branch of the Ngatiruanui tribe, and were therefore treated as enemies by the Ngatipehi. On the first approach of Heuheu's army, they had removed to an isolated and almost inaccessible hill, about five miles lower down the river, called Tunuhaere, or "Cook as you go," on which they built a strong pa, which the Taupo had not stopped to besiege. As they had early acquired the reputation of thieves and dishonest traders, no one regretted the disgrace which they had undergone in the abandonment and destruction of their original and favourite residence. Nine miles above Pukihika, after passing through some more delightful scenery, rather more wild and less inhabited in its character, we reached a large stockaded village called Pipiriki. Two fortified hills constitute the defences in case of war; but the inhabitants generally reside on the cultivated flat between the two. They were all mihanere; but their former head chief, E Kai, being the principal teacher and leader of religious exercises, I found them an exceedingly well-behaved and orderly community. The whole

population, including the chief, being nearly related to E Kuru and Rangi Tauwira, received me very kindly. They were all among those who, having assisted at the bargain, have never attempted to secede from its fulfilment. They sincerely condoled with me on the dishonesty of the other natives. "In the old times," said E Kai, "we should have fought to maintain you in possession of the land, against those who fairly sold, and have since repented and told lies; but now we are missionaries, and we can only be sorry."

I was much struck with the severe discipline which this curious specimen of a warlike and influential chief, turned into a stern religious pastor, maintained over his people, who may have amounted to 200 of all sexes and ages. The houses and the pa were cleanly and well kept. Almost perfect silence prevailed during the whole day. Everything was done apparently by some rule. The ovens were made up, the firewood cut, the court-yard swept out, as though by clockwork; and none of that noisy and merry chatter was ever heard, which generally distinguishes the Maori village. Each week-day was kept with the solemnity of Sunday; and jokes, songs, dances, or romping, were entirely banished. The very children seemed prematurely grown into little old men and women. While I was greeting the chief and his family, the rest of the community sat at a distance. None of the usual crowding round, and if it were not for its hilarity, almost intrusive rushing to shake hands; no shouts; not even a smile.

In the midst of this remarkable stillness, one among the mutes, could refrain no longer, and laughed outright at some cheerful observation which I made to the chief. "Who laughed?" shouted E Kai, in his deepest tones.

No answer, – long faces, – and repressed tittering

RIGOROUS DISCIPLINE.

among the ranks of the half-hidden children at the back.

"Who was it laughed?" repeated he, seeking to find the culprit. But the gay joker could not summon courage to acknowledge his crime; and so E Kai treated the assemblage to a long sermon on the sin of laughing. He had perfectly by rote the greater part of the New Testament; and quoted from it in order to support almost everything that he asserted. "A man that hath looked on a woman," said he, "has already committed adultery in his heart: so he that laugheth, hath already stolen; for the thief laughs to your face while he steals your property. Laugh ye not! for it is the way to sin."

Such was the intense religious enthusiasm of this extraordinary man; and such the extravagance of speech and doctrine to which he was carried by it. Benevolent and high-minded, of a character to lead other men, endowed with much firmness and kindness of heart, and even wise on many points, E Kai had early embraced the new doctrine with fervour, and had appointed to himself the task of leading all his tribe in the way that they should go. He reminded me of some old patriarch of the Cameronians by his rigorous discipline and intensity of purpose; and, though I thought his doctrine carried out in practice to much too saddening a degree for such merry men as his followers, I could not refuse him my high admiration for the admirable success of his plans, for his great consistency, and for the having inculcated a very unusual observance of the moral virtues as well as the mere forms of the Christian religion among his flock. The Pipiriki people were certainly the best-behaved natives whom I had yet seen under the new regime. Though under these severe restrictions while in the village, E Kai

always encouraged them to unabated industry in the field; and their trade with the White people had caused them to be more cleanly and respectably dressed, and better supplied with the luxuries of civilized life, than most bodies of natives. I could have wished to see many English clergymen, endowed with the same worthiness of character, but with education to prevent the exaggeration of religion into absurdities, dispersed among the natives. Allowing for the ignorance which had led E Kai to carry religious feeling to a degree which appeared ridiculous to a sensible person, he was otherwise a model for many a White missionary.

The strictness of his principles nearly led to a serious quarrel between him and my attendants. They were all "devils," or unconverted natives, and almost all of them of the Ngatipehi tribe, or closely connected with it. Among them were several of the young warriors who had been in the last war-party, and had remained attached to my establishment on the persuasion of their relative, one of E Kuru's wives. E Kai and his followers had embraced the party of their brothers in the Church throughout the feud, although they had taken no share of the actual fighting. Knowing that my "boys" would not agree with the people in the pa, I had pitched my small tent on the river-bank, below the terrace where the village was situated, and had directed my attendants to light a fire and encamp around it. Mr. Niblett (a gentleman whom I had picked up at Pukihika, and who intended to join me in the trip) and I had lain down in the tent, and were dozing off to the monotonous tune of the native songs, with which they were beguiling the first hours of the night, according to their almost invariable custom. The opening of the tent showed the brawny forms of two or three of them, stripped to the waist and squatting round the

QUARREL BETWEEN NATIVES.

fire, whose red glare flickered over their quivering limbs and excited features. Suddenly I heard the stern voice of E Kai addressing them from the fence above. He complained rudely of the interruption which they were causing to the hymns and catechism which were going on in the village after the evening service. They answered, quietly, that they were on the bank of the river, the highway for all travellers, and that no one could complain of their following their own customs there. They added, that the hymns interrupted them quite as much as their songs did his people. He replied in ruder tones, and with rougher expressions. They preserved their good humour, and laughed and joked while they carried on the controversy. E Kai gradually lost his temper; and, as they were just going to begin again, having invited his attention to a newly-invented song, which was quite the fashion, like one of Balfe's new operas here, he suddenly addressed to them an insulting taunt in these words, "Who painted the red post?" This was an allusion to the kokowai - painted monuments which I have mentioned, as being erected in the places where Tauteka's bones had rested. It was as much as to say, "Who lost their head chief, and had to fetch his bones home from the field of defeat?"

The effect of this taunt was most remarkable. The group round the fire suddenly put aside all signs of gaiety; they gathered up their blankets round their faces, and hung their heads gloomily down; and a sad silence prevailed for a few minutes, as though they were grieving over the dead, and collecting their thoughts to resent the insult offered to his memory and their own misfortune. At length the eldest of the party, a young warrior of 25, who had been one of the fugitives from the memorable massacre, rose up to

his full height, and addressed E Kai in slow speech, full of majesty and noble pride. He seemed to overcome, for the emergency, the diffidence of a youth to speak on important subjects, and assumed the air and manner of an old chief renowned in the council.

"Why," said he, "have you taunted us with the foul death of our great ancestor? Why have you made our hearts dark by speaking, that we should remember the wrongs of our chief? If your creed be one of love and peace, how can you be straight in speaking words which are bitter to the hearts of our people? Listen! you have spoken of the past, and you know not what to-morrow will bring. Can you tell when the cold north wind shall blow from the mountain? Can you see when the snows of Tonga Riro shall sweep down hither from its white face, or when the flooded river shall inundate the level lands with the water from the hills? You have made a speech which is sore to our innermost entrails; the word is remembered by the children of Tauteka. Enough has been spoken. I have done."

No more songs were heard: they lay down in their places round the fire, wrapped in their blankets; and they shouted no farewell to the inhabitants when we started in the morning. I afterwards heard this affair discussed for days among the chiefs of Taupo; and it was clear that, in case of another war-party coming from that place, sanguinary vengeance would be exacted for the heedless insult. It was to the probability of this that the young orator had referred, when he figuratively described the sons of Heuheu as the cold north wind, and the snows and waters of the hills.

From Pipiriki to Tata, a distance of 20 miles, the scenery assumes a new and magnificent character, the river flowing between cliffs 100 to 200 feet in height,

"THE PLACE OF CLIFFS."

fringed with graceful ferns and mosses down to the water's edge, while the wood on the top hangs far over the precipice from both sides. In this part, the only path to the settlements consists of a rude but strong ladder, consisting of trees and kareau, or supple-jack, reaching from the water to the top. It is this district of the country which is called by the natives Te Wahi Pari, or "The Place of Cliffs."

About half-way between the two places we passed Mangeao, an almost impregnable position, from which the Wanganui people have been accustomed to look down with security and contempt upon passing war-parties of the Waikato and other invading tribes.

Coming suddenly round a sharp bend in the river, you are in a rapid reach about half-a-mile long, beyond which the river again turns to the right. The cliffs increase in height as you advance into the reach, so that the forest-trees on their edge seem like feathers; the song of the birds among them is only faintly heard, and the streams which rush over the steep are frittered into the thinnest spray long before they reach the water. Facing you, the cliff is surmounted by a steep hill of the additional height of some 500 or 600 feet, which seems to tower proudly over the trench in which the river flows; and on its top, the natives told me afterwards, are cultivations, springs of water, and woods of large timber, and ample room to support many hundred people when compelled to take refuge there.

Though the river has a considerable descent here, and the polers have to work hard throughout the distance in ascending, the gradual increase in the height of the cliffs combines with the way in which the strata strike the water-line, to produce a remarkable optical deception. It seems as though you were rapidly descending; and I have more than once noticed that, in returning to-

wards the sea at the rate of ten miles an hour, you appear to be going up hill at this particular spot. Add to this, that out of a dark cavern in either cliff, near the water's edge, a large stream comes roaring, and echoing, and foaming into the river; that an augmenting darkness is produced, as you advance, by the height of the cliffs and the comparative narrowness of the cleft in which the river flows; and that some old legend or superstition makes the natives speak in whispers and compose their features to seriousness; and the sublimity of the whole scene may be imagined. Such was the intense excitement produced on me by this burst of nature's majesty, when I first went through the pass, that I relieved myself involuntarily by a deep sigh and a rushing of tears to my eyes, when we had passed on into the comparatively tame and reposing scenery which immediately follows.

Just before we arrived at Tata, we gave notice of our approach by a rattling salute. The reports reverberated far along the steep walls of the river's channel and rolled up the wooded hills above, mingled with the sharper tones of the answering salute from the settlement. At length we reached the foot of one of the sky-scraping ladders which I have before described, leading to the top of the cliff, here about 200 feet high, while the river is not more than 40 yards broad. The natives clambered carelessly up, with heavy chests, and guns, and paddles, and my great dog in their arms, while I was ascending cautiously, step by step, with uncertain footing, and hands aching with the efforts which I made to clench hard the vibrating rounds of the ladder. At the bottom they had shown me the spot where "two or three foolish old women," they said, "had been smashed quite flat, having missed a step while going down in the dark to the canoes."

MONUMENT.

At last I reached the top in safety. Here E Kuru, with all his family and adherents, were drawn up to receive me. He has a nice, quiet, happy-looking settlement, on the flat, about 300 yards in breadth, which intervenes between the edge of the cliff and the hills. The next day I was guided by him and a large train to a mountain called Aurupu, close to the river, about two miles higher up, from which I got a view of Tonga Riro and Mount Egmont. There is an extensive tract of fine wooded upland country all about here, not very hilly, and possessing an extremely rich soil. In many places, cleared by the natives, there are tracts of 500 or 600 acres where the plough could be used. The native plantations on both sides of the river are very extensive.

After enjoying the view, we descended to the river's bank, and crossed in a canoe to Tiehe, a large settlement two miles higher up the river than Tata, and inhabited by people chiefly of the Ngatiawa tribe related to E Kuru. Here there is a beautiful monument in honour of a dead chieftainess. It consists, as usual, of a large canoe stuck upright, and is 30 feet high, ornamented with carving representing three figures standing one at the top of the other's head. The workmanship is most elaborate, scarcely a square inch of the wood being left plain; and the whole is painted with red ochre and fringed with albatross feathers. The two men who carved it told me it took them six weeks to complete. The bones of the person to whose memory the monument was sacred were pointed out to me up in a tree. It is a common custom with the natives to expose bodies in this way, covered with old mats, on platforms in high trees, or elevated on long poles, till the flesh has rotted off the bones. The bones are then collected and placed in their final mausoleum, generally an

enclosed house above ground. I returned to Tata in a canoe, along a reach of the river which is flanked by successive buttresses of cliff, in form like round towers.

It was not till the 19th that the party was ready to start. The loads were packed and distributed among the natives. I had with me a large quantity of goods, both for the purchase of mats and for presents to my friends. So one carrier had a large kit full of blankets, and another a bundle of half-a-dozen pieces of printed calico. A hundred-weight of tobacco formed another load; a tin-box, containing tea, sugar, and bottles of pepper, salt, and mustard; another, containing journal-books, sketch-book, pencils, and other necessary nick-nacks; pipes among the blankets, spare boots or baked legs of pork fastened to the top of baskets full of shirts; bags of shot, tinder-boxes, cartouch-boxes, canisters of powder, hand-lamps, a bottle of oil, tomahawks, leathern valises with spare clothes, pea-jackets, and a light tent, figured among the baggage. One man looked like Atlas, as he went along with a huge damper on the top of his pack. This is a loaf baked in the ashes, which has the advantage of never getting much harder than on the day it is baked.

The tent packed into very small space. It was composed of unbleached calico. It stretched over two uprights four feet high, and a ridge pole six feet long, to the breadth of about four or five feet. The necessary poles and the pegs for the bottom were cut at the encampment each night, or carried from the wood in passing when we had to encamp in the open country. When rolled up, the tent was not so bulky as a greatcoat, and yet, when well stretched, it afforded ample shelter from a night's heavy rain to two people.

On the 19th, then, we got into the canoes, to

SLOW PROGRESS.

the number of about 35, men, women and children. We pulled down four miles to the place where a tributary, called Manganui, or "large branch," flows into the Wanganui. This we ascended about two miles, the natives jumping out and tracking the canoes up rapids, several of which had a fall of six feet. The Manganui also runs between cliffs, nearly 200 feet in height, and is inhabited as far up as we went that night. We encamped at a settlement called Moe-awatea, or "Sleep-in-the-day-time," and proceeded the next morning, after crossing the river twice immediately above, through hilly forest-land for about five miles. Here the boys were tired with their heavy loads, and stopped in a patch of fern for the night. But it would be tedious to relate each day's journey separately. Suffice it to say that, although I had been told it was but two days' walk from the Wanganui to Taupo, at noon on the 23rd the natives said it was still two or three days' walk. We had proceeded but slowly. Our path lay chiefly along the valley of the Manganui, which keeps an average of two miles wide, and is intersected by a deep cleft in which the river runs. Many parts of the valley are clear, and in some places we passed over small plains of grass; in others, we plunged into the forest, and crossed steep ridges, apparently in order to avoid circuitous bends of the valley. We had forded the river five times; and the assistance of the natives was most welcome in overcoming the difficulties occasioned by the rapidity of the stream, and the slippery rocky footing. This road must be perfectly impassable in winter, when the river is swollen by freshets. The heavy loads had made our progress very low: so that the potatoes began to run short, and they all stopped to dig fern in one of the open places. Fortunately the river abounded with a kind of bird

between a coot and a widgeon, called wio, of which we shot about half-a-dozen at each ford.

I now selected two natives to carry my tent and bedding, and Mr. Niblett and I determined to push on by a forced march. We accordingly left the rest to roast fern to their heart's content, and bring up the heavy baggage at their leisure. We had only performed 36 miles, according to rough calculation, since leaving Moe-awatea.

The greater part of the course of the valley has been formerly occupied, and since abandoned, by the tribes who, leaving Taupo and other parts of the interior, gradually migrated to Wanganui, and have now fixed their residence on its banks. Every day we were shown the sites of ancient pas, and the fields on which numerous battles had been fought in the olden time between the different tribes from Wanganui, Taupo, Waikato, and even the Ngatikahuhunu of the east coast.

We pushed on about six miles more to-day through forest, and encamped at dark under an old rata tree of renown, which glories in the name of Korako. We had forded the river twice; and ascended its bank the last time by means of a rickety kareau ladder, about 30 feet high, which is fixed to the cliff at the exact spot where a small waterfall spouts over the edge, and renders the ascent far from safe or pleasant.

It rained moderately all night and poured at daylight; but we had now no other alternative than to push on, defying the weather. Ten miles, over a level table-land covered with wood, brought us to the Manganui, where it is swollen by three smaller streams. We descended at least 1500 feet to the stream, crossed it and two of its tributaries, and then ascended a ragged ridge, to the opposite bank of the dark, deep

HIGH TABLE PLAINS.

dell in which the stream flows. This dell, with its various branches, presents a very picturesque appearance, from the steepness and height of its banks, which are covered almost wholly with the towai. This tree has very small dark leaves. It is used for ship-building, and is called by Englishmen the "black birch." It generally grows in elevated situations. Five miles more along a forest, consisting of nothing but towai, brought us to a level grass plain, which continues at the same height as the table forest-land. The plain seemed about four miles in width, and was bounded on either side by wooded hills, whose summits were hidden by thick masses of clouds. This kind of prairie is called mania by the natives. It is covered with a poor tufty grass of very delicate blade, though here and there are excellent patches of other grasses well fitted for pasture. At twilight we prepared to encamp at the edge of a point of wood which projected like a promontory from the eastern edge of the prairie. We had some difficulty in lighting a fire, as it had poured incessantly the whole day; and we were obliged to fare on short commons, and sit wrapped in our blankets by the fire until the warmth made us sleepy enough to turn in, notwithstanding the wet, which had completely soaked through tent, blankets, and everything else.

Two young weka, or wood-hens, about as large as sparrows, which my dog pulled out of their nest in a burrow under a fallen tree, were esteemed a valuable addition to our scanty supper.

The rain had continued all night, and gave no signs of mercy in the morning; but as one wio and twelve potatoes were our whole stock of provisions, and we were still far from our journey's end, delay was out of the question. At the first dawn of day we pulled on wet clothes, and walked eight miles along the

prairie, which is in many parts swampy and covered with rushes. We now crossed a small tributary of the Wanganui, and, after two miles' walk through a belt of towai forest, a larger tributary called the Tawai. The plains now seemed to extend on every side; and as the weather cleared up, and the clouds lifted, we saw the majestic forms of Ruapehu, and the Para te tai Taonga volcano, within a few miles of us to the eastward. Furthest to the southward lay Ruapehu, covered with snow. This is the mountain seen from Cook's Strait. A low ridge joins the northern spur of Ruapehu to the southern base of Para te tai Tonga, a volcanic peak, in the shape of a regular cone, of equal height with Ruapehu, and hidden by it from the south coast. Para te tai Tonga is the mountain which Mr. Bidwell ascended in 1838, and calls "Tonga Dido." Tonga Riro, however, is a generic name applied to the whole mountain mass.

To the north-east of the volcano, two peaks, apparently extinct volcanoes, complete the gigantic group. This double peak is called Puki Onaki, and is not more than two-thirds the height of either of the others. The whole distance from the summit of Puki Onaki to that of Ruapehu, may be about 20 miles.

After eating a quarter of a wio and two potatoes each, for breakfast and dinner, we pushed on 12 miles over a barren plain to the northern spur of Puki Onaki; on the highest part of which we divided about two ounces of sugar, our last atom of food, among the four of us, and ate it with much relish.

Here, too, we took a good rest, and looked about us. We had just passed close under the base of a small extinct volcano, which rises from the western side of the mountain mass to the height of 1400 or 1500 feet, and we had crossed the Wakapapa, a large tributary of

LEGEND OF TARANAKI.

the Wanganui. This stream takes its rise from a small lake, situated to the westward of the lowest part of the ridge which unites Ruapehu to Para te tai Tonga. The lake is at the bottom of a circular basin of rocks, five or six miles in diameter, which is stated by the natives to have once been the site of Mount Egmont.

On quarrelling with his friend Tonga Riro about the affections of a small volcanic mountain in the neighbourhood, which is described as a lady mountain of most fascinating appearance, old Taranaki is said to have torn up his rocky foundations from this basin, and left the ragged and splintered edges to it, which are pointed out as proofs of the fact. He then clove a path through mountain and wood to the sea-coast, and the Wanganui sprang up in his ancient site, and followed his footsteps to the sea. So runs the native legend; and the basin is called to this day Rua Taranaki, or Taranaki's Dyke It most likely refers to some tremendous eruptions of nature which have doubtless torn these islands at some distant date.

From this open and elevated spot we could distinguish numerous glades like that by which we had entered the mania, shooting into the wooded country like the fingers of an outstretched hand, diverging from the volcano in various directions, and of different lengths and breadths. On the edges of that along which we had travelled, the trees were dead, and many of them scathed and blackened. And in the very centre of the broad glade, especially among the swampy parts, we constantly came upon the trunks of huge trees, black as charcoal, and half buried in the soil. From these appearances, I concluded that the glades had been formed, at the time of these convulsions, by the irruption of streams of burning lava into the woods. At present, Para te tai Tonga only vomits clouds of steam, and that only now and then; but it has probably, at a

former period, and will again, discharge more dangerous materials.

On the north-eastern side of the spur, we crossed the Wanganui itself, where it just trickles between the stones which form its winter bed, and was not above a yard wide. It rises from the N. W. side of Puki Onaki, and after being swollen by the Wakapapa and Tawai, flows away towards the W. S. W. From the highest point of our path, we could trace the broken country formed by its valley for many miles almost directly towards Mount Egmont, which glittered gaily over the far horizon. The whole country to the W. and S. W. seems one sea of wooded mountain. The northern side of Puki Onaki slopes down very suddenly to the shores of a small lake, called Roto Aera, or "Lake Yes-indeed." 9 On the western side of this lake, the land is flat and clear for eight or ten miles, when it becomes hilly and wooded, though a glade of the prairie there runs to the northward. The eastern end of the lake is also level and clear; but of that I shall speak hereafter. The northern end of the lake is separated from the southern end of Taupo lake by two mountains, called Kakaramea and Pihanga, and the wooded ridge which unites them.

From the spot where we jumped over the Wanganui to the west shore of Roto Aera is about five miles, the last two through a swamp in which we sank up to our knees at every step. I remember being much exhausted by this last exertion at the close of the hard day's journey. We were faint with hunger, sore-footed, and speechless from fatigue; but we could not help smiling at the absurdity of each other's appearance, when occasionally resting by standing still up to our knees in water, unable to sit or lie down.

The greatest length of the lake is from N. N. W. to

TUKU-TUKU – REST.

S. S. E., about five miles. At the N. W. end, a swampy isthmus, 100 yards broad, joins a small peninsula to the main. This peninsula, called Motu o Puhi, at its junction with the isthmus is defended by a very strong double fence. On it are the houses inhabited by the natives of the lake when compelled to take refuge there from the attacks of hostile tribes. A canoe from the eastern shore soon answered our salutes from the fort, and took us over to a settlement called Tuku-tuku, where they set abundance of boiled potatoes before us; but I fell asleep in my clothes after eating two or three, more tired than hungry, notwithstanding the jabber of at least fifty natives of both sexes, who crowded into the house to stare at the new pakehas, and hear the news from Wanganui. The house was a ware puni, or native hot-house, of large dimensions. It was very lofty; held fifty people comfortably; and was adorned inside with paddles, spears, and nets of two or three sorts.

On the 26th we remained at Tuku-tuku to rest. This is a pretty settlement, in the N. E. corner of the lake. The underwood has been cut away, but the tall forest trees, chiefly matai or mai, remain standing and still alive; the plantations and villages are disposed among their trunks, on the acclivity which rises from the side of the lake to Pihanga. They grow all their potatoes here by throwing up the soil in heaps, about four feet in diameter, and a foot high; so that the whole cultivation takes place above the surface in artificial beds. The soil is a rich brown loam, mingled, however, with a large proportion of powdered pumice-stone. The rain continued at intervals, and the clouds hung below the summit of Puki Onaki. Half-way up the steep N. E. face of this mountain, a boiling spring juts out, which is considered by the natives a sovereign

remedy for some diseases: they travel from all parts to benefit by its healing qualities; Watanui, the head chief of the Ngatiraukawa tribe, is stated to have obtained here a wonderful cure.

On the next morning, the rest of our party arrived, saluting from the time they crossed the ridge; and the whole day was taken up with the usual tangi, or crying, and feasts of potatoes, pigs baked whole in the native oven, and pots filled with small fish out of the lake. This fish is called hinanga, and resembles Blackwall white-bait in size and flavour. Its colour is a pinkish white, spotted with black. The rain continued all day, but was no interruption to the festival. About 200 people of all ages and sexes assembled from the villages at this end of the lake to greet the strangers.

29th. The rain continued; and we were all glad of another day's rest for our sore feet.

On the 30th, passing over the low wooded neck which unites Kakaramea to Pihanga, we emerged, after about four miles' easy walk through wood, into fern ground, from which we enjoyed a magnificent view of Lake Taupo and the surrounding country.

This lake lies much lower than Roto Aera, but still at a great elevation above the sea. At the opposite end of the lake, a mountain, called Tauhara, is a conspicuous object, rising as it does from a level table-country to the height of 3000 or 4000 feet. It bore from our position N. 20 deg. E., and might be 35 miles distant. I should estimate the length of the lake at 30 miles, and its mean breadth at 20. The shores, from N. W. to N. E., seemed to be lined with cliffs of considerable height, from the edge of which a clear table plain stretches to the horizon on all sides, except where the tops of two isolated mountains may be dimly distinguished in the extreme distance to the N. These

LAKE TAUPO.

are probably Rangitoto, and another of the same range. On the eastern shore, the cliffs recede from the lake, and become more gentle in their slope from the table-land to a marshy flat, which reaches without interruption from the S. E. to the S. W. corner of the lake. In the S. E. corner, a long low isthmus joins a peninsula of considerable size and height to the main; and in a line between the peninsula and Mount Tauhara, a small island rises to the height of 200 or 300 feet from the water. The peninsula is called Motu o Apa, and the island Motu Tahiko. About three miles to the southward of the isthmus, the Waikato river flows into the lake, by three sluggish, shallow mouths; and the valley of the river, from four to five miles in breadth, stretches away to the S. E., between Pihanga and Tonga Riro to the W., and the western extremity of Kai Manawa to the east. Kai Manawa, or "Heart-eater," is the name given to that part of the Ruahine range which lies to the northward of the source of the Rangitikei river. The chain of hills formed by Pihanga, the ridge which we had just crossed, and Kakaramea, approaches gradually to the lake; and a little beyond the S. W. corner, the shores again consist of rocky cliffs, fringed with wood to the water's edge, for two or three miles. Further to the N., the land again gradually slopes from a beach to the table prairie, which extends for about 12 miles to wooded mountains in the direction of Kawia, and apparently with little interruption to the northward. About 10 miles from the S. W. corner, the gentle acclivity is interrupted by an isolated mountain, called Wareroa, whose eastern face appears to be a Baltic cliff. Beyond this, the shores are again gradual in their rise to the table-land for several miles, till the cliffs close in, and continue round the northern extremity of the lake, where the Waikato issues seaward.

Between the base of the mountain ridge on which we now stood, and the banks of the upper Waikato, a curious isolated hill rises to the height of 600 or 700 feet out of the marshy flat. This hill is called Maunga Namu, or "Sand-fly Mountain," and is used as a cemetery by the natives. Descending from the high ground, we now crossed the Tokanu; a stream which flows from the northern side of the Pihanga, and, passing between the hills and Maunga Namu, glides into the lake near its S. W. corner. After crossing a small swamp, and a coppice of low manuka, we came suddenly on a novel scene.

A space of about 10 acres on either side of the Tokanu stream is perforated with holes and cavities of various sizes, from which steam issues in large quantities. Some part of this space is barren, and whitened by the sulphureous exhalations from the hot springs; but in other places, manuka and rich grass grow to the very edge of a boiling cavity. In some places, a small hole only is perceptible, from which issues a stream of steam: here the natives form their ovens, and cook food very nicely with great expedition. In other spots, cavities from 10 to 30 feet in diameter are filled with water of various temperatures; some nearly boiling, others tempered by the cold stream which runs through one part of them. In one of the latter we all had a delicious bath. The cavity was too deep to reach the bottom, though we dived off a bank eight feet high; and the temperature varied from 70 deg. to 100 deg. as you approached or not the embouchure of the different springs that supply the bath. In all directions steam or hot water issues from the ground; and the clouds of steam which cover the spot, and the gurgling of the different hot fountains around you, add to the wonder excited by the strange sight. A stranger

A FINE CHIEF.

requires to be careful as to where he steps. We were shown two deep basins full of nearly boiling water, into one of which a man threw his slave for stealing potatoes; while a pig had forced a man who was pursuing him into the other. They said that the bones of both were plainly visible a year or two since, but have been completely destroyed by the action of the water.

It is from this and similar spots, which abound between Lake Taupo and the Bay of Plenty, that the denizens of this volcanic region have assumed the generic name of Wai Korapupu, or "Boiling Water."

Half a mile from the springs, we reached the settlement of Tokanu, where 300 people were assembled to receive us. I was ushered into a house newly built in anticipation of my arrival, and then the tangi and speeches went on as usual. This place is close to the mouth of the stream, on the flat, which is here perhaps a mile broad, between the lake and the hills. Extensive patches, sown with the kumera, are neatly fenced in and cultivated. The remainder of the flat is equally divided between a raupo swamp and grassy common. This settlement owns for leader a chief named Here-kie-kie, or "Flax," who behaved to me in the most hospitable and pleasing manner for a month that I remained here. Exceedingly handsome in figure and face, and of commanding stature, he blended great dignity of mien with a very affable disposition, and pleased me no less by the well-earned respect and obedience which he exacted from his followers, than by the unassuming way in which he strove to do the honours of his residence, and to make us enjoy our sojourn with him. Although only about 28 years of age, his authority seemed unquestioned; and he used it with perfect good-nature in keeping the

natives from coming into the house, or importuning us by their too frequent questions or observations. I considered him decidedly one of the finest specimens of a wild New Zealander that I had yet seen.

My companion fell ill soon after we arrived at Tokanu; so that I was detained a month here, instead of pushing on, as I had intended, to Auckland by way of Waikato and Manukau. I ascertained that in eight days I might easily have reached Auckland from Taupo, by that route.

During my sojourn, I visited the different settlements between Motu o Apa and one called Pukawa, a few miles to the S. of Wareroa. Pukawa is pleasantly situated in the bight of a little cove beyond the wooded cliffs before mentioned. About 100 natives mustered to receive me and my train, who had arrived in a large canoe, in pursuance of their invitation to a feast prepared for us. They are chiefly missionaries at this settlement, which is headed by a chief named Pairangi, or "Good Sky." At all the other settlements, a family or two call themselves converts, but are very heartily despised by the others, who are instructed by their head chiefs to adhere to their ancient rites and customs. I found that many of the converts were Roman Catholics, having the prayer-books of that church, and brass crucifixes and relics round their necks.

South of Pukawa, the wooded cliffs are broken by a cascade of 100 feet in height, which falls into the lake out of a bower of mingled foliage: this fall, and the settlement at its base, are called Waihi. From thence to Terapa 10 at the extreme S. W. corner of the lake close to the northern base of Kakaramea, plantations of corn, melons, pumpkins, and kumeras, cover the steep bank of rocks which rises from the water to

VISIT TO HEUHEU.

the same level as the top of the fall; and at Terapa is a small stream and another settlement, at which old Heuheu resides in time of peace.

The terraced flat between a steaming gorge at the western extremity of Kakaramea and the lake is covered with plantations and isolated houses. Among these latter, that of Heuheu is prominent. It is about 40 feet long, 15 broad, and of a proportionate height: a narrow verandah ornaments the northern front, before which a square is reserved from the kumera grounds which surround it on three sides. On the day that we went, by previous appointment, to pay our first visit to the old man, about 200 people had assembled in the little square; and Heuheu, who sat at one end of the verandah, attended by his principal wife, motioned us to a seat while he went through the necessary tangi with the Wanganui natives. A splendid feast followed: 200 kits of boiled potatoes and kumeras, five pigs skewered like birds and baked whole, eight or ten pots full of white-bait, and three calabashes of pigeons and tuis stewed in their own fat (a sort of galantine de gibier), were brought in by a long train of slaves, and piled up in the centre of the square. After this had been distributed among the visitors, the chief talked tome about Wanganui, the Governor, and Poniki, and asked me to come and see him again before I left the neighbourhood. In the meanwhile, he gave me five pigs for food while I remained at Tokanu, and said he was ashamed of having no food to offer me such as White men liked. He expressed great gratitude for my reception of him and his war-party at Wanganui the autumn before; and begged me to look about the country and call it my own, and the people my people. But he accompanied this with a warning not to try and buy the land from him, for he had determined never to sell either that or his chieftainship.

He concluded the interview by saying that he remembered I was fond of hearing the songs and seeing the dances of the natives. So, like a baron of olden time shouting "A hall, a hall!" he yelled, He haka, he haka mo Tiraweke! "A dance, a dance for Tiraweke;" and 100 men and women, headed by his wife Hokokai, went through some spirited hakas and waiatas for an hour.

From Terapa to Tokanu the shore is formed by a swamp, which reaches to the hills. About a mile beyond Tokanu, a settlement, called Wai eriki, or "warm water," is situated on some patches of rich dry land, on the banks of the branching creeks which drain the swamp between the hot springs and the lake. Beyond this a point runs out half-a-mile to the north; and at this point the three branches of the Tonga Riro, or upper Waikato, flow into the lake. About the mouths, and in the creeks and lagoons all along between them and Tokanu, dwell thousands of ducks of various sorts, which afford excellent sport. I spent many hours in exploring the various retreats among the rushes and flags, from which they did not rise till my little canoe came within half gun-shot.

The principal and easternmost channel of the Waikato, running for some distance nearly parallel to the beach of the lake, which again retreats from the point to the S. E. corner, forms a long low peninsula, the inner half of whose breadth consists of swamp, while the outer is a bank of loose sand, about 100 yards broad. On this bank is built a very strong pa, called Waitanui. Across the eastern end of the bank, a strong double fence, 15 feet high, runs from the swamp to the lake, and a like fence protects the western point. In the pa are the finest native houses that I have yet seen. The ware puni, or sleeping-houses, are most of them 10 or 12 feet in height, and very spacious: the verandah, or open space in front, would easily accommo-

WAITANUI PA.

date ten sleepers, and the whole front is carved and painted with most elaborate designs. The kauta, or cooking-houses, are proportionably large. In that part of the pa belonging especially to Heuheu, there is a row of cooking-houses 40 feet long by 15 broad, and 10 feet high in the walls, which are constructed of enormous slabs, well fitted together. Round windows, with sliding shutters, admit the light and let out the smoke. The pa is 500 yards long and 100 broad; and is used as a city of refuge by all the inhabitants of Taupo and Roto Aera. Each division of the tribe has its own separate quarters. There was no one in the pa on the occasion of my visit, and the fences were ruinous in many places; but they talked of renovating the fortification as soon as the harvest should be gathered in, to provide against apprehended invasion from Waikato. A beach of fine gravel lines the shore as far as the isthmus, where a stream, called Wai o Taka flows into the lake: this is about three miles from Waitanui point. Another stream of considerable size flows down the middle of the isthmus of Motu o Apa, and find its way into the lake on its southern side, close to its junction with the peninsula. This stream is called Wai Marino, or "calm water." On its N. bank is a considerable settlement. Both these streams rise from the western spurs of Kai Manawa. The only other principal settlements on the lake are at Wareroa, and at a place called Motutere, about halfway along the eastern shore. The whole force of Waitanui, without allies, amounts to little more than 400 fighting men.

While at Tokanu, I could not but observe the excellent conduct of the natives. This was as much owing to their own friendly disposition as to the authority of their chief. I was never annoyed, as I had often been

at more civilized or more Christianized settlements. My wishes seemed a law to them; and they were always making voluntary efforts to procure me any food or amusement which they thought would be agreeable. The only exceptions to this rule were invariably among the few missionary families, who seemed to take pride in being less courteous than the others, and more overreaching in their barter for the different little things, such as shallots, craw-fish, duck's eggs, which they brought in exchange for pipes or tobacco.

Close to my house was a warm spring, so shallow that you could lie down on the sandy bottom, holding your head out of water. In this bath all the natives assembled, morning and evening; and, indeed, I never found a time, late or early, that there were not some in the water. I soon learned to join them; and used to remain there for hours, smoking and playing at draughts, at which game all the natives have learned to be extremely expert. To their frequent use of these baths I attribute the cleanliness and good health of the natives of this part of the country; who are totally free from the cutaneous diseases so universal among the coast tribes, and generally a cleaner and handsomer race.

While at Taupo, I had several opportunities of noticing the legal proceedings for damages, as customarily gone into by the natives. Pakau, the brother of E Kuru, complained at each settlement which we visited of his wife having been formerly stolen by a Taupo man, who was now dead. He in consequence claimed before the assembled population utu, or "compensation," from all the relations of the offender, and by this means collected large damages. No objection was ever raised to his claim, though some of the mulcted relations wept, as they parted with a favourite musket

AN ARTIST IN TATU.

or axe rather than bear the disgrace of refusing to make amends for their kinsman's misdeeds. Pakau carried back to Wanganui three muskets, fifteen axes and tomahawks, three cartridge-boxes, two kegs of powder, and a mat, as damages. He started before me, with the great body of my train, and a drove of pigs which had been presented to me.

After I had been at the lake about a fortnight, a chief and his train arrived from a place called Te Waiti, in the district of Huriwera, near the East Cape, with pigs and mats. The report that there were plenty of double-barrelled guns to be got at Wanganui had induced him to start with his stock and goods on a journey of nearly 300 miles, in order to procure what he could not get from the traders on the east coast. He had previously despatched a messenger to me, begging me to bring some tupara, or "two-barrel," for him if I came to Taupo; and we accordingly met by a sort of appointment. A very famous artist in tatu came with the party, and was kept in constant and profitable employment. Everybody, from the renowned warrior to the girl of twelve years old, crowded to be ornamented by the skilful chisel; and shirts, mats, axes, and other articles accumulated in the carver's kits. He was a superior man in many respects. He used to beat everybody at draughts, and had a store of old legends to amuse his audience. I saw Iwikau, or "Skeleton," the head fighting chief of the tribe under Heuheu, being chipped on the cheek-bone. The instruments used were not of bone, as they used formerly to be; but a graduated set of iron tools, fitted with handles like adzes, supplied their place. The man spoke to me with perfect nonchalance for a quarter of an hour, although the operator continued to strike the little adzes into his flesh with a light wooden hammer

the whole time, and his face was covered with blood. The worst part of the pain seems to be that endured a day or two after the operation, when every part of the wound gathers, and the face is swollen considerably. The staining liquid is made of charcoal. I rarely saw a case in which the scars were not completely well in a week.

I once ascended the isolated "Sandfly Mountain," of which I have spoken above; and was much surprised to observe the extraordinary effect which some local attraction caused on the compass. Tauhara, the high mountain at the north end of the lake, bore from here 17 deg. more easterly than it did from Pukawa, which is three or four miles to the west of the "Sandfly." Of course, no sketch of the country, laid down entirely from compass bearings, could lay any claim to correctness. 11

I was much surprised to see a slight hoar frost on Christmas morning. The wind was blowing from the direction of Tonga-Riro; and this, at our elevation of some 1000 or 1500 feet above the level of the sea, doubtless produced the unseasonable cold.

On the 29th of December, two gentlemen arrived in a canoe from the eastern shore of the lake, having walked from Matata in the Bay of Plenty in four days.

MR. BLACKETT.

One was a Mr. White, who had resided eight years among the natives; part of the time in the Waikato country, and the rest at Matata. His native wife had been pointed out to me at Tokanu, where she was staying with her relations. Mr. White had become so thoroughly master of the New Zealand language, that he had even acquired the peculiar dialect of the inhabitants of the Bay of Plenty, a branch of the great Ngatiawa tribe. At Wanganui, a native who only heard him speaking Maori in an adjoining room, asked directly who that native from Matata was, not having seen that it was a White man.

The other traveller was the same Mr. John Blackett who had been with us at Kaipara two years before; and who had returned from England with his yacht, the Albatross cutter of 80 tons. He had started the yacht from the Bay of Plenty to Port Nicholson, and was on his way to join her there. They described the road as being about 90 miles in length, and as passing over a perfectly level but barren country the whole way. In passing through a district called Tarawera, they crossed, in a canoe, a scalding lake, and afterwards ascended a hot river. Fifteen miles of their journey had been over a plain of sulphur and hot springs, no fresh water being procurable for the whole of that distance. A chain of lakes, including Rotorua and several others, almost connects Taupo with the sea at the Bay of Plenty. In that district, the extinct volcano of Mount Edgecumbe, and an actively volcanic island of sulphur, called White Island, form the north-eastern end of the volcanic region of which Mount Egmont seems to be the south-west extremity.

Although I had sent messengers for medicine and advice to Wanganui soon after discovering the ill-

ness of Mr. Niblett, we heard no tidings of them; and I proceeded to get the invalid carried there by a device suggested by the new-comers, who had often seen it practised on the east coast. A litter was: soon constructed of stout poles and plaited flaxen straps, and four natives were hired to relieve each other as porters.

The day before starting, I went to take my formal leave of old Heuheu, pursuant to his request. After the usual greetings had passed, he told me at once that he suspected that our two parties had met, one from Poniki and the other from Waitemata (Auckland), to consult over his land, with a view to buy it or even seize it forcibly at a later season. "If this be your wish," said he, "go back and tell my words to the people who sent you. I am king here, as my fathers were before me, and as King George and his fathers have been over your country. I have not sold my chieftainship to the Governor, as all the chiefs round the sea-coast have done, nor have I sold my land. I will sell neither. A messenger was here from the Governor to buy the land the other day, and I refused: if you are on the same errand I refuse you too. You White people are numerous and strong; you can easily crush us if you choose, and take possession of that which we will not yield; but here is my right arm, and should thousands of you come, you must make me a slave or kill me before I will give up my authority or my land. When you go, you will say I am big-mouthed like all the other Maori who have talked to you; but I am now telling you that by which I mean to abide. Let your people keep the sea-coast, and leave the interior to us, and our mountain, whose name is sacred to the bones of my fathers. Do not bring many White people into

TAPU ON THE SUMMIT OF A MOUNTAIN.

the interior, who may encroach on our possessions till we become their servants; but if you can make up your mind to come yourself now and then, and visit this mean place, whose people are your slaves, you will find the same welcome. The place and the people are yours. Go to Wanganui." The old man said all this calmly and without working himself into a state of excitement; but while he disclaimed any intention of swaggering, and, in holding up his right arm from beneath his mat, displayed his herculean proportions unimpaired by the sixty years that have whitened his hair, I could not help admiring his calm and manly declaration, and believing it to be, as he said, true. I succeeded, after much trouble, in making him understand that we had all come to Taupo out of curiosity only, and with no view of acquiring land; and assured him that the southern pakehas, at least, would never annoy him by any attempts to wrest from him his chieftainship or his land.

I asked his permission to ascend Tonga Riro on my way back; knowing that he had been very angry with Mr. Bidwill for doing so during his absence. But he steadily refused; saying, "I would do anything else to show you my love and friendship; but you must not ascend my tipuna, or 'ancestor.'" He told me that he had for the same reason refused the same request when made by the two White men who had come from the Governor to buy his land; referring to Dr. Dieffenbach and Captain Symonds, who had been here two or three months before.

This was a curious illustration of the enforcement of the custom of tapu, as used to support the dignity of the chief. Heuheu constantly identified himself with the mountain, and called it his sacred ancestor.

This legend of an hereditary descent from an object,

majestic in itself, and naturally productive of awe, had doubtless been handed down from father to son in the chief's family; and was wisely calculated to maintain the aristocratic position of the leader, by appealing to the weak and superstitious imaginations of the crowd. When I remembered the strong effect produced upon myself by the mere sight of the pass in "The Place of Cliffs," I inwardly admired the wisdom of the ancestors of these people, who had so contrived to weave up their own precarious dignity with legendary superstition, and the venerable testimony of nature's most kingly works.

Like the first rulers of young Rome, who proclaimed their descent from gods, and imposed laws advised by a celestial nymph, so Heuheu backed his other claims to empire by maintaining inviolate the mysterious tapu of his mountain ancestor.

Any visit made to the spot would, of course, be calculated to lessen the mystery, as the natives would soon learn from the White men that none of the danger existed which they supposed to attend such a proceeding.

Mr. Dandeson Coates, the lay Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, has lately addressed a pamphlet to Lord Stanley in support of the position that every spot of the islands is the private property of the natives. In this pamphlet he adduces this very case in support of his rather curious argument: –

He says, "An illustration of this fact, extracted from the Journal of the Rev. A. N. Brown, is recorded in the 'Church Missionary Gleaner' for December 1842. In a journey into the interior, he came into the vicinity of Tonga Riro, a snow-capped mountain, probably 6000 feet high, and its summit an unextinguished crater. At Te Rapa, Mr. Brown fell

RELIGIOUS RESPECT AND LANDED RIGHTS.

in with Captain Symonds and Dr. Dieffenbach, who were exploring the neighbourhood for scientific purposes. Leaving these gentlemen, who had been to Tonga Riro, Mr. Brown next day proceeded thither himself, and states: – 'Captain Symonds and his party were very anxious to ascend the mountain-top; but the natives opposed it, on the ground of its having been made sacred by their forefathers; and that if the tapu were violated, some evil would befall them. They offered us gold, remarked the old chief to me; had they brought some Testaments, we would have consented to their going up the mountain. Tell the strangers, when you see them again, that if they return in the summer, and bring Testaments with them, the tapu shall be removed from the mountain.' I do not now dwell," says Mr. Coates, "upon the evidence which this passage incidentally affords of the value which the natives set upon the Scriptures, and their strong desire to obtain copies of them: I adduce it as affording a strong presumption of the universal ownership of land in New Zealand by some chief or tribe; for if the crater of a volcano, or a mountain covered with snow, be private property, it is difficult to suppose any spot on the island which is not so."

This is, to my mind, a most fantastic conclusion, made by a person totally ignorant of the ideas and customs and imaginations which influence the native. Mr. Brown expressly says that the natives had forbidden the travellers from ascending, – not because the crater, or the snowy mountain, was private or public property, – but "on the ground of its having been made sacred by their forefathers; and that, if the tapu were violated, some evil would befall them;" because, in short, it was the property of legend, and awe, and the mysteries of their only religion, the tapu: apparently

selected as such because it was the salient point in a vast uninhabited district, ten miles from the nearest human habitation, bearing the devastating marks of fiery convulsions, and in which no cultivation had ever been begun or thought of, or any occupation made; because it was frequently hidden from the eye of man in whirling clouds and in spouting steam; because it was the dread abode of snow and storm; because man had never dared to ascend its sides, or to examine the wild chasms in its vicinity.

By the same argument, I should prove my private property in the altar of a church by forbidding a profane intruder from stamping on its sacred surface; or the sanctum sanctorum of the ark of the Israelites should be considered the private property of the Levites, who forbade the entrance of the vulgar within its bounds. Thus Mr. Coates fails to distinguish between the feeling of religious veneration which prompts any one to save what he holds holy from desecration, and the mere worldly wish of a proprietor to keep trespassers off his estate, or off the manor to which he has a common right with his fellows.

Oddly enough, he has brought the mysterious prop of the chieftainship, which the present missionary system conduces to destroy, as a proof of the property of savages over land on which they never set foot, which the individual missionaries are so anxious to maintain.

Heuheu's speech to me sufficiently proved that he, at that time, acknowledged a territory as yet unclaimed; for he begged me not to bring many White people into the interior, "lest they should gradually encroach on the possessions of the natives."

The old chief, I fear, must have been speaking in a bitter spirit of irony to Mr. Brown, when he told him

RETURN FROM TAUPO.

about the Testaments. During the two or three long conversations which I had with him, several months after Mr. Brown's visit, his determined animosity against the introduction of the Christian faith was most remarkable. He told me that Mr. Chapman, from Rotorua, had repeatedly pressed him to accept books and to become a missionary; but that he had steadily refused, as he saw in the converting of his people an inevitable levelling of ranks, and the end of his regal sway. When I last received a message from him in August 1843, he was still threatening to use the missionary books as cartridge-paper, and the tapu still dwelt on the sacred mountain. I do not doubt that he used the words reported by the Rev. Mr. Brown; but I feel certain that he was dealing in the ironical metaphor, which I have already described as employed by Turoa at the great conference near Pukihika, and which has often nearly deceived me on other occasions. I know one or two chiefs who almost always speak in this way, ironical satire being esteemed the chef-d'oeuvre of a Maori orator.

If Mr. Coates does not plead ignorance of the native customs as the apology for the very absurd reasoning in his letter to Lord Stanley, it will be painful to conclude that he has been hurried into it rather by his "determination to thwart the colonization of New Zealand by every means in his power," than by a calm consideration of the just rights of the aborigines.

On the 1st of January 1842, we left Tokanu; Mr. Niblett being carried in his litter, and attended by about a dozen natives besides the porters. A large train also accompanied us as far as Roto Aera. I selected two boys to carry my things, as I intended to push on ahead from that point. The progress of a large party of natives is always very slow, and we were

two days reaching the eastern end of Roto Aera, round the northern and eastern spurs of Pihanga. This mountain is an extinct volcano, of which the crater opens to the north; and I heard that this was the lady about whom Tonga Riro and Mount Egmont quarrelled. She is now called one of Tonga Riro's wives. The road leads partly through wood and partly through extensive clearings on the side of this mountain, from which there is a beautiful view of the valley of the upper Waikato. This valley continues to be about four miles in width as far as you can see to the southward. We passed several pretty villages on the road. On emerging from the wood on the south-east side of Pihanga, we were gratified with a magnificent view of the Tonga Riro group, the clear valley between it and the wooded sides of Kai Manawa, and that through which a river, called the Potu, drains the waters of Roto Aera, between Pihanga and Puki Onaki, into the Waikato. Descending through a plain of grass and fern, prettily dotted with clumps of wood, we stopped for the night at a settlement named after the river, close to where it disgorges itself from the lake. The level ground between Pihanga and the shores of the lake is covered with the most luxuriant grass. A broad belt of timber encircles the middle of the mountain, whose bare and ragged summit shows plain proofs of former eruptions.

On the 3rd, an event occurred which delayed us here another day. A quarrel arose between a chief who had accompanied us from Taupo, named Tauranga, and an inhabitant of a village removed from ours about 100 yards. They met on the greensward between the two pas, and Tauranga charged the other with having stolen some totara slabs belonging to his uncle from the wood, and claimed restitution or payment; the other

SKIRMISH.

retorted, asserting his own right to the tree from which the slabs had been cut. They both waxed wroth, running up and down in short parallel lines, brandishing their spears, and apparently trying who could talk most and quickest. He ngangare! he ngangare! "a quarrel! a quarrel!" was now shouted in both villages, and about 30 people ran out from each side to see the sport. Tauranga soon challenged his opponent to drop his spear and wrestle, and the other accepted the offer and threw him after a short struggle. The spectators now rushed in on both sides: old women as well as men and boys seized the nearest offensive weapon; tomahawks and cutlasses were brandished, and a general melee took place. The result was five or six broken heads in about two minutes; and the wounded men pointed to their blood, and called for support from their respective friends. Many of the young men then threw away the sticks and clubs with which they had begun the affray, and ran to the pas for fire-arms. I stopped a lad who was running to load one of my double-barrelled guns, not wishing to be implicated even by proxy; and seeing several men who, armed with their own pieces, were hastening to the spot, too excited to listen to reason, I called to Mr. Niblett, and proceeded to take up my position in a deep narrow gully, to be out of the reach of stray shots. The affair would no doubt have ended fatally, and might have originated one of the endless feuds which exist even among the different families of the same tribe, had not an old chief, named Pehi, who has the highest authority at this end of the lake, hastened to restore peace. He ran down to the scene of conflict, armed with a rusty cavalry sabre, with the flat of which he administered sundry impressive admonitions to the heads of the most furious on both sides. He reproached

them with their folly in thus creating divisions among themselves, when they were bound to remain united against their common enemies at Waikato and Waitotara, and urged them to draw off before an injury should have been received on either side which might call for more blood as an atonement. His mediation was at length accepted; and although both parties continued running up and down, threatening each other and making the most hideous grimaces, for nearly half an hour, no more violence took place, and all the combatants gradually withdrew to plaster the wounded skulls. A reconciliation took place in the afternoon over a grand feast. Old Pehi's warlike recollections were excited by the brush; and he stood up for some time to relate to the young men the deeds in which he had gained his glory of yore, in company with other chieftains of renown. He entered with great spirit into a description of various skirmishes, and concluded by saying, with a laugh, as he threw away his spear to a slave and sat down: "Ah, but this was a very good little affair; there was no mischief done; it was very good play for the hands."

The path, after crossing the Potu, continues along the declivity which slopes from the Tonga Riro group to the upper Waikato valley. The whole country consists of mania, or grass plains, similar to those on the western side, except where the gullies of the small tributaries are filled with timber. This is chiefly of two sorts, the towai, and the toa toa, a small tree, which is much prized by the natives for walking-sticks, and only grows, they say, in the neighbourhood of Tonga Riro. The stick, underneath the bark, is of a bright red colour, which takes a fine polish. The bark is used by the natives for the light-brown dye on the borders of Kaitaka mats. The gullies are so numerous as to ren-

SACRED SAND.

der the journey very tedious. Two of the streams, Oturere and Wai hohonu, run in gullies 300 feet lower than the level of the path.

After proceeding by a gradual ascent, which keeps pace with that of the Waikato valley, for about 23 miles from Roto Aera, the latter part of which distance was partly dry barren land, almost devoid of vegetation, and partly morass, we arrived on the edge of a sandy desert, exactly resembling those which line the coast between Kapiti and Wanganui. From this point Ruapehu bears S. 75 deg. W. and Para te tai Tonga, N. 50 deg. W. This too is the highest point of the prairie path; and here we caught the last glimpse of Lake Taupo, of which we had had a magnificent view nearly all the way from Potu. The path now descends, and verges to the S. W. across the sandy desert, which the natives call Onetapu, or "Sacred Sand." Here another path branches off to the head of the Manawatu, by way of Patea, a place near the source of the Rangitiki. This path crosses the valley of the upper Waikato, and plunges into the broken country formed by the S. W. spurs of Kai Manawa. The natives describe it as a very tedious path, with many hills to ascend, and many streams to cross. They showed me an isolated table-land, in the direction of the path, which they affirmed to be inhabited by huge ngarara, or lizards. No one, they said, had ever dared to ascend to it. About three miles along the sandy desert brought us to the Waikato, half a mile from its source, which is in one corner of a rugged cavity in the S. E. side of Ruapehu. It is here quite an insignificant gutter.

The desert now assumed a new aspect. Huge masses of rock, of the most diversified shapes and sizes, are piled on each other, and disposed over the

sandy slope of the mountain in various forms; and the rocks themselves seem painted with various colours, as though stained by some bituminous exhalation. A short mile explained the latter appearance. A strong sulphureous smell struck my nostrils for some hundred yards before arriving at the Wangaihu; which stream bubbles over the opposite side of a stone, from the same source as the Waikato, and joins the sea nine miles on the south of Wanganui. It is about three yards wide and a foot deep. As I crossed it I tasted the water, which some Maories had told me was wai tai, or "sea water," and others wai kawa, or "bitter water." The latter were right; for it tasted exactly like a strong dilution of ink. I had to walk about six miles more before I got to any fresh water to wash out the nauseous taste. This was a tributary of the Wangaihu, called Wai ihea noa; on whose banks we encamped; having caught a stray pig from a drove belonging to me, which Pakau had driven along a few days before. We buried what we could not eat, that it might be preserved fresh for the party of the invalid, when they should follow.

Our encampment was not more than a mile from the lower line of snow on Ruapehu; and I longed to ascend, as I thought I could perceive a very easy way; but I finally determined to respect the superstition of my hospitable friend at Taupo.

Long before daylight, the natives were as usual astir, blowing up the fire to warm themselves and roast a few potatoes. When I awoke, a fairy sight awaited me. In the midst of the darkness in which all below was plunged, the snowy mass above was already illuminated by the rising sun. Each peak and irregularity of the mountain was tinged with the most delicate pink hue. And some minutes after-

SUNRISE – ROLLING RANGES.

wards the sky brightened in the east, the extensive landscape towards the east and south gradually received light, and at length the sun rose into a cloudless heaven, and warmed up each feature into life and beauty.

We now descended the side of Ruapehu into a plain, level with the valley of the Wangaihu, which here takes a sudden bend to the eastward, and disappears among some broken wooded country. Turning round the corner of one of the ridges which slope from the snowy mountain, we proceeded for ten miles along a narrow glade of plain, which juts far into the forest that covers the country between Ruapehu and the Wanganui. Crossing two tributaries of the Wangaihu, we plunged into the forest. The rest of the journey needs no accurate description. The path leads over the most fatiguing hilly forest country that I had yet seen of so large an extent in New Zealand. After about five miles of flat forest-land, there is nothing but a succession of steep ridges to the Wanganui. Some of these ascents were at least three miles long; and between each ridge a tributary of the Wangaihu is crossed. The largest of these is the Mankawero, or "red branch."

From the summit of one of the highest ridges, I got a view back upon Tonga Riro. It towered high above a succession of ten or twelve rolling ranges, which had the regular appearance of a long ground-swell.

On the evening of the 8th, we emerged into the potato-grounds on the table-lands above Ikurangi, the pa which I have mentioned in my ascent of the Wanganui; having traversed about 45 miles of forest. Our food was out, and we were glad to encamp, and sup from the potatoes which had been abandoned by

the Ikurangi people through fear of being surprised by a war-party from Taupo.

On this table-land I saw a great extent of flax cultivations, which have not been used since the time when traders from Sydney used to buy large quantities of it from the Wanganui natives. The plants were all of the tihore, or best species of flax; with leaves ten to twelve feet long, and so luxuriant in their growth, that although they were planted in rows at the distance of eight feet apart, the outer leaves of one plant met those of the next. They have of course been transplanted to this elevated situation, which was formerly forest, and possesses a rich loamy soil.

The next morning we descended the long hill to the river, got a canoe, and proceeded to my house. The upper road to Taupo, by the Manganui, is, in my opinion, by far the easier of the two; but both must be difficult in winter, when the streams are swollen by the melting of the snows from Tonga Riro.

9 The Roto Iti, or "little lake," of Mr. Bidwill's 'Rambles.'

10 Coteropo of Bidwill's Map.

11 I think this accounts for the inaccuracy of the map in Mr. Bidwill's 'Rambles,' in which Coteropo, which, from his description, evidently means Terapa, is placed in the S. E. instead of the S. W. corner. A native, on being asked the name of a place or person, will almost invariably prefix the particle ko to the name, and thus ko Terapa might easily have been set down as Coteropo. Mr. Bidwill's description of the hot springs in the mountain gully behind "Coteropo," exactly agrees with those at the back of Terapa in the S. W. corner of the lake; and there is no large collection of hot springs all round the lake except at that place and on the flat near Tokanu.

CHAPTER V

PROGRESS OF WANGANUI.

CHAPTER V.

Progress of Wanganui – Mr. Wansey's attempt to settle – Consequential airs of the Police Magistrate – Arrival of E Kuru – Penalty inflicted for saluting him – Ludicrous Proceedings – Anger of the Natives – Guests – Bell's Farm – His management of the Natives – -Interview with two repudiating Chiefs – Their proposal – Journey to Wellington by land – The Great Chief of Manawatu – Effect of an appeal to Native hospitality – Purchase of Manawatu district by Colonel Wakefield – Excellent results of Mr. Hadfield's missionary teaching – Houses for Travellers.

I FOUND that a considerable addition had been made to the White population of the settlement. The Clydeside, a vessel of 250 tons, brought out by her owner, Mr. Mathieson, from Greenock to Wellington, had entered the river and ascended as far as Landguard Cliff 12 She bore a large party of passengers from Wellington, with their goods and chattels. Macgregor, in acting as pilot, had put the vessel on the sand-spits both in entering and in going out; but no serious damage had been done.

A drove of some fifty head of cattle, too, had arrived by land for Captain Moses Campbell, who had himself come in the Clydeside, and had been followed to this place by several Scotch settlers. Many of the surveying labourers, chiefly Scotchmen, had taken a liking to the country while exploring it, and were preparing for

the reception of some of their friends and relations from Wellington.

In descending the last part of the river, at night, I passed a new house, about ten miles up the north bank of the river. I learned that this was the house of a gentleman named Wansey, whom I had seen at Wellington the last time I was there, and who had bought a good section from a land-agent there at a high price. He had made an attempt to settle on the land; but came to me, two or three days after my arrival, to represent the obstacles thrown in his way, and to beg my assistance in removing them, if possible.

It appeared that two or three rival bands of natives, some of them from the den of thieves at Tunu haere, had been attracted by the sight of his goods, which he took up at once, to make numerous excuses for annoying and plundering him. Among these was, of course, the one now general among the mihanere natives, that the land had not been paid for. Mr. Wansey was himself ignorant of the language; and he took up with him two White servants, who contributed by their conduct, during his too frequent absence at the settlement, to excite the natives to insolence and robbery. One was a peculating fellow from Wellington, who knew not a word of the Maori language, and was dreadfully frightened at their appearance; the other was a rude beach-comber, who knew just enough to abuse the natives, and excite them to anger by his brutal ways and language. Between the two, they managed to raise a pretty hornet's nest round Mr. Wansey's ears.

As it was clear that at least one party had acknowledged his right to settle on the land by building a house for him, I offered to go and live there for some days with him, and to make endeavour, by my knowledge of the natives, to arrange affairs on a better foot-

AIRS OF THE POLICE MAGISTRATE.

ing. Mr. Wansey., however, had been to Mr. Dawson, the Police Magistrate; who told him that he could not interfere, even to recover the stolen property, as no Crown title had been issued for the land. He then became totally discouraged; and so I invited him to put up his tent within my fence, and to live as my guest until he should find an opportunity of carrying out his intention of returning to Wellington.

Colonel Wakefield had paid this settlement a visit during my absence, having ridden the whole distance on horseback. He had come to see if any satisfactory arrangement could be made with the discontented natives, and had held a meeting with them at Putikiwaranui, in the presence of Mr. Mason, who interpreted between the parties. It appeared, however, that nothing could be done before the affair had been inquired into by the Court of Claims.

Several of the respectable settlers assured me, that, from the tone of Mr. Mason's behaviour and that of Mr. Dawson, it was clear that both had combined to encourage the natives in their increasing discontent and exorbitant demands.

Mr. Dawson was represented to me as behaving in precisely the same way as Lieutenant Shortland had done at Wellington.

He dated his letters from "Government-house," one of the straw-built residences along the river-bank, and on all occasions followed the pompous example of his brother-officials, "clothed in the power and dignity which became his station."

He exacted immense fines from every one who came before his tribunal; sometimes mulcting both plaintiff and defendant in cases of assault and battery from the grog-shops: took upon himself the offices of harbourmaster and postmaster, ordering the little pig-schooners

about, and bagging the letter-bags at every arrival; and strutted about in a manner truly ridiculous. To every application from parties who had been obstructed by the natives from getting on to their land, he would answer, as Lieutenant Shortland did to the folks at Port Nicholson, "You have no land; you are only squatters, and I expect to have orders to turn you off."

It was not long before I was doomed to feel the weight of his official discipline. E Kuru, on hearing of my arrival, had despatched a messenger to say that he was coming down to greet me in great state, with a large train from Tiehe, Tata, and Pipiriki, in order to hand over the mats and pigs which his brother's party had brought for me from Taupo, and to bring me a large present of pigs and potatoes. He at length arrived on a Sunday afternoon, nearly at sunset. As soon as the fleet of canoes turned the point, I ordered my boys to fire the customary salute from a long boat-gun and another fowling-piece which were in the house, and I fired my own double-barrelled gun twice or thrice out of my window. As soon as E Kuru reached the house, I ordered them to stop firing. The rest of the chiefs postponed meeting me till the morning, as it was dark; but E Kuru rushed eagerly into the room, and greeted me warmly after my long absence. He was delighted to hear how firm a friendship I had struck up with Heuheu and the chief of Tokanu, and expressed great pride that his White man should have acquired the respect of his relatives among the Ngatipehi. For his wife had told him that my visit had strengthened the good understanding of which my reception of the war-party laid the foundations, and that the people of Tokanu and Terapa would henceforth consider me as one of themselves. E Kuru

PENALTY INFLICTED FOR SALUTING E KURU.

assured me of the earnestness of their professions; and begged me to cherish them and befriend them as well as I had befriended his people at Wanganui. "Be their pakeha," said he, "as you have been mine: they have hearts that remember, and do not tell lies." I was delighted with this new trait of generosity; for a native is generally very jealous of the divergence of any of the trade of his particular pakeha into any new channel. E Kuru, however, seemed only anxious to increase my influence among the natives; so as to bind many together in a bond of union and friendship, on which he had firmly rested his hope.

The next day, I was somewhat surprised at being served with a summons, charging me with "firing or causing to be fired certain guns or fire-arms, to the terror of Her Majesty's liege subjects, and in breach of the peace!"

I of course attended the court on the appointed day, and found myself before a whole bench of Magistrates, looking as solemn as though they were going to try a Chartist for high treason. A new charge was now brought, differing from the summons: for "firing guns in a tumultuous manner, and causing a breach of the "peace on the Sabbath!"

However, it was explained to me that this was not irregular, as there need have been no summons or warrant at all; and that at any rate my appearance remedied all defects in the summons. So the evidence proceeded.

I need not dwell on the particulars of this ludicrous exhibition of magisterial wisdom. Suffice it to say, that Mr. Dawson seemed determined to punish the doing honour to a chief who had distinguished himself by good behaviour to the settlers; and that he overruled all the scruples of the newly-made Justices,

not more learned in the law than himself, by quotations from a book which contains an epitome of the New South Wales law, called 'the Australian Magistrate;' and that at the end of several hours of evidence, and cross-examining, and clearing of the court to discuss knotty questions of law out of hearing of the vulgar, I was held up as an example by the infliction of a fine and costs amounting to 17s. But this decision was based on a bye-law of the town of Sydney, which imposes a penalty for "firing in the public streets;" as the wiseacres could not discover, with all their law-books, any authority for condemning "a tumultuous manner of firing guns," or for making that firing a breach of the peace on the Sabbath which was not so on a week-day. The decision on this ground was of tolerably doubtful legality; for Wanganui, although laid out as a town on paper by the Company's Surveyor, was not yet proclaimed, or even acknowledged as a town, by the Government; and there were not above 150 White inhabitants in the proposed town and its environs together.

But I was principally amused by the grave demeanour of the dignified guardians of the law, who had sent for Mr. Mason on the occasion, and begged him to take a seat on the bench, and by the anomalous appearance of one of them, a dilapidated bookseller from Cork, who had not thought proper to array himself in a pair of stockings in order to dispense justice. The Chairman of the Bench swearing himself on the book, in order to give evidence, was also one part of the funny proceedings. He appeared to think it quite infra dig. to be sworn by the head constable, as the other witnesses had been.

The effect upon E Kuru and the other chiefs was rather more serious. Several times during the progress

ANGER OF THE NATIVES – GUESTS.

of the affair, E Kuru, with anger and anxiety in every feature, had come to learn what was going on, as I had translated the summons to him at his request. I had seen, too, through the open window of the shed in which the court was held, several canoes come across the river en grande tenue, crowded with natives. I was, however, somewhat astonished to find in the great hall of the ware, on my return from the Police Court, about 100 men, including Turoa and all the high chiefs of the Patutokoto, as well as E Kuru's train. They were dressed out as for a state occasion, with feathers, and red ochre, and arms in their hands. When I asked them what this was all about, they invited me to sit down in the circle formed by the grave elders, and asked what had been the result of the "Governor's" riri, or "anger," at my saluting their son? I told them that I had had to pay 17s. as utu for the offence. E Kuru then said, "Oh, that does not matter; you can afford that. But we thought they were going to make a tie 13 you. In that case, we had assembled in order to pull down the jail, and fix the Governor and his constable on the top of your flag-staff till sun-down." I immediately thanked them for their kind intentions and their sympathy; but told them I should have been very angry at any such Lynch law. And I gave them a feast, and sent them back to their homes, begging them to think no more of the affair.

Soon after this, my house again filled with guests. Messrs. White and Blackett arrived from Taupo; and a day afterwards, Mr. Molesworth and Mr. Watt, together with Mr. John George Cooke, a New Plymouth settler, arrived from Wellington on horseback. Colonel Wakefield had performed the ride back to that place,

110 miles, in two days and a half from hence; and had reported so favourably of the road, that these gentlemen determined to make the excursion. They brought with them a led pack-horse, besides those which they rode.

I accompanied them one day to the farm of Mr. Bell, who was at this time, in the beginning of February, reaping his first crop of wheat.

He had about thirty acres of land under plough cultivation, but some part of this was in potatoes. Although he had not succeeded in eradicating the fern this first year, and a good deal of it was up among the corn, yet what wheat there was was of excellent quality, and promised well for the next season. Mr. Molesworth, who had just done gathering in a very luxuriant crop on his land in the valley of the Hutt, looked with some contempt on this more moderate production, and cried down the fern land; but old Bell predicted, that in another year he would hardly fear comparison. After partaking of a scone, and a cup of milk in the farmhouse, and admiring the excellent condition of the bullocks, who had been fattening on idleness among the rich natural pastures in the neighbourhood, we returned to the settlement.

Bell had managed to locate himself here, notwithstanding considerable opposition from the natives, by an admirable mixture of firmness, good temper, and kindness. He had first paid the natives for putting up the frame of a house; and had then filled up the walls with kareau and clay, and whitewashed them. A little garden had succeeded. He had then proceeded to clear off the flax, and fern, and other scrub, which was waist-high on the land which he meant to plough. When he began this operation, the interruption commenced. One perseveringly annoying and ill-tempered chief

BELL'S FARM – – MANAGEMENT OF NATIVES.

headed the malcontents; but Bell had made a friend of another, by judicious presents and attentions, and obtained some protection from him whenever the persecution became a little too serious. The friend was Kiri karamu, the chief who had signed the deed at Kapiti, and afterwards accompanied E Kuru and myself hither to the grand sale. He was a repudiator of the bargain generally; but had appreciated the advantages of having a good pakeha to live near him, and teach him how to plant potatoes and grow wheat. He never did more than remonstrate with E Waka, the troublesome neighbour; apparently conniving at extortion, though he would not allow violence to be used.

During the progress of the ploughing, E Waka used to come and watch, and keep walking by the side of the old farmer, telling him he should plough no more. But Bell pretended not to understand him, and smiled at him, and geed the bullocks, and warned E Waka to get out of the way of them when they turned, and ploughed on. E Waka got furious; but Bell wouldn't look a bit frightened, and told him he didn't understand him; "He must go to the boys," meaning his own sons; "they'd talk Maori to him:" and he geed the bullocks, and ploughed on. The patience of E Waka soon got exhausted, and he retired sulkily towards the house, after putting in some pegs a few yards beyond where Bell had got to, pointing to that as his ultimatum. And while the good-wife gave him a large mess of bread and milk, or a smoking dish of pork and potatoes, and the sons and daughters chatted good-humouredly to him while they built a pigsty or put up a stock-yard, old Bell was ploughing on. And E Waka ate and smoked, and basked in the sun, wondering at the industry of the pakeha, till he got sleepy, and crept back to his village for the day.

The next morning, however, he would be afoot pretty early to besiege the pakeha maro, or "hard white man," as he called him. But he was never early enough; and the first sight that met his eyes was always his bete noire, the team of bullocks and the old man trudging steadily along the fresh furrows. E Waho, would begin by looking for his pegs, and hunt about for a long while, grumbling and puzzling, before he found out that the plough must have gone over them some hours ago, if not the evening before. And while he was hunting, the plough sped quietly on. Then came the remonstrance, and the shrug of the shoulders, and the fury, and the good-humoured indifference, and the reference to the boys, and the meal, and the sleepiness, and the return home, and the careful pegging of the ground as before. The same story over again; no patience could stand it; old Bell and the team went on, slow, sure, and regular as the course of the sun.

And, besides, on one occasion when E Waka, had brought a large troop of attendants, and threatened to commit some violence, the old man had called his stalwart sons to his side, and taking up a spade or a ploughshare, had said, in broad Scotch, while his resolute looks and prepared attitude interpreted his words into a universally intelligible language, "Dinna ye think to touch a thing that's here noo; for if ye do, by the God that's abune us, I'll cleave ye to the grund! A bargain's a bargain; I've paid ye richt and fair; and I'll gar ye keep to it."

And then E Waka would look frightened; and begin to think his good daily meal was better than a blow of old Bell's weapon; and peace was soon restored.

And when the ploughing was done, the planting potatoes was too amusing to be interfered with, for

INTERVIEW WITH TWO REPUDIATING CHIEFS.

they ridiculed the idea of expecting any crop from potatoes cut into small pieces. "Bide and see," said the old man; and they waited with anxiety for the time of crop; and the report spread far and wide that the old pakeha with the cows was very good and brave and industrious, but that he was certainly gone porangi, or "mad," for he had cut up his seed potatoes before he put them in. "Poor old man!" they said, "his troubles must have turned his head, – such a very absurd idea!"

But the crop came better than their own from whole potatoes; and they stared, and found that the foolish old man could teach them some lessons in growing food; and they soon honoured him as much for his knowledge as they had learned to stand in awe of his courage and resolution.

And though they have not yet allowed him to use the whole of his section, he has now fifty acres under plough cultivation, sends grain and grass-seed enough to Wellington to pay for the luxuries which his family require, owns several cows and a flock of sheep, calls himself the "Laird of Wanganui," and gives harvest-home festivals. He talked of buying a horse, and caring for no man, when I last saw him.

But, unfortunately, all settlers have not the admirable qualities of William Gordon Bell, who has indeed shown a great example of success against the numerous difficulties which staggered lesser men.

About this time, Te Ana-ua, who had completely repudiated the bargain in which he had taken so large a share, came over to pay me a visit, accompanied by Mawai, another chief of Putikiwaranui. Mawai had certainly not been present at the great sale; but he had approved of the arrangement warmly, when I first visited this place; and although absent at Waikanae during the actual signing of the deed, he had received

a large share of the payment, on his return, which E Kuru sent over to Putikiwaranui from what he had saved out of the general scramble. Till now, the natives of that missionary village had not only refused to acknowledge the sale of the land, but had refused to receive any extra payment; Mr. Mason having told them that if they did not keep it all to grow wheat upon, their wives and children would soon be starving. On repeated occasions when I had gone over to try and effect some arrangement with Mawai, who headed the malcontents, I had been unable to get any answer from him: he had frequently abstained from saying a single word during my visit, wrapping his mouth sulkily in his blanket. The same result had attended Colonel Wakefield's interview with them.

But it appeared they had at length got tired of being so long estranged from the White settlers; and began to perceive that those who, like E Kuru and his people, were admitted to their friendship, lived much more happily and comfortably.

Mawai, after begging me to speak with them in a private room, and taking great precautions that no other natives should hear what he had to say, volunteered his proposal.

He first assured me that it was he who had directed every annoyance against the White settlers; that E Waka, and Wansey's persecutors, and all others who had behaved in the same way, had been only following his instructions.

Although I knew that he was much exaggerating his influence over the tribes, and that many of these people had acted on their own account, I at once told him, that I had always allowed him credit for intentions, at least, as extensive as he described his operations against the comfort of my brothers to be.

He now proposed to retract his instructions, and to

JOURNEY TO WELLINGTON BY LAND.

locate the people peaceably, if I would bring up a schooner with the same quantity of goods as had been distributed on the former occasion, anchor her opposite Putikiwaranui, and deliver them into his house there. No part of the goods was to go to any one else; and the greatest secrecy, he requested, was to be observed until the affair should have been concluded. He was evidently ashamed that his underhand proposal should become generally known.

I replied, that when I went to Poniki, in a few days, I would report his proposition to "Wide-awake," who alone could carry it into effect, with the approval of the Governor. "Never mind the Governor," said Mawai; "what has he to do with it? Bring the things, and you shall have all the land."

I placed not the slightest belief in Mawai's influence over the other recalcitrants; as, if his statement had been true, he would have been proud to have made the proposal to me at a public conference of their number; but, in order to try him, I entreated that he would locate all the settlers who wished to go on to their sections in various parts of the river in the meanwhile, and depend on my word for bringing the goods, should his influence prove to be as universal as he had said, and should the powers approve of the bargain. If I was disappointed, he could always eject the settlers afterwards, only saving them for the present from starving and idleness. This, after a little hesitation, he promised to do; and the two artful chiefs returned to their canoe.

A day or two afterwards, I started by land, with "Yankee Smith," the trader whom I have before mentioned, and two of my "boys" to carry baggage.

We crossed the rivers, and got to Rangitikei late at night, after a tedious walk against a strong southerly

wind. Along these sandy beaches, this is a great hindrance in walking; – the sand drives sharply against eyes, nose, and mouth, and stings the face. I have often known natives refuse to travel along the coast against a hau kino, or "foul wind."

In the morning, we forded the river, which is quite shallow opposite the pa at low water during the summer.

Arriving about noon at Manawatu, we found a large party of Ngatiraukawa assembled in the pa at the mouth. Among them was a chief of high rank, by name Taratoa, the head of a branch of the tribe called Ngati Parewawa; and whose daughter was married to Watanui's eldest son. I had often heard of him, but had never met him before.

He had also heard of me, it appeared; for after two or three lads, whom I recognised among the crowd as having been engaged at Kapiti during the whaling-season, had whispered to him, he motioned me to a seat by his side on a large log outside the pa, and addressed me with the usual greetings, telling me who he was, and that he was well inclined towards me. I answered him, that I was in a hurry to go on, and did not like making new friendships on short acquaintance. I asked him briefly, how much utu he wanted for putting us across the river in a canoe; as a White man, who had lately established a ferry a mile higher up on the opposite side, was said to be up the river on a trading excursion. "Utu!" said Taratoa, with well-feigned indignation; "I do not ask utu from a great name like Tiraweke; one great chief should never beg utu from another. Launch a canoe!" shouted he to some of his assistants. Put my White man and his people across the river!" And as the canoe was small, he told me and the Yankee to get in, and the

THE GREAT CHIEF OF MANAWATU.

boys should follow with their loads in another trip. I thanked him for his courtesy; but, suspecting that this sudden civility could not be genuine, I sent Smith and the boy who had got his things first, remaining myself with the one who had got mine.

By the time the canoe was half-way across, some of the young men began hinting to me that a suitable present of money would be very desirable from me to the chief. As he acquiesced in this view, I took five shillings out of my pocket, turned round to him, and laid them on the log between us. "As you wish to make a bargain of your courtesy to a guest," said I, "there is a shilling for each of us, and one over; I should only have paid four to go in the boat of the "White tutua" (common man).

He would not take it up, however, at first; and said, that all other passengers that were rangatira, or chiefs, had given him "money gold" (sovereigns or half-sovereigns) for ferrying them across. He instanced "Wide-awake," and the three other gentlemen who had returned with their horses some days before me. "You ought to make a large present," said he, "in consideration of your great name." I was firm, however, and when the canoe came back he told me to get in.

But the man who had guided it across demanded a shilling for himself as we were going to embark. I threw one to him, and was shouting the customary farewell, when another man came up and asked two shillings more, as the owner of the canoe. I refused; he called some of the bystanders, and hauled the canoe up high and dry on the bank.

I took no notice of this insult. Waving my hand to Smith, I shouted to him, in Maori, to proceed without me. Haere ki Poniki! "Go to Port Nicholson!"

I sang out, so that all the bystanders might think I was bidding him farewell.

I then told my carrier to untie his kit, and to spread one of my blankets on the sunny side of the log, close to Taratoa. I reclined upon the blanket in chieftain-like comfort, cut up some tobacco, filled my pipe, called out to the slaves with an air of authority to bring fire, and, after lighting my pipe and taking two or three puffs, handed it familiarly to the chief. He took it from me, but forgot to use it, for he was aghast at my coolness. The pipe remained in his extended hand; his mouth was half open; his features expressed the utmost astonishment. The rest of the people, about a hundred in number, pressed closer round the log, anxious to see the upshot of my singular conduct. At last I got up and addressed the chief.

"The great chief of the Ngatiparewawa," I said, "is kind to his friend, the chief of Wanganui He has said that the name of Tiraweke is marked on his heart. He sees that his friend is tired with the long walk, and he does not wish to send him across the river till his legs are rested. It is good: Tiraweke will be a manuhiri (or "honoured guest") of Taratoa till he is strong to pursue his path. The great chief of Manawatu will clean out a house in his village for his visitor, and strew the floor with young fern. He will tell his wives and his slave-women to prepare the ovens, and to lay out a feast worthy of a great name. He will send his young men to the sea for fish, and to the fresh-water creeks for the fat eels of the swamp. He will gather the finest kumera from the gardens, and bid his guest get strong on the good food of the land. Tiraweke was a fool not to see into the heart of his brother. He will smoke his pipe for two weeks in the village of

AN APPEAL TO NATIVE HOSPITALITY.

the great chief, and will then carry to Port Nicholson a story of a great name that has a great heart. The White chiefs shall know the name of Taratoa. I have done."

The greatest change was produced by this reflection on the want of hospitality shown to one whom they had begun by pretending to receive with honour. Shouts of admiration and loud laughter at the turning of the tables burst from the crowd. The women ran to the ovens; and the old chief, perfectly delighted at finding that I had really earned my reputation among the natives by a knowledge of their customs and feelings, laughed heartily, and took me cordially by the hand. He insisted on my waiting till some potatoes were roasted, and then had the canoe launched, and put the basket of kai into it. He escorted me down to the water's edge, and returned the money to me. "I know you want to go on now," said he, "or I would ask you to do in earnest what you proposed in joke. I am much ashamed; but come back soon, and pay me a long visit, that I may know you are not angry. Go to Port Nicholson." I often afterwards spent several days with this chief at his various residences, and we have been ever since warm friends.

We reached Otaki at night, after fording the Ohau, at half tide, up to our chins. I remained two or three days in the house of Sam Taylor, a European who had long resided in these parts; and commenced an acquaintance with the Ngatiraukawa people.

They had entered into negotiations with Colonel Wakefield for the sale of a large tract of land at the Manawatu, which was to be appropriated to a part of the preliminary settlement. A formal conference had been held here on the subject some time before, when the chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa had derided and over-

thrown objections raised by Rangihaeata to the purchase. Colonel Wakefield had been present, accompanied by Mr. Halswell the Protector of Aborigines, Richard Davis as interpreter, and several other of the settlers.

A schooner had carried the goods agreed upon to the Manawatu, where they had been distributed. Some surveyors were already at work there, and some more expected every day. Another vessel, I was told, had carried the machinery of a steam saw-mill belonging to a private settler there; and numerous landowners had paid visits to the district. The natives were very anxious for the permanent residence of a large body of White people among them.

Those of the Otaki natives who had become missionaries were generally as well-behaved as the people of Pipiriki, though not so extravagant in their observances; for Mr. Hadfield had managed very wisely to introduce Christianity by the authority of the young chiefs, and to make them consider the new doctrine as a cheerful rather than a saddening and moping innovation. He had introduced among them the growing of wheat; and generally inspired them with friendship towards the White colonists, instead of suspicion and jealousy. Many of them had lately visited Port Nicholson; peace having been at length restored, by Mr. Hadfield's unceasing efforts, between them and the Ngatiawa tribes who inhabited the intervening country. They had returned with the most, favourable reports of the treatment which they had experienced from the settlers, and of the advantages to be derived from friendly relations and trade with the pakeha.

The increased traffic of White people along the beach had induced two whalers to fit up houses of

HOUSES FOR TRAVELLERS.

accommodation for travellers at Waikanae and Te Uruhi, and Toms had built a new wooden house as an hotel at Parramatta Point at Porirua. The bridle-road had been completed for some time; the bridges were repaired and the trees removed; and I walked easily in three hours and a half from the head of Porirua harbour to Wellington, where I arrived about the first week in March.

12 The cliff at Waipuna, two miles from the river's mouth, named "Landguard" on account of the post on which E Kuru had made me cut Colonel Wakefield's name, and which is still there.

13 This is the jargon of broken English which the natives have learnt from traders: make a tie means "imprison."

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VI.

Foundation of Nelson – Mr. Thompson – First Court of Quarter Sessions – First Trial of a Native – Legal position of Natives – Causes for complaint against the Governor – His selection of Magistrates – Vast claims to land – Government Estimates – Legislative Council – Discontent of the Auckland population – Maketu, the Murderer – Public Meeting – Neglect of the Harbour by Government – Mr. Hanson – A Colonist who has become an Official – The Bishop – Murder of Milne – Villages – Signs of progress – Horticultural Society – Produce – Statistics – Harvest weather – Surveying "Cadets" – Accident of Captain Liardet – Wretched State of Auckland – Population of Cook's Strait – Inefficient Government Institutions – Second Newspaper – Nelson and New Plymouth – Mr. Earp – County Courts – Government Land-sales – Fleeting News from the Capital – -The Governor's Speech – Details of the Estimates – Injustice to Cook's Strait – Public Meeting.

COLONEL WAKEFIELD and Mr. Murphy were both absent; having started in the Brougham, two or three days before, on a trip of inspection to the settlements of Nelson and New Plymouth.

The "Nelson" squadron, under Captain Wakefield, had sailed from Port Nicholson on the 2nd of October; and, after visiting Kapiti, and obtaining from Rauperaha and Hiko a full acknowledgment that Blind Bay had been fairly bought, had proceeded to explore the coasts of that inlet. After some days' careful examination, a harbour had been discovered in the S. E. corner of the gulf, which had remained before unknown even to many of the White whalers and boatmen who had traded for years in the neighbourhood. Three or four large emigrant ships had called at Port Nicholson to know their destination,

FIRST COURT OF QUARTER-SESSIONS.

and then proceeded with pilots provided by the Company's agent, to the new port. Several coasting-craft now kept up a constant communication with Nelson; whose inhabitants were described as proceeding with great vigour in the work of location. A newspaper was already published there; and they had only to complain of the apparent indifference of the local Government to their proceedings.

A brig from Auckland had, to be sure, brought the news of the appointment of Captain Wakefield as a Magistrate. This news had come on the 23rd of November, together with a Sub-Collector of Customs, to take care that the Government should not lose the large amount of revenue to be derived from the imposition of duties on the importations for the supply of the young colony.

Mr. Henry Augustus Thompson, a gentleman who had brought from England recommendations, addressed by Lord John Russell to the Governor, that he should be appointed to certain offices at Nelson, had arrived from delivering these credentials at Auckland at the end of February; and had gone as passenger in the Brougham to assume the offices of Police Magistrate, Protector of Aborigines, and Government Representative, which had been conferred upon him.

The first jury-lists in Wellington had been made up by the 1st of October; and the first Court of Quarter-Sessions had been opened by the Chairman, Mr. Halswell, on the 5th of that month; and the first Court of Requests, with a jurisdiction over debts under 50l., had held its sittings on the 19th. The establishment of both these Courts in New Zealand had been proclaimed by Sir George Gipps as early as the 4th of January preceding.

At the Quarter-Sessions, the most interesting case tried had been that of a native for stealing a blanket out of a store.

The Chairman, in his charge to the Jury, distinctly held that "the natives were in truth and in fact British subjects, and that they were to be treated in every respect as any of ourselves; and that they had the same right to the protection of the law, and must be held equally amenable for any breach of it. In order, however, to shield them from the consequences of their presumed ignorance of our laws and customs," he held that "the Court should assign them counsel, and that a sworn interpreter should faithfully translate all that it was important for them to know."

Dr. Evans was assigned as counsel to the prisoner in question, Pakewa, who was the man of highest rank in the slave-tribe inhabiting Te Aro. Before the jury were sworn, Dr. Evans handed in a plea to the jurisdiction. The substance of the plea was, that, by the Treaty of Waitangi 14 all the rights of chieftainship were reserved to the New Zealanders; and that among those rights was that of administering justice among the inhabitants of their own tribe.

Mr. Hanson, the Crown Prosecutor, objected to the plea, on the ground that the Court could not take cognizance of the Treaty of Waitangi unless it was produced. That if they could take cognizance of the Treaty, and it was of the nature described by the plea, there was no evidence to show that the right of administering justice was among the rights of chieftainship; and

FIRST TRIAL OF A NATIVE.

that the present case did not belong to the class of cases described by the plea, inasmuch as the matter in dispute could not be said to be among the inhabitants of the native tribe, since it was between a native and an European.

The Court having adjourned the case, on the next day Dr. Evans stated that he would, by the leave of the Court, withdraw his plea to the jurisdiction, since, upon reference to the Treaty, he found that it did not bear out the view he had taken. He, however, must claim for the native a jury "de medietate lingua" – composed half of natives, half of Europeans. The prisoner was not a native-born English subject; and the law had been laid down with great clearness to the effect that aliens by birth could only acquire the rights of natural-born subjects by an Act of Parliament, and, even then, subject to certain restrictions. In fact, the prisoner was not even a denizen. As an alien, he was entitled to a jury composed half of his own countrymen; or if not, if it should be held that he was a British subject, then he (Dr. Evans) must challenge the array for partiality, as there was not a single native among them. The learned counsel adverted very strongly upon the circumstance, that while the natives were held to be subject to British law, and to be liable to all the duties and restraints to which British subjects were liable, they were deprived of their share in this great constitutional privilege. The natives were certainly fully equal to the exercise of this franchise; and it would be felt by the whole world, that the pretences upon which their country had been settled and their land located upon were but a solemn farce, if the New Zealanders were excluded from the enjoyment of this right.

The Crown Prosecutor objected to the demand for

a jury "de medietate lingua." This was to be had only when the defendant was an alien. The prisoner was, however, clearly a British subject. So soon as New Zealand became a British colony, all the natives became ipse facto British subjects. With regard to the challenge for partiality, it was not needful to express any opinion as to the omission of the natives from the jury-list. The present jury had been fairly selected, and no ground existed for attributing any partiality to them. The challenge, if made at all, must be made to the poll, not to the array.

The Court decided that the jury empannelled should be sworn; which being done, and the indictment read, and the purport interpreted to the prisoner, the case was proceeded with.

The evidence was very clear, and showed that the native had been aware of his guilt, by the fact that he had rolled up the blanket and hidden it in one that he was wearing, when charged with the offence by the shopkeeper.

Dr. Evans, in his address to the jury, pleaded with great earnestness in favour of the unfortunate native at the bar; bespeaking their merciful consideration, seeing that he laboured under the disadvantage of not understanding one word of their language or customs; and contending that the dispute had arisen through the prosecutor not being sufficiently versed in the native language to comprehend the explanation of the native in accounting for the possession of the blanket.

The jury retired for a few minutes, and then returned a verdict of guilty, with a strong recommendation to mercy, as he was the first native who had been tried under English law.

CAUSES FOR COMPLAINT AGAINST GOVERNOR.

The Court sentenced him to seven days' hard labour. The trial lasted five hours. 15

At the same sitting of the Court, an Englishman was sentenced to three months' hard labour for stealing a broken gun, worth 30s., from a native. The prisoner had been strongly recommended to mercy on account of previous good character.

The whole five months during which I had been absent had only furnished more matter for complaint against our hostile Governor.

Money was drawn in large quantities from Cook's Strait in order to be spent at Auckland. Not an erection of any kind, except a miserable pound, had been made or proposed by the Government. The legislation for the colony was going on at a great distance from the principal body of those for whose benefit it was intended; so that no remonstrance or complaint could be heard by the Council of the Auckland Pacha.

Some news had been received, but at distant intervals. As much as five weeks had passed at one time without news from the metropolis, while cattle-ships from New South Wales or emigrant-vessels from England were almost daily coming to anchor in the harbour. What news we did get found its way by chance channels, and not by official communication.

At the same time that Captain Wakefield's name had been included in the commission of the peace, Captain Liardet had also been made a magistrate; and Dr. Evans had been reinstated in the same office. Two other gentlemen figured in the list, whose fitness for the situation was at least apocryphal. One was Mr. Thomas McDonnell, who had not scrupled to crimp labourers for Hokianga, on arriving here in one of the emigrant-ships from England. He was reputed, moreover, to have deceived the Company as to the lands which he had sold them in England; his whole property in New Zealand being mortgaged to a house in Sydney, who had for many years supplied him with goods for carrying on the timber-trade at Hokianga. The appointment of Mr. Robert Tod as a Justice of Peace was no great matter of surprise, as that individual had been one of the earliest enemies to the Port Nicholson settlers, and had moreover gone up to Auckland in order to be a purchaser at the Government land-sales.

The claims to land already advertised for investigation amounted to at least 40,000,000 acres, exclusive of the Company's territory. Considering that there are only 78,000,000 acres in the whole of the three islands, the private land-sharks appear to have been disposed to help themselves pretty liberally, had no regular system interfered to check their proceedings.

Lieutenant Shortland's estimate of proposed expenditure for the year 1841 told a curious tale at this time. It amounted to nearly 51,000l. Reckoning the number of Europeans then in the colony at about 5000, this was government at the rate of 10l. per head per annum for every man, woman, and child. For the share devoted to the aborigines' department was little more than 2000l.; and this in salaries to Protectors,

GOVERNMENT ESTIMATES.

forage for their horses, travelling expenses, and contingencies – only 200l. being put down for presents to the natives.

This estimate proposed to spend 4250l. in Port Nicholson, 3715/. in the Bay of Islands, and 1013l. in Hokianga, Kaipara, and Akaroa: so that very nearly five-sixths of this enormous expenditure was to take place for the glory of the artificial capital.

Upwards of 6700l. was included in items for the private comfort of the Governor.

The whole financial structure was well planned to support the proclamation-capital at the expense of the population-settlements.

Profuse appointments to subordinate offices under the Government were made the means of inducing many a visitor to settle at Auckland. Captain Hobson had been commonly heard to say, when he was told at Port Nicholson of some settler who wanted an inducement to move, "I can give him 150l. a year and a comfortable house."

The Legislative Council had been opened by the Governor on the 14th of December; and we gathered by fits and starts, that the principal legislative measures were the Municipal Corporation Bill, which the Government seemed anxious to pass in order that the Wellington people might be compelled to erect at their own expense those public buildings which the Government refused to build, and the Police Magistrates Bill. This last measure made the Justices of the Peace mere puppets, unable to commit a prisoner, or to hold him to bail; and granted to the paid Police Magistrates, who constituted the entire machinery of Government in these settlements, a power on the bench equal to that of any two unpaid Magistrates, as well as that from which unpaid Magistrates were restricted.

The obnoxious Land Claims Bill, and the petty tyranny of the Government officers, had at length disgusted the mere land-jobbing population of Auckland. The newspaper of that settlement, after a long course of open jealousy, and mean abuse of us and our location, – after grudging us and Akaroa the seven weeks that the Governor had been absent, – after following his example in classing as a crime on our part the inconvenience which Auckland suffered from the distance at which we lay from it, with our larger commercial resources, – had positively turned round upon its own population, and urged them to take an example from us in our independence and public denouncing of our oppressors. The Editor asked them, rather naively, whether their long life in a penal settlement had taught them to submit so tamely to the yoke? But, for this ebullition of spirit, he had received a sharp rap on the knuckles from the trustees of the printing company by whom he was employed. The principal shareholders of this company were either in the immediate pay of Government, or connected in some indirect way with the strings of the Treasury; and so the trustees wrote Mr. Editor a letter giving him "notice to quit" at the end of three months.

A schooner, wrecked near the East Cape, had been plundered by a band of natives, headed by some lawless White ruffians, who laughed at the master and crew when they threatened them with the interference of the Government. No further notice was taken of the affair.

At the Bay of Islands, a native named Maketu had committed a cruel murder upon the widow of a Captain Roberton, in whose service he was engaged, as well as her man-servant and her children. He had first tomahawked the servant on account of some verbal dispute, and then the lady and children, as they had

MAKETU THE MURDERER – PUBLIC MEETING.

witnessed the deed, or some proofs of his guilt. The Police Magistrate, we heard, had been afraid to issue his warrant for the apprehension of the criminal, although H. M. S. Favourite and the discovery-ships Erebus and Terror were lying in the bay at the time. Two or three old settlers, however, had gone over to the island where a large number of natives had assembled and refused to give Maketu up, and had seized him in the midst of them with impunity. The pusillanimity of the local authorities was much blamed on the occasion.

On the 8th of December. Auckland, Port Nicholson, and the Bay of Islands, were declared ports of entry.

The Jury-list at Auckland gave the number of male inhabitants as 655 at this time.

The unabated tone of feeling at Wellington, that we had never been more oppressed than at the present time, may be gathered from the fact, that at a dinner of 95 persons, composing the Wellington Working-men's Land Association, which consisted entirely of the thrifty and industrious mechanics and labourers, the "Governor's" health was unanimously hissed; and some one observed that the Chairman must have made a mistake in proposing the toast, and intended to say "the Governor's successor."

A more public expression of injured feeling was manifested at one of those remarkable meetings in which the people of Port Nicholson had been used to vent their constantly collecting indignation. They have often been blamed, and called demagogues, and riotous, turbulent people, on account of the number of these meetings. But when it is considered how numerous, constant, and repeated were their causes of complaint, and that they were separated from their local legislators by a space often of weeks, sometimes of

months, it can hardly be a reproach to them that they took every opportunity to call out for redress, hoping that some generous ear would catch the appeal in England, and hold out a helping hand.

In a gale of wind from south-east, two vessels had been wrecked on the coast in the neighbourhood of the Port Nicholson heads. One, an American whaler, had mistaken Palliser Bay for the harbour, and had got embayed so as to prevent her egress when the gale burst on her and carried away her masts; and the other, from hugging the coast too close just before the sudden shift of wind, had been driven ashore in Lyall's Bay.

The meeting was almost unanimous in its opinion, that the accidents had been caused by the want of pilots and a lighthouse, or even a distinguishing mark at the entrance of the harbour. As Government had not even laid down a buoy, or spent a single shilling on this harbour, it was thought quite vain to hope for redress from the local Government; and it was therefore proposed that a statement of the circumstances should be drawn up and forwarded to England, to be brought under the notice of Parliament and the Queen's Ministers.

Mr. Hanson, however, and Mr. Strang, had on this day a very strong attack of the "Government fever;" and attempted to divert the attention of the angry crowd from the misdeeds of their employers, by a long string of resolutions imputing to the Company disgraceful carelessness of the interests of the settlers, while comfortably making large profits at home. Mr. Hanson suggested that the blame should be laid on their shoulders. He and his coadjutor both accused the Company of spending no money for the benefit of the settlers, except in the making of roads, on which

MR. HANSON.

they were obliged to employ the labourers to whom they had promised employment.

But Mr. Hanson got no credit for public spirit, and was ably exposed by Dr. Evans. The single instance of Captain Chaffers was sufficient to disprove his invidious statement. For the Governor had refused to allow that deserving officer to continue as Harbourmaster, even in the pay of the Company at 300l. per annum, because he had signed the petition for his recall. The approval of the Governor was of course necessary to all measures for the benefit of the harbour; and the only duty of the Company was to conduct emigration. Any buoys, beacons, lighthouses, pilots, or harbour-master, were liable to be pulled down, removed, or disregarded, so long as they were unsanctioned by authority.

And the meeting carried the original proposition by a large majority.

It was from this time that might be dated Mr. Hanson's violent opposition to the Company and to the interests of the settlers in Cook's Strait. From this time forward it was manifested in various ways, by secret letters as well as by public speeches.

I have omitted till now to describe, because it was not till now that it became thoroughly known, the nature of Mr. Hanson's transactions in the Chatham Islands. He had always refused to give any account to the Principal Agent of the way in which a large quantity of the stores of the surveying-vessel, Cuba, were disposed of, or to hand over the deeds by which he had purchased the land for the Company, or to give any details of his dealings with the natives. But it had only been a matter of general knowledge, that he had found means to buy up the stores of a whaler which had been wrecked there, and to set up a whaling station

on his own private account for two seasons. It now turned out that he had drawn to a large amount on the Company in England from the Chatham Islands direct, without instructing the Principal Agent of what he had done, or having any authority to do so; as his agency was only to accrue by percentage on the re-sale by the Company of the lands which they might acquire through his exertions. Colonel Wakefield had of course reported to his employers at home that he was kept in the dark as to Mr. Hanson's proceedings, and had thus acquired that gentleman's personal enmity. And when news came that the Company had dishonoured Mr. Hanson's bills, the Crown Prosecutor gloried in having kept the deeds as security for his being seen harmless through the affair.

When Mr. Hanson had been degraded to a place under the Government, with a sufficient salary, he found it very easy to serve two purposes at once. While he vented his spite on his old employers, to whom he had behaved so ill, he mainly advanced the designs and actively earned the pay of his new masters. The misery which he helped to entail on his fellow-settlers appeared to be of no importance whatever in his thoughts. I need hardly say that he has continued to be, and is still, a worthy servant of the local Government in New Zealand.

I can imagine no position more despicable and wretched than that of one of the original settlers, who, having once fairly caught the "Government fever," has to perform his unthankful office among his former associates. Perfectly acquiring the haughty repulsiveness of the troop which he has joined, he is doomed to lose the friendship and often even the very acquaintance of those who knew him and esteemed him in England, and were once partners with him in the noble work of

A COLONIST WHO HAS BECOME AN OFFICIAL.

early colonization. He appears to become tainted by the touch of the Auckland dross: he no longer revives old associations, or excites a feeling of sympathy in the minds of his independent fellow-settlers. His very dinner acquaintances are of a new class, widely different from those to whose society and intercourse he has been for many years accustomed; and the selfish vulgarity of their welcome on his accession to their rank must ring in his ears harsh and revolting, as the low slang with which a band of pickpockets would celebrate the introduction among them of a young and unpractised offender.

But few of the members of such young and frank communities as the Cook's Strait settlements will stoop to conceal their disgust by an outward show of politeness. They revere the motto that "union is strength;" and the deserter from the bundle of sticks becomes, almost at once, a virtual outcast from good society. Though he may still be invited to large balls and dinner-parties, he seldom afterwards finds himself at the more familiar and friendly pic-nics, and impromptu dances, and pot-luck dinners. In such intimate society he would be an undoubted wet blanket; for some better man would probably leave the room when he came in, without attempting to disguise his aversion. He hardly walks along the beach but some two or three former friends gallop past him with an open sneer on their faces; and any one who does speak to him, of whatever rank, does it coldly and carefully, as though he dreaded that his words should be taken down and twisted into disaffection at the head-quarters of official enmity.

Wellington was still without a clergyman of the Established Church. The news, received through Sydney, of the appointment and expected arrival of

Dr. George Augustus Selwyn, as Bishop of New Zealand, with a suite of clergymen from England, was hailed as most happy tidings. It was reported, to our great delight also, that his Lordship had kindly assented to the request of the Directors that he would mediate between the Company and the Church Missionary Society. On the suggestions of the Bishop, the Society bad professed to abjure all enmity, and to send the most fraternizing instructions to its agents in New Zealand.

In the end of December, a very suspicious murder was committed on a man named Milne. His body was found dreadfully lacerated, and plundered of his clothes and watch, on the Pitone road. Several witnesses concurred in saying that they had met him coming towards the town on the evening before, apparently in fear of a native who was following a few yards behind him. The result of the Coroner's inquest was unsatisfactory. A verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown" was given by the jury; and the offer of a reward of 50l. by the Police Magistrates failed to obtain the detection of the murderer.

Notwithstanding all they had to complain of on the part of their rulers, the energetic band of colonists had made very great progress. Villages were in process of formation at two spots on the banks of the Hutt, by land-owners who divided their sections into small allotments for sale or improving lease. They were named respectively "Aglionby" and "Richmond." Another village was rapidly being peopled on the country section immediately north of the town. This section, belonging jointly to Mr. Watt and John Wade the auctioneer, was divided off into one-acre and two-acre allotments. The proprietors constructed a

SIGNS OF PROGRESS.

dray-road up the steep side facing the harbour, which gave access to the sunny nooks and terracing flats on the N. W. slope; and then they put so many lots up to auction at once. Johnny Wade was already well known as the George Robins of the colony, and sold off many allotments at the rate of 20l. per acre. And these were not speculating land-jobbing prices, for they were agreed upon by bond fide occupants, chiefly labouring men, who had time given them in which to pay up their purchase-money. They used to work at their little patches of ground after their labour for the day was over; and Wade's Town, which had before looked a very bleak hill, of poor soil, and denuded of timber by the clearing of former years, soon boasted a population of 200 working people, whose neat cottages and smiling cultivations peeped from every nook among the picturesque hills, especially on the N. W. side, which is sheltered from the cold winds, and timbered in pretty patches, overlooking the velvet foliage of the Kai Wara Wara.

In the upland valley of the Karori, too, several people had begun to clear. The road had not yet reached this, having to cross a steep part of the Kai Wara Wara valley; but the clearers used to find their way by an old Maori path, and live in the bush for days together. This valley is situate at the elevation of 700 or 800 feet above the level of the sea, about two miles S. W. of Wellington by the present road. The level land in it is about 1000 or 1200 acres, and this tract boasts the very finest totara and other timber.

Three wooden jetties now projected into the port at the south side of Lambton Harbour; and alongside of one of them a schooner of 70 tons had loaded the machinery of a steam saw-mill, destined for the banks of the Manawatu.

A fourth pier proved of much convenience opposite Barrett's hotel. It was built by subscription among the two or three people living on the adjoining section.

A small steam saw and flour mill had been at work in Wellington since the beginning of October, and was kept in constant and profitable employment.

A Horticultural Society had been formed, and had held its first show on the 24th of January. Although this period of the year, our warmest weather, was by no means the most favourable for the purpose, the exhibition had been most remarkable. Many newcomers who had been present told me that they had no idea before they saw this collection, chiefly of vegetables, of what could be produced.

Two cabbages grown on mere shingle at Pitone, within thirty yards of the sea-beach, weighed respectively 21 1/2 and 12 pounds, being a Hybrid and an early Fulham; although they were kept three weeks after arriving at perfection, in order to appear at the show.

Some of the kidney potatoes grown in the Hutt, from native seed, measured nine inches in length, and were of excellent quality. Specimens of the red flat turnip were shown 19 inches in circumference and weighing 2 1/2 lbs.; and of the common white turnip 2l inches in circumference and weighing 3 lbs.

The wheat, with remarkably full and large ears, had a straw five feet seven inches in length.

Apples, the first fruits of trees imported from England, were exhibited.

Every other sort, of vegetable figured in the list of prizes; and seedling geraniums and dahlias represented the flower-garden.

Most of these things had been grown, with scarcely any attention, on what our detractors called the barren and impassable hills which shut Port Nicholson out from any available country.

STATISTICS.

The supply of poultry was at this time very large. Almost every settler possessed a few, and some as many as two or three hundred head.

The statistics of the consumption of butcher's meat showed how substantially the colonists were already living; for a calculation made from the weekly consumption of pork, beef, and mutton, gave 148 lbs. of meat per head, man, woman, and child, in the year. Indeed, it was notorious that no working man would sit down to breakfast without fresh pork; and that they very often ate mutton chops, at 9d. or 10d. per pound, three times a-day.

Three hundred and two vessels had entered the port since the beginning of the settlement, and the bond fide sales of merchandise during the year 1841 alone in Wellington were estimated at 80,000l. But a very satisfactory piece of information coupled with this was, that although, till the beginning of October, there had been no legal means of compelling payments, the dishonour of a bill at the bank had been of exceedingly rare occurrence. Cautious dealers had never yet had an over-due bill to take up.

The number of cattle imported during the year 1841 was about 1000 head. Dr. Imlay, a large cattle-holder at Twofold Bay in New South Wales, had lately sent down some very valuable cargoes of a superior breed. Heifers from his stock, eighteen months old, had been sold by auction at 8l. 10s. per head.

Bricks were now plentifully supplied from several rival kilns; and many buildings were being erected of that material.

The whole of January and the first part of February had been remarkable for a long continuance of fine dry weather. During this space, however, light showers at night were frequent; and there were at no time

more than nine days and nights entirely without rain. As this is just the grain harvest time in New Zealand, nothing could be more seasonable; and refreshing rains fell at the end of February to save the pasture on the hills from parching, and to keep the potato-crop from injury.

Mr. Stokes had made another excursion to the Wairarapa plain; and confirmed the former good accounts of its extent and capabilities.

Two landmarks had been put up at the heads of the harbour. One, a three-sided wooden pyramid with open sides, about 70 feet high, an Pencarrow Head, was blown down by a gale of wind soon after; this had been put up by public subscription. Another, on the highest peak between the mouth of the harbour and Lyall's Bay, was more securely fixed by Colonel Wakefield's orders, and remains in its place to this day. It consists of four tun butts, then three, then one, piled above each other, tilled with stones and painted white, with a flag-staff on the top. I have distinguished this beacon with a glass from eight or ten miles to seaward.

The Brougham, after making a passage of 92 days last year to London with her cargo of oil and bone, had returned on the 9th of February with a new Chief Surveyor for the Company, Mr. Brees, who superseded Captain Smith. He was accompanied by a large suite of young gentlemen, engaged by the Company for three years as "Surveying Cadets." I had met two or three of these on the Porirua road when I came in to town, with labourers and theodolites, and other baggage, starting for the Manawatu. I remember laughing at their dandified appearance, and wondering what new arrivals had thus suddenly and without preparation taken to the bush. Everything about them was so

SURVEYING CADETS.

evidently new; – their guns just out of their cases, fastened across tight-fitting shooting-jackets by patent leather belts; their forage-caps of superfine cloth; and their white collars relieved by new black silk neck-kerchiefs. Some positively walked with gloves and dandy-cut trousers; and, to crown all, their faces shone with soap. There had been a little rain, too, the night before; and, having only got about two miles from the town, they were actually picking their way, and stepping carefully over muddy places. I sat down on the stump of a tree and vastly enjoyed the cockney procession; wondering how long the neatness of their appearance and the fastidiousness of their steps would last. They, on the other hand, stared at me, as though they had considered me one of the curiosities of the interior; – turning up their noses with evident contempt at my rough red woollen smock, belted over a coarse cotton check shirt, without neckcloth, and stout duck trousers, and gaping with horror at my long hair, unshaven beard, and short black pipe, half-hidden under a broad-brimmed and rather dirty Manilla hat. They appeared, too, to view with some distrust a sheath-knife, about eighteen inches in the blade, which I had made my constant companion, and with which I was cutting up negro-head tobacco.

The mutual expressions of astonishment and derision depicted on the respective features of the old hand and the young muffs meeting in the bush would have been nuts to a painter wanting a new idea.

A melancholy accident had deprived the New Plymouth settlement of the services of Captain Liardet. While saluting a vessel which arrived in the roadstead with emigrants from England, this officer had rather carelessly looked down the muzzle of a small cannon which had failed to explode, and down which a red-

hot coal had been thrown in order to remedy the omission; and, while he was looking, the gun went off, and severely injured both himself and a sailor who was assisting him. It was feared that he would totally lose the use of his eyes.

Captain Liardet had given unbounded satisfaction during his short administration of office. High-minded and generous, and possessed of great moral as well as physical courage, this well-known type of the British naval officer had soon acquired the devoted love and respect of the colonists, whose energies he had undertaken to direct. They felt that he was to be depended upon in any emergency which might befall them; and while his powers of mind thus secured general confidence, his very commanding personal appearance combined with the affability of a gentleman and the frank-heartedness of a sailor to make him the universal favourite of his little society.

Thus, while all who had enjoyed the advantage of his acquaintance mourned the misfortune of an honoured friend, the community which had been under his fostering charge had moreover to grieve for the loss of a valued leader.

Soon after my arrival, a vessel came from England, bringing a Colonial Treasurer who had been appointed there. It was a month before he found an opportunity of sailing for the seat of Government, to which there was no inducement for vessels to go direct from England. It was in the same way that the Chief Justice and Attorney-General had gone through Wellington to their destination, 650 miles off by the shortest track ever made by a ship.

An arrival from Auckland brought news up to the 16th of February, but not even copies of the Bills which had become Ordinances of the Council.

WRETCHED STATE OF AUCKLAND.

It appeared, however, that the legislative wisdom had not been able to get through its first session without the most disgraceful squabbles. Of two rival Land Claims Bills, one had at length been passed, which was declared by the Auckland newspaper to be worse than the first. The rejected one had been proposed by the Attorney-General, but withdrawn in deference to the opposition of the three non-official members; two of whom, Messrs. Porter and Clendon, had grievously offended the land-sharks of the north, by supporting a bill of Lieutenant Shortland's manufacture and introduction. The Corporation Bill had also passed, giving ample powers of local taxation and management to any town with a population of 2000 souls which should apply for the privilege. Mr. Earp remained in opposition to both measures; and his conduct, which the people of Wellington attributed to instability of purpose, was called by the Auckland malcontents the working of profound policy. He had entered a long protest against the Corporation Bill on account of its too democratic tendency.

Mr. Clayton, one of the early settlers of the Bay of Islands, who had been one among the hungry band tempted down to Auckland by the Hobson experiment of founding a city, had made the following confession of the state of the settlements over which that city presided, at a large public meeting held to pass resolutions against the Land Claims Bill: –

"There is an admitted exhausted treasury, no agriculture in progression, not a plough in the ground; the ships have left our ports, and we have no money."

At this time, twenty vessels, six of them three-masters, were lying in Wellington harbour; and ten of these, including a barque of 250, and a schooner of

110 tons, were owned by the colonists. The merchants were actively engaged in preparing and despatching the equipments for the approaching whaling season. Barley, wheat and barley straw, and seeds of all sorts, the produce of the colony, were advertised for sale in the papers. The little steam-mill was inadequate to grind the produce into flour, and one or two of the large producers were squabbling about first turn.

The British population of the Company's settlements was at this time about 5000, including 3000 at Wellington and in the immediate vicinity, 150 at Wanganui, 1000 at Nelson, 600 at New Plymouth, and 200 in other parts of Cook's Strait. Large additions to the Nelson population were expected immediately from England.

I cannot help quoting, from the Wellington newspaper of the 9th of March, the following description of the only Government buildings at Wellington: – "There are now about sixty prisoners in the Wellington gaol, chiefly mutinous or runaway sailors; but there are some felons, and one person at least confined for debt only. They are all huddled together in a wretched Maori building, large enough for twelve or fifteen human beings at the most. We are told, and can easily believe, that the atmosphere of this miserable hole, when its unfortunate inmates are put up for the night, is almost suffocating; and if pestilence should break out amongst them, nobody will be surprised. An advertisement for tenders for the erection of another gaol has appeared in this paper; but we hear that the sum which our precious Government can afford for the purpose is so small, that no contract has been offered within the prescribed limits. This state of things, so disgraceful to our rulers, is absolutely the subject of merriment

INEFFICIENT GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS.

to him who is spending hundreds and thousands of Port Nicholson money on his kitchens and verandahs."

"A decent building for a post-office is also especially required. On Sunday last we saw Mr. Mantell stuffing an old potato-sack amongst the reeds of the dilapidated hut he occupies as Postmaster, to prevent the wind from blowing the letters off the table on which he had assorted them for delivery. There are no conveniences for the performance of his duties, and it is really unfair to expect regularity and despatch from a public officer to whom the commonest facilities for discharging his duties are denied."

"What makes the neglect of the Government to furnish a good police-office and post-office most discreditable and unjust, is the undoubted fact, that the Port Nicholson contributions to the public treasury amount to many thousands per annum. One-fifteenth part of the revenue collected here and remitted to Auckland would suffice for the buildings needed; but this cannot be had, because of the waste at Government-house and the numerous sinecures at the gulf of Hauraki. A Government more shamelessly prodigal, and at the same time more pitifully mean, never insulted a British community."

About this time New Zealand began to turn the tables on the Van Diemen's Land crimps; and a vessel arrived from Launceston with several labourers from thence. They had accompanied a party of those who, having been induced to leave Wellington some year or two before, had gladly returned. These indeed declared that they had rather live in New Zealand without a shirt to their backs, than in the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land with two.

In this month a second newspaper was started at

Wellington in support of the Government, and in opposition to the Company. It was got up by subscription. The Crown Prosecutor was sole Editor; and another "feverish" attorney figured among the shareholders. The original newspaper had for some time been issued twice a-week. From this time the columns of both partook largely of the tediousness of a controversy between two country papers of opposite politics. The Crown Prosecutor's bantling expired, in a state of insolvency, about a year afterwards.

The Brougham returned about the middle of March. In going through the French Pass, she had been swept by the violent tide which rushes through that narrow channel on to a shoal not, marked in the French charts, which were the only ones yet existing of that part of the coast. At low tide she had been left on the ledge almost on her beam-ends; but after some trouble she was got off with but little injury, and reached Nelson in safety. My uncle gave me an amusing description of the confusion produced by the accident; four pack-bullocks in the hold belonging to the Company having tumbled over a blood mare from England belonging to Mr. Thompson.

The Brougham had also bumped on a rock in the north entrance of Astrolabe Roads, unknown before the visit of the Nelson expedition thither; but, being an old teak-built Calcutta pilot-vessel, she had received no injury. The accounts from Nelson and New Plymouth were most favourable. The settlers were described as universally energetic, contented, and sanguine as to early success.

An emigrant vessel, arrived at Taranaki, had laid down moorings, sent out by the Company, fit to hold a ship of 600 tons in any weather. With this security, and some excellent surf-boats, also provided by the

MR. EARP.

Company, the anchorage and landing at New Plymouth were no longer hazardous.

On the 24th of March a brig arrived from Auckland with a batch of news, and Mr. Earp as passenger.

This gentleman had enacted a very prominent part in the Auckland performances; which were so repulsive by this time to the Auckland public, that the Government officers had been christened by their own newspaper – "A species of sucking Sultans, who imagined themselves to be born with the power of cutting off heads and tails at their sovereign pleasure." This scion of the press had existed one year, during which time no fewer than three editors had been successively engaged and dismissed by the tender-con-scienced proprietors.

It appears that Mr. Earp had written some articles in this periodical in favour of his own conduct and against that of some other Members of Council. The authorship of the articles had been demanded and acknowledged; the Council had passed a vote of want of confidence in Mr. Earp; Mr. Earp had publicly retorted that the feeling was reciprocal, and had been supported by a public meeting; and this had been followed up by a long series of correspondence between Mr. Earp, the editor, the lampooned Councillors, and their go-betweens, so excessively ridiculous in its origin, progress, and termination, that a gentleman, being one of the officers of the garrison, who had unfortunately allowed himself to be mixed up in the menacing part of the negotiations, was at last obliged to withdraw from the entangled web of scribbling, and to declare that he would have nothing more whatever to do with the affair.

Mr. Earp's opposition to the Land Claims Bill was directed against its manifest tendency to foster

Auckland at the expense of the Cook's Strait settlements.

Although Governor Hobson had affected to consider Mr. Earp as the representative in Council of the Southern district, he was not generally considered in that light by the Cook's Strait settlers; and this was the only part of his conduct of which the great majority approved. It is not remarkable that this part of his conduct should have been that which caused his expulsion from the Council.

Altogether, the metropolis appeared to be in a most disagreeable state of ferment; and the peaceable society of Wellington began to consider whether it did not rather gain by the absence of a Court, which drew in its train such endless quarrels and misunderstandings, – such violent disputes and mutual recriminations – such ungentlemanly and, in truth, buffoon-like messages, ending in nothing but more pen and ink, between all its distinguished ministers, parliamentarians, and subordinate hangers-on.

The Courts of Quarter-Sessions had been superseded by monthly County Courts, with a similar jurisdiction. A Mr. Whitaker was appointed Judge of that for the Northern district of New Zealand, and Mr. Halswell of that for the Southern district. "Every man thinks his own geese swans;" so the Northern district, defined as north of the parallel of latitude of 38 deg. 30' S., was to have sittings at Auckland and at Kororareka in the Bay of Islands; while the Southern districts, defined as that part of New Zealand south of the same parallel, was to have sittings at Wellington only. Nelson was still left unprovided with any other than a Police Court.

On looking at the map, it will be at once seen how the practical working of any real measure of Govern-

GOVERNMENT LAND-SALES.

ment disproved the "centrical" position of Auckland. At least four-fifths of the North Island was by this ordinance included in the Southern district.

On the 1st of February, a second Government land-sale had afforded an additional proof of the land-jobbing and non-agricultural character of the Auckland experiment. In the "county of Eden" (which probably originated the clever satire written by "Boz" upon speculation towns) thirty-seven lots had been put up. Of these only fourteen found bidders; nine out of the fourteen were purchased by persons connected with the Government; and the produce of the sale had been the sum of 1753l., little more than 1l. per acre. A second sale of town allotments, in quantities of a few perches each, had realized 5000l. This was a sad falling off from the first turn of Captain Hobson's roulette, which had reaped 21,000l. for 26 acres.

Accordingly, it was reported that the Victoria Government-brig might be expected daily. As the metropolitan land-sales had so signally failed to recruit the public purse, it became convenient to send round in order to collect the large revenue accruing from the settlements in Cook's Strait. The metropolis itself, entirely dependent on a lavish Government expenditure, was to be revived from its expiring state at the expense of the only working colonists.

Maketu, the Bay of Islands' murderer, had been tried, found guilty, and executed at Auckland. But few natives were present, as the Government had not the courage to hold up the example in that part of the country where the crime had been committed, or among the tribes to which the criminal belonged.

Fleeting and uncertain rumours reached us that the session of the Council had closed; now confirmed, then contradicted; until a few days later, when a coasting-

schooner brought in a cargo of pigs and a newspaper which contained the Governor's closing speech.

Its distinctive features were – the credit claimed by his Excellency for the greatness and efficiency of the labours of his first Parliament; his public allusion to Mr. Earp's opposition to the Corporation Bill as surprising in one who had been selected as the representative of a body of people supposed to have brought with them, "in all its freshness unimpaired, the English love of liberty;" and the remarkably bad composition and undignified style of the oration. The concluding sentence, especially, refuted the complaints of the open part which the Governor and his officials had taken in the vulgar parliamentary squabbles above described, by "feeling assured that it would be acknowledged that, on all occasions, due deference was paid to opinions when deference was due; and that if no deference was paid, it was because no deference was due."

The children at Wellington were taught to try whether it were easier to repeat this peroration or the old nursery rhyme about "Peter Piper picking a peck of pepper."

The Auckland estimates for the year 1842, copies of which now arrived, were more intelligible. In almost every department the intention reigned paramount of fostering Auckland and the Northern district against the Company's settlements. And while the very extravagant sum total, 50,992l., enabled every one to predict that a heavy burden of taxation would have to be borne by every English inhabitant of New Zealand, it was clear from the separate items that the benefit derived from the expenditure would be almost entirely confined to the proclamation-capital.

Thus, on looking over this estimate, as subsequently

DETAILS OF THE ESTIMATES.

printed and laid before the British Parliament, the following observations are to be made.

In the Treasury department, a Sub-collector at Russell and another at Port Nicholson were to receive 100l. each; while 825l. were allotted to the Treasurer and his Clerks at Auckland.

In the Customs department, 1470l. was allotted to Auckland; 830l. each to Russell and Port Nicholson, and nothing to Nelson or New Plymouth.

In the Post-office department, 335l. to Auckland; 70l. to Port Nicholson; 55l. to the Bay of Islands; and 75l. between Hokianga, Kaipara, and Waimate.

In the Harbour-master's department, 1016l. was put down for Auckland; 60l. for the Bay of Islands; and not a shilling for Port Nicholson, Nelson, or New Plymouth.

In the Sheriff's department, although a blank was left opposite the Sheriff, and 50l. each was assigned to each of the deputies at Russell and Port Nicholson, 202l. for a Clerk and Bailiff belonged to the Auckland portion.

In the department of Police alone, Cook's Strait seemed at first to have the advantage; 1007l. being allowed for Auckland; 1119l. for Russell; 801l. for Hokianga; 695l. for Akaroa; 1325l. for Port Nicholson; and 750l. for a Visiting Magistrate for Cook's Strait. Even thus, however, the Northern district had 157l. more than the Southern; and moreover, 1347l. was set down for the mounted police, which was kept entirely at Auckland.

For the Aborigines' department was allotted the total sum of 2335l.; out of which 230l. would come to the share of the Sub-protector at Wellington.

This item was perhaps the most nefarious of the whole. Mr. Clarke, the Chief Protector of Abori-

gines, was to have a salary of 400l. per annum, equal to the Attorney-General's; an allowance of 125l. a year for a Clerk; of 120l. for natives, who were generally employed as his own servants; of 45l. 12s. 6d. for forage for a horse; and of 725l. for travelling and incidental expenses.

His salary and perquisites thus far exceeded those of the Chief Justice. And yet a comparison between the two officers as to education, intellect, and general efficiency and capability for their respective situations, would have been as ridiculous as one between the nature of their respective duties.

The Chairman of the Court of Quarter-Sessions and Commissioner of the Court of Requests for the Northern District was to receive the same as the like officer for the South; but the Northern Chairman was allowed 50l. for travelling expenses, and two Clerks of the Peace at 200l. each, one at Auckland and the other at Russell; while the Southern Chairman had only one Clerk at the same salary.

In some trifling articles, Port Nicholson was allowed to share equally with Russell and Auckland: 135l. being divided between the Coroners, 450l. between the Clergymen, and 912l. between the Jailers and Turnkeys at the three places. But Nelson and New Plymouth were wholly omitted.

The Civil establishment of the Governor, exclusive of his salary, 1200l., was put down at 1187l. Under this head appeared the salaries of a Superintendent of the Domain at 137l. per annum, a Ranger of the Domain at 4s. 6d. per diem, an Office-keeper and a Gardener, and an extra allowance for labourers of 500l.

This did not include the items under Public Works, devoted to the adornment of the Government-house. This building had cost 1000l. in England; but 1100l.

DETAILS OF THE ESTIMATES.

was devoted to kitchens, stables, servants' bed-rooms, outhouses, and verandahs; and 350l. to the fencing and clearing of the Government Domain.

But it was well known that what appeared on the Public Estimates was only a small portion of the total sum to be spent on the Government residence. 15,000l. was said to be a moderate calculation of its final cost: and money for the purpose had already been borrowed by the Government, whose funds were so exhausted as not to be able to meet more pressing exigencies.

And yet Lord John Russell's instructions to Captain Hobson had dwelt with great force on the necessity of frugality generally in a colony; and had particularly required him to set a good example to private circles in simplicity and plainness of domestic living.

The total amount destined for the department of Public Works and Buildings was 5354l.; and of this not one shilling was to be spent at any other place than Auckland.

The colonial brig, employed chiefly to carry the revenue drawn from Cook's Strait to the seat of expenditure, was alone to cost 1535l. per annum.

And all the other items were entirely and purely for the benefit of the "centrical" settlement, except 40l. for a schoolmaster at Port Nicholson.

The Colonial Secretary coolly estimated the sum to be derived from the sale of lands during the year at 50,000l.; which would leave, after deducting upwards of 12,000l. for the Survey Department, the purchase of lands from aborigines, and making of roads and bridges, and 50 per cent, from the surplus for immigration, a net revenue of 19,000l. from that source' alone. By this means he managed to predict, on paper, an excess of expenditure over revenue of less than 350l. But the result of the last land-sale made

it very doubtful whether any balance would be left from the land-fund, after deducting the 12,000l. abovementioned.

The Wellington people signified their dissatisfaction at the manner in which legislation had been carried on for them, by another public meeting at the end of March. Ignorant even of the provisions of the laws to which they had become subject, they passed a resolution recommending that an application should be made to the Secretary of State for the Colonies to suspend his approval of the Ordinances until the colonists should have time to learn what they were, and to forward their opinions on them. And a committee was appointed to examine and report; Mr. Murphy having volunteered, towards the end of the meeting, to furnish copies of the Ordinances as passed.

14 So the agreement was called by which Captain Hobson had acquired for the Queen of England the sovereignty of New Zealand; and which guaranteed to the natives their lands and the privileges of British subjects.

15 Hardly six weeks after his liberation, Pakewa again stole a pair of blankets, was fully convicted, and was sentenced to seven years' transportation. This is probably the case of which Mr. Clarke, without much carefulness as to facts, thus speaks in one of his official Reports. There is at least no case, of which I have heard, more like the one which he relates with such virulence: – "At Port Nicholson a native was accused of stealing a blanket, and committed for trial. After lying several months in gaol he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for the offence. The judge in this case was a Protector of Aborigines!!! – the jury composed of individuals selected from a community not signalized for their general philanthropy towards the natives."

CHAPTER VII

VOYAGE TO NELSON.

CHAPTER VII.

Voyage to Nelson – -Blind Bay – Nelson Haven – Site of Nelson – Gaiety of the landing-place – The infant town – Quail – Climate – Calm weather – Cattle – Coal and limestone – Selection of lands – Native Reserves – Colonizing character of the Nelson Gentry – Captain Arthur Wakefield – His name among the Natives – Dr. Imlay, of Twofold Bay.

ON the 30th, the Martha Ridgway, a large ship from London with immigrants for Nelson, anchored at Point Halswell; and the Captain came in to receive his orders from the Company's Agent and his consignees in Wellington. Being offered a passage by one of these gentlemen, who was himself going over in the ship, I packed up a small kit, and went on board with him in the pilot-boat.

We sailed on the evening of the 31st. The wind favouring us, we were only 28 hours from our anchorage in Port Nicholson to the bottom of Blind Bay; where we anchored, in consequence of the darkness and hazy weather, in eight fathoms. We had been accompanied through the Strait by two large ships and a coasting schooner. The ships had discharged immigrants, and were bound to Nelson; where two other vessels, now discharging there, were to join them, in order to sail in company through Torres' Straits towards India and China.

After rounding Cape Stephens, we had made out clearly the entrance of Port Hardy, the southern mouth of the French Pass, which separates D'Urville's Island from the main, the islets at the mouth of Croisille's Harbour, and the bluff promontory formed

by Pepin's Island. All this east side of the gulf is backed by high and rugged mountains. The land towards Massacre Bay rose blue and clear over the distant horizon, until the haze and night closed in; but the low land at the southern end was not yet distinguishable, and the bay, looking like a broad strait, deserved the name of "Blind" given to it by Captain Cook.

In the morning, which was calm and cloudless, we found ourselves lying about half-way between Pepin's Island and the entrance of Nelson Haven, and about two miles off shore. The vessels in the harbour and the buildings on the beach had a curious appearance over the low bank of boulders which forms the harbour.

This curious bank, of no great breadth, and raised but few feet above the highest tides, which indeed wash over it in some low spots, runs along parallel with the land for about six miles, thoroughly sheltering a space, which averages a quarter of a mile in width, from the force of the sea. This natural breakwater joins the land at its northern extremity, but leaves a narrow gut between its southern point and the steep coast adjoining, at the very S. E. corner of Blind Bay. This gut is the entrance of Nelson Haven. Further to the west, a moderate-sized river, called the Waimea, empties itself by several mouths into the sea. This river and the waters which flow out of the haven form a deep pool, sheltered by a bar. The bar extends from a spot on the seaward shore of the Boulder Bank, about half-a-mile north of its southernmost point, to the sands which stretch out some distance from the low coast, extending 10 or 12 miles to the westward of Nelson Haven.

Our anchorage was outside the bar. On the bar

SITE OF NELSON.

are found nine feet of water at low-water spring-tides; but the springs rise 13 or 14 feet on this coast. In the pool which I have described is excellent anchorage, as in stormy weather the sea is broken by the bar. The Bolton, a ship of 500 tons, lay here when we arrived, having discharged her immigrants, and being in waiting for the Lord Auckland, which was discharging hers inside the haven. The anchorage was in consequence called Bolton Roads. From thence the navigation to the inner haven requires a practised pilot; as the tides are exceedingly rapid, and the channel very narrow. A peaked rock called the "Arrow," rises high out of water, not 100 yards south of the point of the Boulder Bank; and the ship channel is between the two. As we pulled in, we saw the wreck of a large ship, the Fifeshire, which had come out of the harbour imprudently with no wind to assist her in steering, and had been drifted by the ebb directly on to the Arrow. The inner gut, between the Boulder Bank and the main, is still narrower, but holds out less danger, as the tide sweeps fairly through it.

Once inside this, you may fancy yourself in a dock, except that a rapid tide sweeps along the land side for about a mile. The side towards the Boulder Bank is out of the influence of the tide, and there vessels generally anchor.

A little way inside this last narrow, we saw a group of wooden houses, tents, rough booths, and sheds, disposed about a small hollow in the side of the hill; and Captain Wakefield greeted us as we jumped out of the boat.

The eastern shore of the haven is formed, for a mile from its entrance, by a low but steep ridge of hills that are bare of wood. But, beyond this, the haven

expands to the eastward into a broad space, which is a lake when covered by the tide, and a mud flat at other times, intersected by the branching channels of a small river called the Maitai. An amphitheatre of about 1000 acres, shelving from the southern shore of this lagoon to the base of abrupt mountains on the east and south-east, seems made for the site of a town; and here Nelson is situated. It is only separated from the entrance of the haven by the ridge of hills which I have mentioned; and a path over its summit forms a short cut between the haven and the town. Facing to the north, it enjoys a view over the wide part of the haven and the Boulder Bank into the expanse of Blind Bay; and the fringe of wood on the banks of the Maitai leads the eye to the forest gullies and towering crags in the direction of the Ohiere, or Pelorus river.

The little village at the haven was all life and gaiety. Two large wooden stores and a house for immigrants, belonging to the Company, were the centre of business, as labourers came for their rations, or rolled casks and bales into the store. The Lord Auckland was discharging immigrants on the beach; the two Deal boats of the Company were being launched or hauled up by their weather-beaten crews, or making trips to the shipping; and knots of whalers, who had come on a cruise to the new settlement, were loitering about on the scattered cannon, ploughs, and cart-wheels. Among these beach-combing wanderers, I recognised many old acquaintances. Some of these eccentric characters seemed curiously divided between contempt for the inexperience of the "jimmy-grants," as they called the emigrants, and surprise at the general industry and bustle prevailing. The cloudless weather, hotter than I had yet felt it in New Zealand, and the vivacity of the scene, made one think that races or a

THE INFANT TOWN.

fair was going on, rather than a serious settlement. All seemed affected by the bright blue sky and lovely scenery around. In the midst of the toil and confusion of landing goods, and looking for relations in the crowd, every countenance beamed with good humour and enjoyment. The very whalers would now and then condescend to show an awkward clodhopper the handiest way of hauling a package up the sloping beach. But few natives figured in the scene; as this spot had not been inhabited for many years, owing to the constant danger from the proximity of the mountains, whence Pakihure and his brother fugitives were said to have more than once made successful forays upon the dispersed settlements of their conquerors, and of the few Ngatiawa who had arrived in Blind Bay after its conquest by Rauperaha and his followers. Such at least was the reason assigned to me by Mark, the young chief of Rangitoto on D'Urville's Island, who came while I was here on a friendly visit to Captain Wakefield.

Near the highest point of the path between the haven and the town was pitched the small square tent in which Captain Wakefield slept. From hence he had only a few steps to walk to the flag-staff, where he communicated with the shipping by means of Marryat's signals; and he was conveniently placed for going to whichever location required his presence.

In the midst of the great amphitheatre was a low isolated mound. Here a long range of wooden houses served as hospital, survey-office, and emigration-barracks; and a constant stream of immigrants, with their bundles, was flowing either way between the summit of this small Acropolis and the nearest point of the lagoon to which the tide would allow the large boats to ascend the channel of the Maitai. Wooden

houses, tents, sheds formed of boughs, frames of clay walls and thatched roof, and heaps of goods and chattels of various kind, were scattered over different parts of the flat. Here and there a newly-arrived party might be seen cutting a square encampment out of the high fern, and erecting their sheds and gipsy fires in the space thus formed. But the principal cluster of population was along the banks of the Maitai, and on the edge of the wood.

The long straight lines cut by the Surveyors through the fern gave an odd appearance to the landscape; and along these glades short posts were stuck into the ground at regular intervals, branded with the numbers of the sections on either side, in readiness for the approaching selection. As I walked along these future streets, quail, either single or in coveys, frequently started up before my steps. They abound all over this part of New Zealand.

During the month that I remained here, the climate was certainly magnificent. There were only three or four days' rain; and the rest of the time cloudless skies and calm air glowed upon the landscape. If I had any complaint to make, it was that I thought it too dry and hot in the day-time; and that the nights were on the contrary very cold, when a light air breathed down from the lofty peaks inland. But I remembered that all these things are to be judged by comparison, and that I had just come from the more temperate tract of land near Wellington, which receives its temperature from a sea-breeze, whichever of the prevailing winds may blow.

The climate in this deep bight of a bay is very remarkable. The wind, which blows almost incessantly one way or the other through Cook's Strait, seems suddenly to lose its power before reaching the

CALM WEATHER – – CATTLE.

southern part of Blind Bay. Thus it is common for a vessel to be under double-reefed topsails in the Strait, and to have her sails all flapping in a calm soon after she has passed D'Urville's Island or Massacre Bay. And I frequently observed that the speed and direction of the scud overhead, and driving masses of black clouds on the northern horizon, indicated a storm outside, when all near Nelson lay calm and slumbering, except a heavier swell than usual rolling on to the shoals at the bottom of the gulf. And in those cases, a little coaster, which had been out in the gale, would confirm our conjectures on arriving a day or two later. During the month, I only saw one day on which it blew a hard breeze; and then two large vessels rode it out in perfect safety in the anchorage outside the bar, although the wind was nearly due north. Now and then a light sea-breeze would bring welcome refreshment for two or three hours during the afternoon. The squadron bound for Torres' Straits took advantage of one of these days to beat out of Blind Bay. It consisted of the Clifton and Birman, which had accompanied us from Port Nicholson, of the Lord Auckland, and the Bolton, whose commander, Captain Robinson, having been through the much-dreaded Torres' Straits before, was appointed commodore by the other Captains. We saw them all day from the town, beating in line of battle under full sail to the northward. This very remarkable immunity from wind causes an almost incredible difference between the climate of Nelson and that of Wellington, although the two towns are as nearly as possible in the same latitude.

The Hope, a vessel of 400 tons from Sydney, had already landed about 100 head of cattle at Nelson. Having entered the haven, she had been able to lie so close to the shore, that she was discharged

and ready for sea in two days from her arrival; but the want of wind kept her four days more, the Fife-shire staring her in the face as a lesson not to attempt starting in a calm.

While I was there, the Brilliant, of 300 tons, arrived from Twofold Bay with horses and cattle. Dr. Imlay himself was a passenger on board, having come to take a look at the settlements in New Zealand, and to place on a permanent footing the importation of his stock into the country. He was much pleased to find an old shipmate and friend in Captain Wakefield.

It is a curious sight to see a large ship enter the haven under sail. The most favourable time to do this is with the full force of the flood, and against a working breeze that blows out of the harbour. Passing rapidly between the Arrow and the Boulder Bank, she comes up head to wind as her jib-boom end is almost over your head while you stand on the beach just inside the gut, and she makes way on the starboard tack enough to shoot out of the tide, which has swept her half a mile up the harbour, into the eddy where she is to anchor.

I only saw from a distance the valleys of the Waimea and Moutere rivers, in which most of the cultivation near Nelson is now going on, as I had not time to explore any further than the immediate neighbourhood of the town. I must again refer to the lithographic illustrations, which I have before mentioned, for very accurate and interesting representations of the town of Nelson and of its country district.

Coal and limestone had already been found in large quantities on the shores of Massacre Bay; and a coaster had brought some tons of each article into the harbour.

A road was being made by the Company's labourers, round the foot of the dividing ridge, from the haven

SELECTION OF LANDS.

to the town. In the course of this work they struck at one spot upon a small vein of coal; but this was not found worth working. Coal has since been put on board vessels in Massacre Bay at 10s. per ton, and sold in Nelson at from 27s. to 30s.

The selection of the town-lands at Nelson took place while I was there. Mr. Thompson selected the Reserves for the natives. It seemed difficult to imagine whence the population could be brought, for whose benefit they were intended. A few natives were generally to be seen encamped near the shores of the lagoon; but these were only visitors, who had come from a distance to sell their pigs and potatoes. The nearest inhabited native villages are Motueka, about fifteen miles to the west, and Wakapoaka, ten miles to the north of Nelson. E Piko, the chief of Motueka, had become almost a permanent resident since the White settlement had been formed. He was much attached to Captain Wakefield.

I was forcibly struck by the strong colonizing character, if I may so speak, which distinguished the great majority of the leading settlers at Nelson. They seemed to have entered upon their noble task rather with a wish to share in doing good to their poorer fellow-colonists, than with selfish and interested views. A generous and active spirit of benevolence pervaded each thought, each feeling, and action. Most of them young men of superior education and intellect, they rejoiced in a state of things which allowed of the formation of society as it were anew, with the same complete materials as in the country from which they had come, but with those materials arranged in relations less disheartening to the class who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.

And yet these mild youths, whose kind words could

so ably soothe and encourage the emigrant who was at first startled by the wildness of the country, and the early hardships of housing and sheltering his family, were as energetic, as brave of heart, and as sanguine in the great cause of the colony, as the highest and haughtiest blood could have made them. Here was the same panting enthusiasm of youth, which leads its possessor into the first flight across country after the hounds or some less reputable notoriety in England, applied to a grander and more lofty object at the antipodes. It was the ambition to found a nation, instead of that of being known for a daring horseman or for the boldest of midnight revellers. It was the same necessary excitement, founded on a greater emulation, and calculated for more permanent utility to mankind.

Their gallant ranks have been cruelly thinned by misfortune, and principally by the crowning catastrophe at Wairau. But, in future days, the citizens of Nelson will always remember with pride and sorrow the names of William Curling Young, George Ryecroft Richardson, Patchett, Cotterell, and others now no more, who assisted the first steps of the infant settlement with their manly energies.

If I speak of my own lamented uncle, Arthur Wakefield, to say that he watched over their united efforts and guided their expanding strength as though they had been one family and he their father or their elder brother, it is because I feel sure of being supported to the whole extent of the statement by every colonist who was under his care. He seemed to work all things among them according to his own will, by wielding a gentle parental authority; and they to follow his advice and suggestions, through a feeling of filial respect and love. When I relate that to this happy art of

CAPTAIN ARTHUR WAKEFIELD.

persuading men to adopt a certain line of conduct, as though of their own unaided conviction, and by the softest strings of human nature, he added the great share of prudence, energy, and coolness in emergency, which was necessary to choose the line to be adopted; and when I say, that in the most harassing circumstances his calm and commanding voice was never known to use an oath or a harsh word, I am sure that every officer who has known him during his thirty years of active service in the Navy of his country will answer, that he could do no otherwise.

The few natives who visited Nelson at intervals were enthusiastic in their praise of his engaging manner and kindly disposition. At Waikanae, along the Taranaki country, and even far up in the interior, I have often fallen in with a travelling Maori, who has been describing to a large audience "the soft tongue and great heart of 'Wide-awake' across the sea."

Dr. Imlay had to take some of his cattle on to Wellington, and I accepted his kind offer of a passage in the Brilliant. This gentleman and his two brothers are probably the largest cattle and sheep-holders in New South Wales. Their establishment is at Twofold Bay, but they have stations extending a considerable distance into the interior. I acquired from Dr. Imlay many interesting descriptions of the pastoral and semi-Tartar life of the Australian cattle-holder. He had two aboriginal natives on board, wearing the dress of Europeans, and remarkably expert as shepherds and in the management of cattle; and he told me that his whaling-station at Twofold Bay was manned almost entirely, and carried on with great success, by labourers selected from their fellow-countrymen. But he added some exciting details of the savage and merciless predatory warfare which is constantly going on between

the stockmen and the unreclaimed tribes which hover on the outskirts of the pastoral tracts.

We were baffled for some days off the heads of Port Nicholson by strong northerly breezes, the vessel being very light, and therefore unable to make much progress to windward; but we at length anchored in Lambton Harbour on the 1st of May.

CHAPTER VIII

PUBLIC MEETINGS.

CHAPTER VIII.

Public Meetings – Outrage committed by Rangihaeata upon settlers – Mr. Murphy, the Police Magistrate – Increasing lawlessness of the Natives caused by impunity – Mr. Spain, the Commissioner of Land-Claims – Mr. George Clarke, junior, the Sub-Protector of Aborigines – His qualifications – Petition at Auckland for the recall of Governor Hobson – Wretched condition of Auckland – Introduction of Pheasants and Bees into Wellington – Mr. Wicksteed appointed to succeed Captain Liardet at New Plymouth – Blood Horses from Sydney – Court of Land-Claims – Its mischievous action – Changed notions of the Natives – Complicated proceedings – Evidence of E Puni – Of E Tako, a Repudiator – Mr. Tod's case – Dilatory progress – Effects – Government negligence – Latest dates from Auckland reach Wellington through Sydney – Mildness of Winter – Unceasing vegetation – Natural pasture – Steam-Mill and Brewery – Mechanics' Institute – Mr. Kettle's Exploring Expedition – Gorge of the Manawatu – Plain of the three rivers – Formation of the Country – Native legend – Plain of the Ruamahanga – Its Nature and extent – Wild Hogs – Return by the Hutt Valley – Salubrity of the climate – Central position of Wellington.

TWO public meetings had been held at Wellington during the month of April.

The first had been unanimous in agreeing to demand the application of the Municipal Corporation Bill to Wellington. Mr. Murphy, placed in the chair as Sub-Sheriff, had stated that a rough census gave the population of the town as 2600: and all parties had joined in following the recommendations of Colonel Wakefield and other leading settlers, to secure the great privilege of managing their own local affairs.

The second meeting was held on the 20th, on a less satisfactory subject. Some weeks before, six active, industrious, intelligent mechanics, possessed of some

capital, who had arrived from England in one of the last ships, took a lease of four sections in the Porirua district, about eight miles from town by the bridle-road. They intended to clear and cultivate a portion of the land, and to erect a saw-mill on the banks of the river. After they had carried on their operations for some time, in the midst of the hitherto unoccupied forest, a body of thirty natives had come and ordered them off. They came to Port Nicholson for advice. The Police Magistrate, on the application of the agents who had let the land, despatched his chief constable to pacify the natives; and the settlers proceeded peaceably with their work for another week. But then Rangihaeata in person came, with a train of fifty men, armed with guns, horse-pistols, and tomahawks. They remonstrated with him for some time, but he became too violent to reason. He then commenced the work of destruction, and cut the whole buildings to the ground. The sufferers stated their loss at upwards of 50l., including some pounds of nails stolen by the marauders.

It was evident that the Police Magistrate had no means of arresting the disturbers of the peace, even had he been so inclined; and the meeting expressed the readiness of the inhabitants of Wellington as a body to support the authority of the Magistrate in any way that he should require. A faint attempt to throw the blame on Colonel Wakefield was made by Mr. Hanson and some of his party; but the Company's Agent repelled the charge in person, by reading copies of letters, which proved that he had written to the Police Magistrate and to the Company as early as June of the last year, predicting the evil consequences of allowing the outrages of the natives, in obstructing the Porirua road, to go unrepressed.

MR. MURPHY, THE POLICE MAGISTRATE.

A deputation waited on Mr. Murphy, to convey to him the sense of the public; but he bowed them off in a diplomatic way, saying that he would avail himself of their services when in his opinion recourse to them was expedient.

And his official letters since published prove that he was delighted to find, soon afterwards, that the Crown Prosecutor had been applied to on the subject. He then declared that the application for the indictment of Rangihaeata before the Supreme Court took the matter out of his hands. And thus the affair was left for the present.

At the same time, letters from Wanganui described the natives there as more pertinacious than ever in preventing the cultivation or even occupation of any land by White people.

Mr. Clarke's memorable letter, and the mischievous advice of the unworthy members of the missionary body, had produced a general spirit,, of repudiation among the natives. To meet one, among the numerous chiefs who had been parties to the sales in 1839, that held fast and honestly to his bargain, was now a rare occurrence.

Mr. Murphy's official letters on the subject to the Colonial Secretary sufficiently prove the spirit in which he acted. He throughout defends the natives in their aggressions; adduces them as proofs of the absolute necessity that the whole question of title should be investigated before a Court of Claims; and does not disguise a sneer at the offer made by the settlers to do that which he could always compel them to do at his pleasure.

And at this very time his professions of regard for the settlers, and of interest in their cause, had procured him the confidence and intimacy of the leading men. He was reckoned quite one of the settlers, in

opinion and feeling, and it had been rumoured, much to the satisfaction of every one, that he was likely to succeed Captain Liardet as Company's Agent for New Plymouth. He was about the only Government officer that was ever admitted to the esteem and friendship of the select circles at Wellington.

What was the surprise of some of these friends, when they afterwards read his unfeeling and partisan-like letters to head-quarters, and learned from good authority that he had abused the familiarity and privileges of an intimate guest, to report many private conversations secretly to the same place!

Vain complaints were also made to the Police Magistrate at this time of the destruction of the timber in the public belt by the natives, who were in the habit of supplying the town with firewood from this convenient locality. But though the notice which had appeared officially against this practice was enforced as to Europeans, the natives went on unreproved and unobstructed. This, too, was called a question which involved the decision of the title; and so it must await the sentence of the Court of Claims.

Is it surprising that the natives began to get emboldened by the impunity or rather absolute indifference from the authorities which they found to attend acts that were denounced to them as illegal by the settlers? They began to consider that there were two laws – one rigid and never infringed with impunity, but only existing in the fanciful imagination of the White people of "Wide-awake;" and another, loose, vague, and having nothing to do with the Maori, which was capriciously administered by the Kawana, as the Police Magistrate was invariably called.

A Mechanics' Institute was now in active operation at Wellington.

MR. SPAIN, COMMISSIONER OF LAND-CLAIMS.

On the 22nd, Mr. Spain, the long-expected Land Commissioner, had at length arrived. The ship in which he had come from England was wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope.

After some delay there, he had reached Port Nicholson in a small brig, on the 8th of December 1841, and had proceeded to Auckland five days afterwards. His long detention there remained unexplained; but it was shrewdly surmised that he had expected to find himself sole Commissioner; and had been at length sent down here only because his remonstrances, as to the association with him of the two Commissioners who had originally been appointed from Sydney, were disagreeable to the official gentlemen at the metropolis.

Mr. Spain was accompanied by Mr. George Clarke, junior, a son of the Chief Protector of Aborigines, who had been appointed in January Sub-Protector of the Aborigines, and was deputed to watch their interests, especially during the investigations before the Court.

This seemed rather an unnecessary appointment; for Mr. Halswell at Wellington, and Mr. Thompson at Nelson, were surely well capable of attending to their interests; especially as, being both members of the English Bar, their legal knowledge would be of some avail to their clients before the tribunal of the Commissioner.

The appointment was therefore a kind of superseding of these two gentlemen; and sounded as though, being members of the Wellington community, they could not claim the confidence of the Auckland cabinet in a duty requiring strict integrity as well as great knowledge.

The very name of Clarke, after the extraordinary exhibition in Te Aro pa, was disagreeable to the

settlers at Wellington; and it was at once thought that but little good could come of the son of such a man.

But their premature aversion was changed into laughter when they saw a gaunt lad of 18, who had evidently got his tail-coat on for the first time. It was difficult to guess what might be his qualifications for replacing Messrs. Halswell and Thompson in the protection of the aborigines before the Court of Claims. These two gentlemen were both of some station, both married and of mature age, both members of the English Bar, and enjoying the advantage of an English University education. They were at any rate somewhat experienced in the manners and ways of the world, and therefore capable of devising some plans for the effectual protection of the aborigines: Mr. Clarke junior had, I believe, been born and bred at the missionary head-station near the Bay of Islands, almost among the darker natives; or if he had even been to school at Sydney, it was difficult to suppose that, so young, he could have acquired at either place the knowledge of mankind and peculiar talent necessary for the due fulfilment of his very delicate and difficult duties.

His descent from a catechist gunsmith and too famous interpreter was of bad omen; his tender years and very imperfect education seemed to imply the certainty of his incapacity; and the fact of his being sent to supersede the two original officers placed his unfitness in still stronger relief.

Mr. Clarke junior immediately employed himself in prowling about among the pas, especially those of the discontented natives: he neither sought nor obtained the acquaintance of any of the leading colonists; and resembled, in the little of his manners

MR. GEORGE CLARKE, JUNIOR.

that was open to observation, a sulky Maori boy, rather than even a White Government officer.

Those who were parties to his appointment will probably state in defence of it, that he was thoroughly acquainted with the native language and customs. Granting this, I would ask whether it be more fit that a Protector of Aborigines should be well acquainted with the habits of the ruder race, or with those of the more civilized and artificial society with whom it was wished to amalgamate them by soft degrees? Whether was an educated gentleman more likely to acquire the knowledge of the Maori habits and language, or an uneducated and but half-civilized son of a gunsmith to attain the acquaintance with the habits and restrictions, the refinements and perfections, of civilized life, both so necessary to a due performance of the office in question? If it was absolutely necessary to give the son of the Chief Protector a berth, it would have been more becoming and suitable to appoint Mr. Clarke junior as a sworn interpreter to Mr. Halswell or Mr. Thompson. Under such guidance, he might perhaps have learned, in the course of a few years, to be somewhat capable of protecting the aborigines. For at present his only qualifications made him rather capable of teaching civilized men how to become savages, than of gently guiding savages to the difficult goal of civilization.

The other passengers in the brig were a Surveyor attached to the Land Commission, and some customhouse officers for Akaroa.

The principal news from the metropolis was, that a large public meeting had at length followed the example of the Wellington people, by adopting a petition for the removal of the Governor. His Excellency had taken a convenient trip to Kawia,

accompanied by the Chief Justice, while the meeting took place.

Bills on England, to the amount of 25,000l. had been drawn by the penniless Government, and sent up to Sydney to be discounted. And here it may be mentioned that all drafts on the Sub-Treasurer at Wellington, drawn by the Government officers for the payment of their salaries, had been for some time dishonoured.

The general condition of Auckland was described as even worse than at the time of Mr. Clayton's desponding confession. The inhabitants were said to have become soured by disappointment into a touchy and pugnacious humour, which gave rise to the most bitter bickerings and animosities among themselves. They could suggest no remedy for the amelioration of their condition, except the reduction of the minimum price of Crown lands to five shillings per acre!

Several robberies and outrages had been committed by the natives on the scattered settlers in the Northern district. At Wangari, especially, not far from Auckland, four or five Europeans had been plundered of everything in their houses by a foraging-party, which assigned no reason for its conduct.

At the Bay of Islands, a vote of thanks had been made to Captain Lavaud, of the French corvette, for the protection which he had promised to the Whites, while lying in that port during the excitement arising from the apprehension and execution of the murderer Maketu, and while that protection was withheld by their own Government in a manner so negligent as to appear intentional.

On the 1st of May, the London arrived at Wellington for the second time from England, with a cargo of immigrants and passengers. Three other vessels

PHEASANTS AND BEES IN WELLINGTON.

turned the point nearly at the same time from Sydney, South Australia, and the East coast, respectively.

Mrs. Wills, who was a passenger in the London, deserves the thanks of the colony for having brought the first pheasants to New Zealand. A cock and three hens were landed in safety, and I was fortunate enough to have them placed under my charge by Mrs. Wills. A hive of bees, also belonging to this lady, had unfortunately died on the passage.

On the 3rd, a large vessel bound for Nelson called in, having to land some passengers here. The Rev. Mr. Saxton, a clergyman of the Established Church, with his family, was among the passengers for Nelson; and Colonel Wakefield's daughter had come to join him, under Mrs. Saxton's charge.

While at Pitone, I saw the vessel run aground just outside Ward Island. Galloping round to the town, I got several boats to put off to her assistance, and jumped into one myself. On reaching the ship, we found she was lying very harmlessly with her keel on a soft shingly beach, and would come off with the next tide. They had rashly stood too close in to the eastern shore in beating in. Thirty or forty boats were collected round the vessel, and the captain was terribly alarmed lest he should have to pay them all for their services. He thought he had to do with Deal boatmen, who would claim salvage; but the greater part of the flotilla was manned by private individuals, the best men in the settlement having eagerly jumped into the boats on the first alarm, and pulled about five miles to offer their assistance if required. By this ship a hive of bees, sent by Mrs. Allom of London, was carried in safety to Nelson. These were the first ever sent to that settlement.

On the 5th, Mr. Wicksteed sailed in the Brougham

for New Plymouth, having been appointed by Colonel Wakefield to succeed Captain Liardet as Company's Agent there.

On the 13th, a brother of Mr. John Carne Bidwill brought down a ship-load of sheep, cattle, and horses, from Sydney. The latter were principally broodmares of the best New South Wales blood, which Mr. Molesworth and two or three other of the wealthier settlers had commissioned Mr. Bidwill to procure for them in that country. By this opportunity we heard of the arrival of the Bishop of New Zealand and his ecclesiastical train at Sydney.

On the 16th of May, the Commissioner, Mr. Spain, opened his Court.

The proceedings of the first three weeks in this Court at once showed to every intelligent person that the inquiry was taking a course most mischievous to the colonists and to the natives.

During the visit of Governor Hobson to this settlement, Colonel Wakefield had failed to obtain from him an unqualified fulfilment of the conditions of the agreement between the Government at home and the Company. Had that agreement been fully carried out, a Crown title would have been at once issued to the Company to the amount of land to which they were entitled by their expenditure on the population and survey of the country, and their Agent would have selected the land so granted in the districts which the Company claimed to have purchased from the natives. A subsequent inquiry into the validity of these purchases, by a Court of Equity and Conscience, would have established the cases in which further compensation might possibly be due; and also the extent of land over and above the quantity assigned to the Company out of their purchases, which would revert to

COURT OF LAND-CLAIMS.

the Crown under the conditions of the agreement. This arrangement seemed to recognize the great boon of the Native Reserves, and those of civilization and improvement of condition, as the real payment to the natives for their bona fide claims. It reserved for the consideration of a Commissioner those cases in which there should appear to have been some flagrant abuse of the system adopted by the missionaries and other private individuals at the time of the Company's purchases, and before the establishment of British authority in the country, of satisfying the natives by a mere temporary payment.

But Captain Hobson was of opinion that the treaty which he had executed with some of the native chiefs at Waitangi, afterwards adopted by other chiefs in different parts of the island, had rendered such an arrangement impossible. He therefore refused to grant any title until after the Commissioner should have inquired into the particulars of the purchases; and he would only guarantee the Company against the claims of other European purchasers from the natives in the same districts.

Colonel Wakefield had been obliged to submit, however unwillingly, to this modified consideration of the agreement, trusting to the issuing of instructions for its being more completely fulfilled from England; and, above all, that, should Captain Hobson's view be thought correct, a Commissioner, sent out on purpose, would judge the case by the strict rules of equity, and keep in mind the circumstances existing at the distant time when the purchases were made. He trusted that the investigation would be speedy and decisive, and that this new delay in the final adjustment of the important question would not long retard the progress of the settlement.

During nearly ten months which had elapsed since that postponement of the question, the opinions of the natives as to their rights to land, and as to its value to them, had augmented still more than during the two years between the purchases and Captain Hobson's postponement of their consideration. The missionaries, the rival land-claimants, and other interested and prejudiced persons, had not only, like Mr. Clarke in his letter, taught the natives to refuse to yield, or to insist on increased payment for those lands which they had fairly occupied at the time of the original purchase; but, backed by the authority of the so-called Treaty and the opinion of the Governor, they had taught them to believe in rights which they had ignored before. They had encouraged men to start forward as claimants for compensation who hardly hazarded an opinion at the time of our original dealings with them, but who no longer feared the absolute authority of their chiefs, now destroyed or nullified by the democratic spirit of the missionary teaching or the influence of European laws and customs. And they had taught all, modern as well as ancient owners of the soil, to extend over the waste and uninhabited land, rights and claims which had never before entered their thoughts.

At the time of our purchases, the ownership of any land not yet occupied accrued to the first occupier. The very act of occupation of some sort alone gave a title according to the native customs at that time; and the act of thus acquiring a title by occupation to any of the hitherto unappropriated land, if forbidden by a mightier man or tribe who had the same intention, remained undone by the weaker party. In like manner, when we first arrived in Cook's Strait, the right of disposing of what was fairly occupied by the tribe,

COMPLICATED PROCEEDINGS.

belonged to the influential chiefs who could compel obedience to their dictates.

The Commissioner of Land Claims, instead of inquiring whether the natives had been fairly satisfied for all their rights as they thus stood in 1839, sustained the order of things caused by the long delay, and the new rights now claimed by the natives in deference to opinions formed for them, and carefully instilled into their minds in the interval, as those by which he was to be guided.

And the investigation became at once a matter of length and intricacy, of long claims, by some argument such as Warepori would have crushed by a word or a look in 1839, of revived privileges, which had been overthrown long before that time by the only law then existing among the natives, that of might.

Thus, one question which, as gone into at such length by the Commissioner, promised to encumber the inquiry, was that of whether, for instance, Warepori and the other chiefs who agreed to sell the district of Port Nicholson, in 1839, had a right to do so. It was clear that their right, founded on their might and influence, had been unresisted and undenied when the sale took place. But now, numerous natives from Te Aro and Pipitea sprang up, undaunted by their former chieftains, and found tongues to claim an equal ownership, which then they had never even imagined.

I attended the Court for the first few days, as well to give my own evidence as to observe the nature of the proceedings.

To the surprise of every one, Mr. Clarke junior acted in the double office of Protector of Aborigines and Interpreter to the Court. It seemed almost impossible that the most well-intentioned man should

fulfil both offices together with correctness. The eager Protector might with great ease be carried away by his natural prejudice in favour of the aborigines, if he did not positively misinterpret, at least to throw by his interpretation a shade over the evidence, favourable to their case. How much more might this be expected from an uneducated lad, who had shown by his undeviating conduct during a month, that he imagined the protection of the aborigines to consist in impugning the statements and suspecting the intentions of the White men?

Accordingly, it was observed by more than one person, that when Mr. Clarke junior was cross-examining a native witness, he would allow him to run on in the gossiping way of the Maori as long as his statement appeared to militate against the Company's case, but would confine him to a plain "Yes" or "No" when he seemed inclined to extend his answer in an opposite direction.

The Court was conducted in a way intelligible only to lawyers. Quirks, quibbles, and knotty points of law, and decisions as to the manner of proceeding in the Court, made by the Commissioner after private deliberation and without reason assigned, made the affair as mysterious and perplexing to an ordinary person as though he had been hearing Small versus Attwood argued in the House of Lords.

The first day was taken up by a dispute between the Counsel of the Company, Dr. Evans, and Mr. Hanson, the Crown Prosecutor, as to the precedence of the Company's claim or that of rival land-claimants which had been called on before it. Dr. Evans having conceded that the Company's case should first be heard, was called on to proceed with it. But Colonel Wakefield, not having authorized any such concession,

COMPLICATED PROCEEDINGS.

objected; and the Commissioner adjourned the Court to the next day but one, "to allow the Counsel to confer on the precedence of the claims."

At the next sitting, the lawyers still differed; Dr. Evans appealing to a private arrangement made with Mr. Hanson, and Mr. Hanson denying any such arrangement, and appealing to the former decision of the Commissioner that the Company's case should proceed. And Mr. Hanson, on being asked by Dr. Evans for whom he appeared, said first, "for the natives," and then, correcting himself, "for Mr. Scott," one of the rival claimants to a tract of land in the town. Dr. Evans now refused to proceed with the Company's case, until Mr. Scott's should have been first heard; and, during an adjournment made for two hours by the Commissioner, in order that he might reconsider his proposed course, begged Colonel Wakefield's permission to throw up the advocacy of the Company's claims. He stated that he was induced to take this course by the hostility evinced by the Crown Prosecutor to the Company's interests, and the factious and litigious spirit shown by him to their advocate, which caused the conviction that Dr. Evans's professional assistance would only embroil the question on points of law and evidence, when it was wished to treat it as one of equity and conscience, agreeably to the Commissioner's instructions binding him to that spirit. Colonel Wakefield fully appreciated the honourable view thus taken of the question by Dr. Evans; and proceeded to conduct the case himself. He was sworn, and handed in the deeds and plans. After he had given his evidence as to the Port Nicholson purchase, Mr. Hanson commenced to cross-examine him; and put a query which could have nothing whatever to do with the question at issue between the Company

and Mr. Scott. Colonel Wakefield consequently refused to answer it.

The Commissioner stated the next day, that he had demanded and obtained from Mr. Hanson a statement of the grounds of his opposition on the part of Mr. Scott, which he did not feel at liberty to disclose; and he ruled that Mr. Hanson had a right to cross-examine on any point Colonel Wakefield and any other witnesses for the Company's case.

In order to save time, Colonel Wakefield agreed to this, however convinced of its injustice. For the claims of the Company, having been sent up to the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales in January 1841, in accordance with the Land Claims Ordinance passed in that country, were published in the New Zealand Government Gazette; and that of Mr. Scott, was known only to the Commissioner.

Mr. Clarke junior then cross-examined Colonel Wakefield. His questions were intended to elicit some points of objection which we now heard for the first time: such as, that the anchorage of the ship was the only thing paid for; that no publicity had been given to the transaction; and that the natives had been induced to sign the deed by being told that the Queen would see their names and send them presents!

An attorney, who appeared for some other rival European claimant, also asked, whether Richard Davis (the missionary teacher) had not stated his possession of some of the land to Colonel Wakefield at the time of the sale. Colonel Wakefield answered that he had not, "but that his refusal to sell Richard Davis a box of pipes had offended him."

Colonel Wakefield was then called upon to produce further evidence in support of the deed. Dr. Dorset

EVIDENCE OF E PUNI.

and I both went through the same process of examination and searching cross-examination by all parties. Mr. Halswell, who attended as Sub-Protector of Aborigines for Port Nicholson, also put occasional questions.

E Puni was afterwards called, and thoroughly confirmed our statements by his manly and straightforward evidence. Truth was in every feature, and conviction in every word. The old chief had asked me, some days before, what was the meaning of this Kaiwakawa or "man to decide," as the Commissioner was called among them, and what need there was of his relating the transaction? – "It was well known to everybody; why talk it all over again?" He had also asked me what he should say. I had answered him, "Kia pono, he oti ano!" "Let it be true; that is enough!" And he had nobly followed the simple instruction. Although he seemed somewhat confused, and at a loss to understand the object of such repeated and minute questions upon the points of a transaction which had been publicly known to so many, the searching examination could not elicit a syllable of contradiction in his evidence. I was indeed delighted to find that this nobleman among his fellows had not been changed or sullied in his integrity by the long delay, or by the active insinuations and artifices of our interested enemies.

Colonel Wakefield's own letter, in describing this whole day's scene to the Directors, so thoroughly conveys the impression which it had left on the mind of every spectator, that I shall not attempt to paraphrase his words: –

"In managing the case," he says, "and conducting this examination, I laboured under the disadvantage of complete inexperience in the rules of evidence, the

manner of procuring information by precise written questions, taken down before they were put to the witness. I had also to satisfy the Commissioners, jealously alive to every minutia, and two Native Protectors, one of them the local Judge and an experienced Magistrate and Commissioner at home, and to protect myself against two hostile practising lawyers, eager to trip me up, and ready to take advantage of the smallest discrepancy in the evidence."

"The scene," he adds, "gave one more the idea of the progress of a long-nurtured, vindictive family lawsuit, than that of a fair, equitable, and court-of-conscience investigation into the real merits of a treaty between a colonizing body and the aborigines, who are anxious to see its conditions fulfilled on both sides."

It could not have appeared to a mere spectator that the claims of the Company were considered fair and legitimate by the Court, until proof to the contrary should be adduced by opposing parties. On the contrary, the effect produced upon the mind of a stranger must have been, that the Court conceived the Company's Agent to have foully deceived the natives into the bargain by lying tricks and false promises, and to have vamped up a superficial and unreal claim; and that upon him lay the burden of removing this odious imputation.

On the next day, E Puni not appearing to be further examined, Mr. Spain called upon Colonel Wakefield for further evidence. He has recorded the words of his own answer to the Commissioner: –

"I had understood that Warepori always left E Puni to talk upon occasions of this nature. His evidence, stamped with truth, was before the Court; and I therefore did not think it necessary to call

COLONEL WAKEFIELD'S ANSWER.

Warepori, or, indeed, considering the position in which I found myself, any other witnesses in this case.

"I was prepared to rest the validity of the Company's title on the evidence already adduced. I might, perhaps, have called some other native witnesses; and, with the Commissioner's permission, I would state my reason for not doing so. I found myself by some means or other, I hardly knew how, deprived of the legal assistance on which I had relied, and unable to cope with the legal talent opposed to me. I had to satisfy, in the first place, the learned Commissioner, and I should have been well pleased if no one else had anything to do with the question; then two Protectors of Aborigines, one of them interpreter in the same cause in which, as an advocate, he cross-examined the witnesses whose evidence he transmitted to the Court. I had further to contend against two practising professional men, eager to trip me up, and to fasten on the smallest discrepancy in the evidence, as if this case were to be decided by all the niceties of English law.

"I moreover laboured under the disadvantage of having my case known to my opponent, whilst his had not been disclosed to me even by advertisement in the Government Gazette. I had also every reason to think that some of the witnesses I might have called had been tampered with.

"Under these circumstances, I thought I should not be justified in running any risk of prejudicing the Company's interests by my ignorance of the rules of evidence and the forms of law; and I begged therefore, respectfully, to leave the case as it stood with the Court."

The Commissioner did not think the case complete; and recommended Colonel Wakefield to call Warepori. He consented only on account of the recommendation. This chief, however, was not present, as he was suffering from an abscess in his head.

The Court, on the suggestion of Mr. Hanson, then called E Tako. This minor chief will be remembered as being a near relation of Barrett's wife; as having taken a most active part in the whole transaction; and as having received one of the six shares for distribution among the inhabitants of the Pipitea and Kumu toto villages. 16 He was one of the witnesses to whom Colonel Wakefield had alluded as having been tampered with. Mr. Scott (who claimed a tract of land at Kumu toto, in virtue of an alleged purchase from the Ngatimutunga tribe, when they resided here five years before our arrival) was proved, by E Tako's own confession, to have given him a mare and foal to look after the land in question. E Tako also admitted having signed the deed, having received one of the six shares, and having been present at the war-dance. But he asserted that he had only signed the deed because Barrett had told him that the Queen would see his name; that the payment was only made for the anchorage of the ship; and that he had only gone to Pitone at the time of the war-dance in order to speak to Warepori. He had evidently been well prepared with his answers beforehand. It was a painful exemplification of the corruption to which the natives had been subjected, by leaving them to the mercy of obstinate litigation and the false friendship of selfish land-sharks, and by allowing them to choose for themselves their prompters and advisers.

And the week closed by another day's cross-exami-

DILATORY PROGRESS.

nation of this witness by Mr. Halswell and Mr. Hanson; during which Colonel Wakefield retired early from the Court, apparently tired out by the harassing and vexatious nature of the proceedings.

In the afternoon, the Commissioner called upon Colonel Wakefield; who asked him how this technical investigation of the Company's titles was compatible with a declaration which he had formerly made, that he had come to carry out the agreement between the Company and the Government? Mr Spain acknowledged the incompatibility; but said that his orders were to investigate the claims.

A conversation ensued on the point of the fees of the Court, which had been put on an exceedingly high scale. According to that, the Company would have to pay 5000l. on a final report in favour of their grant of 1,000,000 acres, besides incidental fees of 1000l. more. The Commissioner declared his readiness to receive these fees under protest, and to recommend to the Governor that those on the final report should be remitted.

Colonel Wakefield now again put the case in the hands of Dr. Evans. For the Company, he refused to produce more evidence; but the Court ordered him to call more native witnesses who had been parties to the deed of sale, and adjourned in order to give time for procuring the attendance of E Puni and Warepori.

The next day being the Queen's birthday, and neither of these chiefs having chosen to appear, the Commissioner proposed to adjourn the Court. Great coquetting ensued – Mr. Spain wishing the parties before him to apply for a holiday, and the parties wishing the idea to originate with the learned Commissioner; all apparently fearful of being accused of causing unnecessary delay: so it ended in the

Commissioner sitting all day, with nothing before him.

The next day a report was brought that Warepori was dead. The Court adjourned, and proceeded bodily to Nga hauranga, where he was lying very ill; a surgeon, who accompanied the party, blistered and cupped the invalid till he rallied.

Mr. Spain had given out that there would be no Court the next day. But, in the absence of the Company's Counsel, Mr. Hanson demanded that the case of Mr. Tod, another rival claimant, might be brought on. The Court acceded; and the case was partly heard, without the knowledge of any one but the Court, the claimant, and his Counsel. The next day, Dr. Evans, who considered the taking this case in the midst of the Company's case as most informal, cross-examined Mr. Tod. His claim broke down most lamentably. It was proved that he had given 12l. in January 1840 for two small plots of ground to two natives, who had not signed the deed of the Company, but belonged to a tribe of which the chief had signed, and had both received a share of the goods. One of them had even at a later period expressed remorse for having taken Tod's money, and offered to return it. Dr. Evans elicited some curious contradictions from Mr. Tod; who stated that he had come from Australia to Port Nicholson solely for the benefit of his wife's health, and then acknowledged that he had brought with him deeds for the purchase of land which had been prepared in anticipation at Sydney.

And so the tedious affair dragged on. Now a holiday was taken to arrange the mass of evidence which had accumulated; now a squabble among the lawyers found its way to the gossips of the beach; now some unusual bit of contradictory evidence or

PUBLIC MEETING.

perjury was reported by an idler very much in want of employment, who had wasted an hour or two on the deserted benches of the wooden house in which the Court was held.

For the public had long got weary of listening to the same dull questions and answers. During the first week, the Court had been crowded with spectators, both native and European; but after that, scarcely any one attended, except the people who were paid for their attendance, to whom it was a very profitable employment, and the witness. Dull rumours sometimes reached the public that Moihi ("Moses") or Aperahama ("Abraham"), or some other unknown native of Te Aro with a missionary name, had been giving his evidence for three days; and people wondered what his evidence could have to do with the affair. At length, the only knowledge that the Court was still going on was gathered from seeing Mr. Clarke junior and Mr. Campbell, the Surveyor of the Court, hunting about in couples from one Maori pa to the other, in the morning and afternoon, and the Commissioner's Clerk swaggering about the beach by himself, to the great delight of the loitering Maori children and dogs.

Early in June, one of the usual public meetings had expressed a very strong feeling of the injury which would arise to the settlement from the delay apparently inevitable should the Court continue its proceedings in the same manner as during the first few weeks.

But the Court sat on, without hurrying, as though to show that it cared no more for public meetings than did any other of the institutions in New Zealand which were worked by the local Government so as to injure the settlers.

Two or three articles, commenting on the dilatory progress of the Commission, and the incompatibility of

the two offices performed by Mr. Clarke junior, had appeared in the Wellington newspaper at about the same time as the meeting was held.

But a letter from the Crown Prosecutor, demanding the author and threatening an action for libel, had been the only effect of this demonstration on the part of the popular organ.

If such was the impression produced upon the Europeans by this lingering burlesque of a Court of Equity, by its very imperious and opinionated judge, by its childish interpreter protecting the aborigines on his left hand, by its squabbling lawyers, by its absurd pretensions to great etiquette and formality, by its quantity of writing and accumulating documents, and by its positive loss of any importance or interest; the natives, who had also failed to receive any impression of the dignity, weight, or influence of the institution, proved more and more how mischievous were the principles enforced by its operation. Daily new obstruction was made to the peaceable progress of the settlers; new claims started up on all sides, in places which would probably not be adjudicated upon by the Commissioner for many months to come; and by the end of July, before a single case had been brought to a close, no settler attempted to occupy land, whether waste or not, except in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, or in the valley of the Hutt. Even in these cases, if the natives discovered the settler soon after his first labours, they commenced their system of annoyance, and told him that "Spain and Clarke" – for these two gentlemen were always associated together by the Maori – would tell him that the land had not been paid for.

A few other slighter negligences of the Government were complained of during these three months.

GOVERNMENT NEGLIGENCE.

The miserable police establishment, of Wellington had become very inefficient; and robberies of stores and houses along the beach were of very frequent occurrence.

The want of an insolvent-law was beginning to be felt, as the impossibility of occupying country land until the question of claims should be settled was beginning to have its effect; and several persons, ignorant of business, and who had been forced into keen competition with one another, had become insolvent shopkeepers instead of thriving farmers.

The whalers complained loudly of the duties imposed upon spirits and tobacco, which are both articles of great consumption at the shore stations. The tobacco, especially, is employed to procure fire-wood and provisions for the party from the natives. They, not understanding at all how the Queen could make the White people pay twice as much for it as before she had anything to do with the country, were staunch in refusing to take any smaller quantity than before for a pig or a basket of potatoes. And the Wellington merchants, who had now got most of the stations dependent on them for supplies, and the Wellington people generally, who appreciated the importance of the whaling trade to the commerce of the port and town, took up the grievance as their own.

At the beginning of July, the most recent dates from the metropolis reached Wellington again through Sydney, as we had none less than three months old from Auckland direct. The only intelligence from the stagnant capital was, that a Gazette had been published there officially in the Maori language. If used with talent and judgment, this might indeed have been made a powerful engine for the civilization of the natives. Now generally able to read, they seized on all print in

their own language with the greatest avidity; and any publication on other than merely religious subjects, and backed by authority and influential names, would be sure to attract their eager notice as a new toy. An advertisement in Maori, by Mr. Lyon, the shopkeeper whom I have before described as dealing extensively with the Maories, was exciting their lively delight at this time in Wellington, and all along the neighbouring coast, although it only enumerated the various articles which he had for sale. But the settlers, who observed that Mr. Clarke senior was the principal conductor of the Maori Gazette, augured but little good from his periodical instructions.

Nothing could be more encouraging than the mild climate and the unceasing bounty of nature during these winter months. In May, which answers to the chill and foggy November of England, peas were in full bloom, small salads in every stage of growth, and almost all vegetation unchecked by the season. It was likened by Scotchmen to the second month of spring in their former land.

The produce of garden vegetables as a speculation had been long abandoned, on account of the great ease with which every one could supply himself. No matter how bare, exposed, or rough the spot of ground, excellent vegetables could be produced by the most careless cultivation. The wild pasture on the hills had improved wonderfully under the constant browsing and tread of the cattle. Grass was replacing the fern all over the barren-looking hills that were clear of timber; and, in riding after cattle, many spots could hardly be recognised, owing to the great change that had taken place.

And this rich pasture and abundant supply of choice vegetables from comparatively neglected gardens con-

MR. KETTLE'S EXPLORING EXPEDITION.

tinued during June, the centre winter month, which rather resembled a fine English October in its pleasantness of temperature.

Towards the end of May, a sudden melting of the snows on the Tararua range had caused rather a high flood in the valley of the Hutt; and in the middle of June there were a few days of rough gales and heavy rains.

The little steam-mill was grinding and sawing incessantly; several experiments were on foot for inventing machines to prepare the phormium tenax; and a brewery was already established, although the hops had yet to be imported from Sydney.

The Mechanics' Institute was in active operation, and lectures were delivered weekly on various subjects to respectable and attentive audiences.

About the middle of June, Mr. Charles Kettle, who had been performing the duties of Assistant-Surveyor to the Company at Manawatu, returned to Wellington from an exploring journey into he interior.

He was accompanied by Mr. Alfred Wills, one of the Cadets, and a small party of labourers to carry provisions and baggage; and one of the principal chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa, named E Ahu, with some members of his family and two or three slaves, had acted as guides to the expedition.

They had ascended the Manawatu to a considerable distance above the gorge between the Tararua and Ruahine ranges, which I have before spoken of as described to me by Jack Duff the trader. Striking to the east and south, they left the river, and crossed some of the low ridges in which the N. E. extremity of the Tararua terminates; and from thence saw a vast extent of mania, or grass plain country, interspersed with groves of timber, and watered by the tributaries

of the Manawatu, of the rivers which descend into Hawke's Bay, and of the Ruamahanga, which flows into the sea at Wairarapa, or Palliser Bay.

They saw the main branch of the Manawatu stretching towards the North, along the N. E. base of the Ruahine range. The natives told them that it took its rise in the gorges between that and the Kai Manawa range, whose northern extremity abuts on Lake Taupo, and that a canoe might proceed for three weeks further up its course.

Where they left, the Manawatu river was about 90 miles, by its windings, from the sea. But its course is exceedingly tortuous; so much so, that the natives have a legend that it was formed by an Atua, or "Evil Spirit," who was in the form of a large totara tree, and wormed himself along like an eel on his way from the east coast to Cook's Strait. His name was Okatia; and he was said to have followed the course of a large tributary of the Manawatu, called Tirumea, which takes its source in the Puketoi mountains. The Puketoi range lies between the plain of the three rivers and the east coast, in a N. and S. direction, the tributaries of the Hauriri river in Hawke's Bay flowing round its northern base.

The expedition now descended the ridge into the upper part of the Ruamahanga or Wairarapa plain, and proceeded along its eastern side, crossing many tributaries of the river which flows down its centre, until they reached a village of the Ngatikahuhunu tribe.

After being received very hospitably by these people, they proceeded to the southward, keeping about halfway between the base of the eastern spurs of the Tararua and the main river.

Mr. Kettle described the country between the

PLAIN OF RUAMAHANGA.

Manawatu and the Ruamahanga plain as alternate forest and fern land, and conceived that the ridges might have been entirely avoided, had they made a circuit round their north-eastern extremities. Thus, the plain of the upper Manawatu was evidently in easy connexion with those so often described by various travellers about the country which opens on to Hawke's Bay, and also with the vast plain of the Ruamahanga. And through the gorge of the Manawatu, this immense tract of available and almost uninhabited country may be connected with that which lies between Cook's Strait and the Ruahine and Tararua ranges, and around Mount Egmont as far north as Mokau.

Although the party suffered severely from the weather, which was constantly wet at this season of the year where they were travelling, round the spurs of one of the great dividing ranges of the island, yet all concurred in describing the plain of Ruamahanga as a most delightful tract of country.

The plain was described as 60 miles in length, from the ridges which separate it from the upper Manawatu to the sea; and of an average width of 12 miles between the Puketoi range, which divides it from the east coast, and the Tararua range, and that long spur of it the Rimutaka, which lies between the Hutt and the Ruamahanga.

The Wairarapa lake, 10 miles in length, and averaging two in width, fills up the lower part of the plain.

They failed in two successive attempts to discover a passable path over the Rimutaka; and endured considerable hardship from the continued heavy rains among the hills, and from the want of food experienced since they had left the plain, where the nu-

merous pigeons, and an occasional pig caught from the wild herds whose traces they were constantly observing, had for some days supplied them. A third attempt, ascending the Rimutaka nearly due west of the middle of the lake, was more successful; and they found their way to the head of the Pakiritahi, a small tributary of the Hutt running northward for five miles. It joins the Hutt about 15 miles from the beach at Pitone. Descending the courses of the tributary and the main stream, they at length arrived at the house of Mr. Mason, the most distant out-settler in the lower valley of the Hutt, on the 7th of June, 32 days after they had started from the survey station at the Manawatu.

They arrived half starved and nearly worn out with fatigue, with but a few rags left on their backs. I met some of them on the road between Wellington and Pitone the same evening; and they certainly did look most miserable objects, although they had procured a change of clothing from their friends on the Hutt.

Great credit was due to them for the perseverance which they had shown in attaining their object. They started from the survey station with only a week's provisions; and had only the clothes on their backs when they left the Manawatu, after paying the natives who had poled the canoes up. More than once, the men and the natives had despaired of reaching Wellington, after repeatedly losing their way in the eastern gorges of the Rimutaka; and during several days before reaching the settlements, they had lived on the wild cabbages which they found near the banks of the river. But Mr. Kettle had encouraged them to proceed, by his example as well as his cheerful spirit. Wet through during nearly the

ITS NATURE AND EXTENT.

whole journey, and lying on the damp ground every night exposed to heavy rains, with the scantiest covering, not a single member of the party, however, suffered any injury to his health; and after a few days' good feeding at Wellington, natives and White men were all as fresh and hearty as ever.

Mr. Kettle's expedition was of great importance, as proving that an immense district of land of the finest character lay in the immediate neighbourhood of Wellington, and must eventually be dependent on the harbour of Port Nicholson for import and export.

It had the advantage of being almost unoccupied; the population of the solitary pa being very small, while another scanty tribe lived entirely on the narrow strip of land between Lake Wairarapa and the sea.

Mr. Kettle described the plain of Ruamahanga as resembling in appearance a vast English park on a magnified scale. Alternate tracts of the finest primaeval forest, and of pasture-land covered with mixed fern and grass and small shrubs, lay between the numerous streams which are tributary to the Ruamahanga river.

We knew already, since the bridle-road had been made, how easy was the communication, both by land and by sea, with the tract of level land bordering on Cook's Strait, and extending towards Mokau. And it was foreseen that no insurmountable obstacle existed to the formation of roads from the Hutt, over the Rimutaka range, into the plain of the Ruamahanga. To complete the compactness of the district surrounding the little mountainous tract in which lie Port Nicholson and the valley of the Hutt on all sides but the south, the communication between the eastern and western plains was established by the Manawatu to

the north of the Tararua range. And the idea, which had been at one time so prevalent, that New Zealand was a very mountainous and rugged country, began to be dispelled. Everybody now acknowledged that the comparatively level and easily accessible country far surpassed the difficult and impracticable part in extent.

16 Chap. IV. of Vol. I., page 89.

CHAPTER IX

THE CHIEF E AHU.

CHAPTER IX.

The Chief E Ahu – He quells Rangihaeata's noisy arrogance – He avoids the missionary Natives – Journey to Otaki and Ohau – The Chief's son, Wahine iti – Lakes – The Patriarch Watanui – Inland Journey – Rangitikei – Obstructions offered to Settlers by missionary Natives – Mr. Mason, the Missionary – Mr. Dawson, the Police Magistrate – Native dispute – Consequences – Good faith and honest pride of Rangi Tauwira – The town of "Petre" – E Kuru accompanies me to Wellington – Inland path – Bivouac – Race – The Oroua, or Styx – Exaggerated missionary notions – Hypocrisy – Its punishment – The Surveying Station – Steam Saw-mill – Reconciliation of two hostile Chiefs – The Patriarch's Family – A noble result of Mr. Hadfield's missionary teaching – Rauperaha sends his slaves to obstruct settlers on the Hutt.

I MADE the acquaintance of the chief E Ahu during his stay of two or three weeks in Wellington, and joined him when he returned to his own residence on the Ohau river, as I was again bound for Wanganui.

This old chief is of the highest rank in the Ngatiraukawa tribe, being of an older branch than even Watanui, though of the same family. He had taken an eager part in the selling of Manawatu to Colonel Wakefield; being exceedingly anxious to obtain for his people the same advantages which were enjoyed by the natives in Port Nicholson from the proximity of a White settlement.

E Ahu was the same chief who had led the first party from Taupo to the assistance of Rauperaha in subduing the aboriginal inhabitants of Cook's Strait, and who had afterwards compelled the rest of the tribe to embrace the conqueror's offer of a location on

the sea-coast, to reap the advantages of trade with the White man, by burning down the villages of Taupo.

I found him very fond of his rank and conscious of his authority as a great chief; but he had acquired many repulsive qualities as a cruel and merciless warrior, and a considerable share of arrogance and insolence from his early dealings with the rude traders and visitors of the time before us. His character and that of his family is best expressed by the names given to them by those of that rough class who were most acquainted with them. They called E Ahu "The "Badger," and E Wara and Te Wainuku, his two nearest male relations, "The Bully" and "The Sneak."

He was easily impressed, however, with the behaviour which he must adopt in order to make himself agreeable to gentlemen. Whether by his conciliating manner towards them, or by the mere fact of his having bought the land and held out hopes that they should have White men amongst them, "Wide-awake" had become a great favourite with the chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa during his negotiation with them at Otaki. E Ahu, who had received ample payment for his men employed in "Wide-awake's" service, and who had enjoyed the unlimited hospitality of his house at Wellington, seemed determined to show me his gratitude, and always behaved to me as one chief to another.

I was witness to a curious scene on the way. Having walked much faster than the natives, I got a boat at the end of the road, and arrived by myself at Toms' inn at Parramatta. Rangihaeata was there, very noisy, asking for spirits as usual; and he requested me to buy him a large quantity, in so arrogant a tone that I refused in rather a decided manner.

He then went on storming about the land; saying

RANGIHAEATA'S ARROGANCE.

that Wide-awake and I should not have any more; that Porirua was not paid for, and that he would never let White people come and live there. He asked whether we wanted it all, that we were so greedy; and said he would never sell it unless he received "money gold" in casks as high as he could reach. I did not attempt to answer him, as he was much excited with drink, and indeed gave one no opportunity of putting in a word. As he was going out, after finding that I sat still smoking without listening to his bullying and insulting diatribe, I observed that I had been "all ears, because he was all mouth, and that two mouths could not talk where one filled the house;" which amused some of his own followers.

I found him calmer in the pa some little time afterwards, and he asked me whether E Ahu was coming after me. When I answered that he was, he ran on about Manawatu, and Wanganui, and Taranaki, and all the land being his everywhere; and said he was very angry with the Ngatiraukawa for having sold Manawatu. "You shall see," said he, "how I will boo-boo-boo at E Ahu about it when he comes;" meaning how he would "bounce." I answered very quietly, "It is good. I will look when the chiefs begin to speak."

I had a great idea that Rangi would boo-boo-boo in vain; for I knew that he had tried to prevent the sale by every argument in his power, both here, when the first Surveyors went to Manawatu, accompanied by two or three chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa, and also at the great conference at Otaki, when the sale was finally agreed to; but that E Puke and several other of the Ngatiraukawa had laughed at all that he said, and told him to go away, for he had nothing to do with it.

Rangihaeata, however, kept showing me the gri-

maces of defiance which he meant to make when E Ahu should come. And the slaves and attendants were all chuckling, and explaining to me every now and then that Mokau, as he was often called, was exceedingly angry. I took no notice of all this, till E Ahu arrived in a canoe which had been sent for him. I then told him of the threat which Rangi had made. He gave a low laugh, and said to me, "Be a looker-on!"

The greeting was a mixture of friendliness and distant pride, although the two chiefs were very nearly related. Clean fern was strewn in two places, on opposite sides of the court-yard in the midst of the filthy little pa which is close to Toms' house. On one of these wariki, or "strewings," Rangihaeata was sitting in state with all his attendants. The visitors were motioned to the other.

While the meal of hospitality was cooking in the iron pots, Rangihaeata rose to speak. His words were a mere repetition of what he had roared in my ears. He began by tracing his own descent and history, and saying all the land was his, and that the White men were greedy and wanted to take it all. The story about the casks of "money gold" followed. He then warmed gradually up, and spoke louder and more wildly, as he rebuked E Ahu for having sold Manawatu of his own accord, without consulting him, who was the real owner, and for having invited White men to go and live there. But his speech was moderate and his manner tame compared with what his boasting had led me to expect; although they still partook largely of that bullying tone and undignified character from which his behaviour was never free.

E Ahu then rose up, and answered him in few, but calm and convincing words, "You have said that all

E AHU AVOIDS MISSIONARY NATIVES.

the land is yours," said he; "I do not know; perhaps it is. You relate as an evil deed that I took upon myself to sell Manawatu to the White man. You say that it was not straight. Look at me! I E Ahu sold Manawatu. I alone, of my own accord. I came not to consult you. I was not good to do so; I am still not good to do so. I care not for your thoughts on the matter. You have described your pedigree and spoken much of your great name. I too had ancestors and a father. I have a name. It is enough; I have done."

No one ventured to answer this claim, which I believe was true, to a higher descent than that of Rangihaeata; whose fame was derived rather from his constant companionship with Rauperaha, and his bullying and boastful demeanour, than from his rank by blood.

In the morning they seemed very good friends; and we proceeded to Pukerua rather late. We reached that pa towards dusk, and had just eaten our meal when the missionary bell rang for prayers. E Ahu immediately got up, and told the boys to shoulder their loads. He said he could never sleep in this village, as he knew the people would sing hymns and talk hanga noaiho, or "nonsense," all night. So we encamped under a natural arch of rock about a mile further along the beach. I rolled myself up in a robe of opossum-skins from New South Wales, and picked out a spot in the shingly beach pretty free from rocky protuberances.

After sleeping very soundly for some hours, I was awakened by the bustle of preparation; and found that the chief had had enough rest, and wished to proceed, as he was anxious to get home. I was nothing loath, and we pushed on by the light of the moon, which had now risen, as far as Wainui, when daylight appeared.

Resting occasionally to eat, we reached Otaki the same day, having walked about 24 miles from our last encampment.

We stopped two days there, and then proceeded to Ohau. About six miles up the fertile valley of this river, passing through rich cultivations all the way, we reached the residence of the chief in his favourite garden. I shall pass over the usual greetings, the pleasing hospitality, and the delightful quiet of two or three days, during which I became much attached to the family of this chief. His eldest son, especially, a handsome active lad of about 13, was of a very engaging disposition; and showed an eager desire to obtain the friendship and acquire the ways of the White man. Although so young, he seemed to foresee the duties which would devolve upon him when he should succeed to the chieftainship; and he proved by every action towards me, and every idea which he expressed, how delighted he should be if he might be enabled by early instruction to assimilate his thoughts, his objects, and his ambition, to those of the civilized race. I shall hereafter have to relate a striking proof of this feeling.

Bidding adieu to this new circle of acquaintances, I proceeded with a lad whom E Ahu had directed to carry my baggage as far as Rangitikei. We crossed a pretty lake close to the north of E Ahu's settlement, called. Papai Tonga, or "Beautiful South," and walked over about four miles of rich level forest country, to the shore of another lake, called Horowenua, or "Landslip." After I had fired one or two shots, a canoe came to us from a village at the further end, and bore us to the residence of Watanui, on the stream which drains the waters of the lake to the coast.

I slept here one night, and then proceeded, much

INLAND JOURNEY.

impressed with the very chieftain-like bearing of Watanui. While he is known as a renowned leader in war, he has also the reputation of great mildness and justice. He reminded me much of Heuheu in his kingly and herculean person, and his thorough gentlemanly manner.

I proceeded by an inland path to the banks of the Manawatu, which we struck at a place called Aratangata, or "Man's Path," about four miles below the spot where Lewis had built his schooner.

Watanui has some potato-grounds here, in which we found his eldest son Billy; who lent me his canoe to go down to the mouth of the river. Here an English lad, who had lost both his arms by an accident with a cannon on board the Cuba, kept a house of entertainment and a ferry.

I am almost tired of describing fine districts of country. Suffice it to say, that the level tract which I had passed over between the Ohau and the Manawatu, about five miles from the coast, was as promising and as beautiful as any that I had yet seen, consisting of alternate wood and fine pasture land, with occasional swamps only waiting to be drained to be as available as any of the drier country.

I was accompanied from Manawatu to Rangitikei by the wife and brother of Taratoa, the chief whose acquaintance I had made in so curious a way on my last walk from Wanganui. As the rivers were swollen, and it had been reported that no natives were at the mouth, I accompanied these people to their potato-grounds about six miles up the eastern bank, opposite to the pa of the Ngatiapa. They behaved with great kindness and regard towards me; and I got a canoe from the other side, wished them farewell, and crossed over to the village. Here the whole of the

Ngatiapa residing on this river, who are not above a hundred in number, have their abode. The country is perfectly level in every direction for many miles about here, and most fertile. In the open spots, the grass is as thick and luxuriant as though it had been carefully sown and cultivated.

I got a boy to carry my pack at this village, and struck on to the beach about six miles north of the mouth of the river, passing all the way through open pasture country.

We had some trouble in crossing the Turakina, and went up to the pa on the Wangaihu to sleep and get a canoe in the morning. This small village is about a mile from the mouth. We reached Wanganui early the next day.

Things were but little altered with the unfortunate little band of settlers. They were living on, however, by means of their gardens and some barter with the natives. Numerous attempts to obtain possession of sections on various spots in the district had failed. The most friendly professions of those who offered to put settlers in possession for a consideration had proved hollow and of no avail; for, after the settler had begun his operations, some new claimant would start up and interrupt, threaten, and bully, till the unfortunate sectionist was obliged to abandon his intentions and put up with his first loss, as the man with whom he had made the bargain generally retired upon the appearance of the new claimant.

Mawai and E Tu had so signally failed in the performance of their promise to locate people in the meanwhile, that I hardly thought it necessary to explain that Colonel Wakefield had not acceded to their proposition, because he thought such a course might be considered by the Land Commissioner as an acknowledg-

NATIVE OBSTRUCTIONS TO SETTLERS.

ment that the original bargain was an incomplete one; and because, also, their demand was exorbitant, and it did not seem at all certain that they possessed the power to control all the recalcitrants. E Kuru and several other chiefs, now that their proposition was public, loudly ridiculed the existence of such an idea, and doubted whether their influence and authority would extend over even their own fellow-villagers. He congratulated me on having escaped from a snare, which he said would have cost a ship-load of goods, without gaining peaceable possession of any but a very small portion of the disputed land.

I had come hither to break up my establishment, and to pull down my house; as I wished to show the natives that I considered they had, as a body, broken faith with me. I reminded them that they had pressed me to go to Port Nicholson and bring them payment for the land, and White men; and that they had returned my acceptance of their invitation by not leaving the White men land on which to grow their food. E Kuru was much grieved at my decision, but acknowledged its justice. Rangi Tauwira came from his settlement on purpose to beg me not to pull the house down. He pointed out the rafters which he had himself cut out, and related the history of the totara trees from which they were formed. He said, with tears in his eyes, that it would be a bad word for Wanganui that I should pull down "Ware Wikitoria" because the natives had told lies. But he allowed that I had every right to retreat with anger and indignation from the place; and he regretted that I had not followed his advice, of covering the land with White people immediately after the sale, "before the slippery hearts of the Maori had had time to change."

I sold all my goods and chattels by auction; and in

about three days afterwards the house was levelled to the ground by my gang of boys.

The Putikiwaranui natives had sent a letter in the middle of May to Mr. Spain, stating that the north side of the river had been purchased, but their side had not, and begging him to come and see them and hear what they had to say. He had answered, that after he had done investigating the sale at Port Nicholson he would come and hear the rights of their sale; and concluded by begging them to live peaceably with the Europeans until he should come.

On my applying to them again to allow the settlers to locate quietly pending the arrival of the Commissioner, they had shown me this letter, and refused to allow anything of the sort. They had now changed their tone, and again said that they would not sell the land at all. Mr. Mason had been heard by the settlers to say, that he thought the natives required a large tract of land, as it was expedient they should learn to cultivate wheat. He had also said, on more than one occasion, that he could get on much better with the natives if there were no White people here at all. And he acknowledged that he had never attempted to explain to the natives the value of the Reserves made for them. I should think, from the suspicion with which they always treated my words whenever I broached this subject to them myself, that they had rather been forewarned against this provision as a mere ruse to deceive them.

A circumstance which occurred while I was here, showed plainly the manner in which Mr. Dawson, the officer of all work, persisted in supporting Mr. Mason's views.

A sectionist, invited by Rangi Tauwira to occupy a section near his settlement, had authorized Yankee

GOOD FAITH OF RANGI TAUWIRA.

Smith to go with a companion and saw timber from the forest with which it was covered. The sawyers began by building a small hut, and carrying their goods to it from the settlement, with the assistance of Rangi Tauwira and his people.

Soon after they had located, Mawai, with about forty armed followers, came up the creek, on whose banks the spot was situated, in canoes, with the avowed intention of carrying the things back to the town. Rangi, who saw them pass his settlement at the mouth of the creek, and had heard of their design, walked up to the scene of action, with his brother and one of his sons, the only people at that moment in his village. They sat down quietly near the hut, laying their arms in front of them. Mawai and his followers began to lift some of the goods, and to carry them towards the canoe. The old chieftain said to them quietly, drawing his hand across his neck, "Begin with my head, for that must go first." And the forty marauders immediately dropped their bundles, got into their canoe, and returned as they had come to their village. Mr. Mason immediately wrote to his friend Mr. Dawson, to say that he was sure bloodshed would ensue, and that the most dreadful consequences would be sure to follow should not some measures be taken instantly to check the dispute: the followers of Mawai were bent on pursuing the quarrel; and a fearful feud would certainly be caused among the natives should they persist in this intention. There seemed no great need for this alarm, after forty armed men had retreated in panic from the simple authority of one chief. They well knew that a numerous band of warriors would soon be collected by the mandate of Rangi Tauwira, and that they would be inevitably overwhelmed in any contest with his powerful following. Mr. Dawson,

however, appeared to place implicit faith in Mr Mason's statement, and sent instantly for Yankee Smith. He told him, that if he did not immediately bring all his things away, and abandon the idea of occupying the disputed land, he would bind him over in recognizances of 200l. to keep the peace, and forfeit them on any attempt to return to the place. One would have thought that the persons who proposed to disturb the peace were those who should have been bound over; and that recognizances should have been demanded from the inhabitants of Mr. Mason's village, whom he declared to be intent on such riotous proceedings. I told Smith this opinion of mine, and that I thought he might continue his occupation without the slightest fear of Mr. Dawson's threatened illegal interference. I was induced so to advise him, because I felt sure in my own mind that the Putikiwaranui men had already yielded to the firm rebuke of Rangi, and that Mr. Mason's predictions were entirely unfounded and imaginary. But Smith was of a timid character: he feared for his pockets, should the decision of the magistrate be considered legal, and gave up the point, much to Rangi's regret.

As soon as I heard of the old man's spirited and honourable conduct, I manned my canoe and pulled up to his village, saluted him in formal style, and threw my opossum robe round his shoulders. I then stayed the greater part of the day and all night at his village, and bade him farewell in the morning, after assuring him repeatedly that his had indeed been the conduct of a rangatira and of a White man's friend. He was exceedingly proud of the gift and of the manner in which it was made. Whenever I visited him afterwards, he always put on the opossum robe when he first saw me, and wore it while I remained

TOWN AT WANGANUI CALLED "PETRE."

with him. He thus wished to prove that he considered it as a distinguished mark of honour and affection.

I have omitted to state, that the laying out of a town at Wanganui, in quarter-acre sections, had been approved by the Directors of the Company; and a selection had taken place, every alternate town-section being reserved for the Company. The town was named after Lord Petre, who was a most unfailing friend of the colony in England, and one of the Directors of the Company.

On my return to Port Nicholson, I was accompanied by E Kuru and a large train of his relatives. The chief wished to see Colonel Wakefield and Mr. Spain, in order to urge the speedy settlement of the momentous question. Colonel Wakefield, thinking to expedite matters, had begged me to procure his attendance and that of as many of the other parties to the deed as possible, in order that they might give their evidence before the Commissioner at Wellington. Macgregor, who had signed the deed as a witness, and I, had already been examined as to this sale by the Commissioner.

E Kuru, however, refused to give his evidence anywhere but at Wanganui. He felt his honour and credit at stake in the affair; and wished that each person concerned should give his evidence openly before all those who had assisted at the transaction, and on the spot where it had taken place.

Some of his relations were bound on a visit to the natives in Palliser Bay; and, with my boys, we mustered about 40 head. Our progress was of course slow, and we had again to travel inland on account of the freshets in the rivers. We slept one night at the Wangaihu pa, and the next day ascended the valley of the Turakina about three miles, before we could find

inhabitants or a canoe. A grand upset took place in crossing; and some hours were taken up in drying the wet blankets and guns, and making up by a feast for the ducking. So we had to bivouac on the beach, nearly in the same spot where I had once suffered so much from the cold on a former occasion.

The next night we got to the pa up the Rangitikei.

In the morning we crossed in canoes, with some difficulty from the swollen waters of the river, which is here extremely rapid.

I had heard of a road leading across from this spot to the banks of the Manawatu, and expressed my wish to explore it to E Kuru and the other chief men of the party. Although they were at first very averse to this plan, as none of the party had been that road, and the tribes were all recently at war with E Kuru and his people at Waikanae, I at last persuaded them. I depended on the friendship which I had lately cemented with the chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa, and on the fact that so many of my boys were closely allied to the inhabitants of Manawatu by their Taupo blood, for preventing any disagreement between the formerly hostile tribes while I should be with the party.

We inquired our way from some of the Ngatiapa natives who were acquainted with it, and pushed along to the southward. We travelled all day through open pasture land, the path apparently avoiding the timbered parts which rose in various directions like the islands and promontories of a coast. Towards dusk we entered into a spacious kind of bay among the wood, and reached the borders of a swamp which filled one-half of it. As we had been warned that this roto, or "swamp," might be very deep if the waters were out, we thought it prudent to encamp till daylight. The young men soon knocked up some sheds

THE OROUA, OR STYX.

with branches of the tutu, a shrub which grows in great abundance on all the open lands, and covered them with flax-leaves, reeds, and fern. The remaining stock of potatoes was then roasted and eaten; and we slept very comfortably till daylight, notwithstanding the mist which rose from the wide expanse of swamp and shrouded us in cold damp.

At break of day, we followed the track across the swamp, about a mile, to the edge of the wood. The water was only a little above our knees after all, but painfully cold. E Kuru shouted out a challenge for who should reach the other side first; and merry yells of excitement, and laughter at the misfortunes of those who now and then tripped up against a tuft of flax and fell at full length into the muddy water, kept our spirits up. At the edge of the wood we found a family which was catching eels in a creek close by. They were of one of the aboriginal tribes, a remnant of the few natives left in tributary freedom after Rauperaha's invasion. They cooked us some potatoes and eels, and my boys shot several pigeons while we were drying our wet things. About two miles through the forest, which almost entirely consisted of magnificent totara trees, brought us to the banks of the Oroua, a tributary of the Manawatu, which has been christened the "Styx" by the Company's Surveyors. After some trouble in procuring a canoe, we descended this river about 10 miles to its confluence with the main river, where a large pa, called Puke Totara, is situated. This is about 42 miles from the sea by the windings of the Manawatu. We were here shown into houses assigned for our reception.

The district through which the Oroua runs is of the richest alluvial character, being subject to very high floods. When we descended it, the water was in most

places 10 feet below the top of the bank; but there were abundant marks of recent inundation on the trees to the height of three feet above the ground. A scanty population reaps a plentiful and easy harvest from some chosen spots along the immediate banks; retreating to the pa or to elevated spots when the waters rise. I was told that a dispute was existing between the inhabitants and Rauperaha as to the right to cut the totara trees, which are renowned for their size and quality. The conqueror had allowed these vanquished tribes to live here on sufferance, reserving the timber for himself; but since the spread of the doctrines of Christianity and peace among so many of his former followers as well as among themselves, the tributaries had not feared to defy Rauperaha, and to assert their right to the land and the timber too.

We had arrived on a Saturday night. The next day I met with a remarkable instance of the strait-laced and puritanical way in which these people had learned to observe the forms of the Christian religion.

I was very anxious to get to the survey station at Kare kare, or "Dig-dig," about 24 miles lower down the river; and, after the morning service, I asked the man who seemed to have the principal authority here to let me have a canoe for the purpose. He answered, that the people were all missionaries, and it was not straight to pull in canoes on the "week." (For the natives, curiously enough, have adopted the word wiki, missionary for "week," to mean the first day in it.)

I told him I did not want any of his men, but only a canoe; as I had plenty of boys of my own who were "devils," and did not fear paddling down a river on a Sunday. But he told me that the very canoes were all tapu on the "week," and that the thing was quite

HYPOCRISY – ITS PUNISHMENT.

impossible. I very much ridiculed the idea of his attempting to prove that the canoes kept the Sabbath. I tried payment; but as this was before a crowd of people, in the midst of the pa, he still refused, saying it was not lawful to buy and sell on the "week."

Some cooked food, hot from the iron pots, was now brought round; and two or three well-filled kits were placed before me. This was the second time that a hot meal had been prepared that day. I got up and kicked the pile of kits which had been assigned to me all over the ground, told my boys to carry my bundles, and went out of the pa and encamped among the fern close by, saying that if men ought not to paddle, women ought not to cook; and that if canoes were tapu, iron pots and firewood were so too And I refused to re-enter the fence of the pa.

The hypocrite came to me soon afterwards by himself, and said that although it was wrong to buy and sell, it was allowed to receive a present on the "week;" and began to inquire what-sized present I was inclined to give. So that at length, after much haggling, we effected a regular bargain: he agreeing to find a small canoe which was not tapu, and a man to go with me and bring it back, and I to give him a pound of tobacco. I selected one of my boys to go with me, as the little shell, which was brought round to a secluded spot on the river-bank, would only hold three, and that by skilful balancing. It was only about 12 feet long and 30 inches broad.

I resolved, however, that the man should not get off without full publicity being given to his mean subterfuge. So I shouted to one of my boys, before I descended the hill, to bring me one of my double-barrelled guns. When it came, I began writing with a knife upon the stock. The curiosity excited by the call and

my singular proceeding soon attracted the whole population of the pa to the spot where the strict observer of the Sabbath had hoped to receive his pound of tobacco without being seen.

After I had written, I rose, and addressed him in loud tones so that every one might hear. "You have said," cried I, "that you refused me a canoe because it is the week – because the canoes are tapu, and because the men must not paddle. And you have said that it is wrong to buy and sell on the week. But the canoe is ready to start; one of your own men holds the paddle in the stern; and I am to give you a pound of tobacco. Listen! this was not your thought when you refused. You wanted to make the price of your kindness to a guest great; and you thought you were speaking to a tutua (plebeian), who would cheat you out of your reward for the canoe. I have written on this gun that this is Tiraweke's payment for being carried in a canoe from Puke Totara to Kare kare. Take it! it is for you; you have behaved like a mean slave to me. You shall remember that I could pay you with the hand of a chief. Remain in your place. Should I ever travel this way again, I will never land in your unkind village, I will never ask for your stingy hospitality. I will not call to your heart, which has two sides like your tongue, and is to be bought by the largest hand. Remain!" And I gave him the gun, and walked down the hill into the canoe. Although much pleased to get so great a present, the man hung down his head with shame; he could hardly articulate the words, "Go to the sea!" And the rest of his tribe clearly felt the reproach which had been cast upon them before E Kuru and their other distinguished visitors, who could scarcely conceal their delight at the whole proceeding.

STEAM SAW-MILL.

Before dusk I had reached the survey station, about 17 miles from the sea. The river twists very much, and is navigable for any craft that can enter over the bar as high as 52 miles from the mouth. A point 36 miles up the river is, however, only eight miles from the sea in a straight line. At Kare kare, on a kind of peninsula surrounded by the river on three sides, the surveyors had two or three houses built, and here I remained two nights. On the Monday the whole party of natives arrived in two or three large canoes. I gave them a feast of flour and sugar, and invited Watanui's second son, who was here with his wife, to join the party. I introduced E Kuru to him, and begged him to do the honours of the country. He did this most willingly; accompanying us down the river to Aratangata, and across the country to his father's village.

Just below the survey station, on the north bank of the river, the saw-mill of which I have before spoken was nearly ready for work. Two brothers, named Kebbell, had persevered in a remarkable manner till their undertaking was complete. They obtained a squatting licence from the natives, as the Company's district was on the south bank only, and then set to work. The engine was a rotatory one of 20-horse power. It was covered with a thatched building of the most curious form; gable after gable and roof after roof having been added on, as each part of the machinery was erected and required protection. Out of the midst of the heap of angles a great chimney rose to the height of about 40 feet. This, and the steam, which had been set going once or twice on trial, excited the unbounded respect of the natives. He puhia mokai! "It is a tame boiling-spring!" some of them said to me.

A great many of the natives were employed in rafting logs down the river and hauling them up the bank into the mill-yard, where tramways were laid down to carry them to the mill. The forge, the residences of the millers and their labourers, iron in various shapes, and machinery of all kinds, surrounded the bustling scene. Opposite, a shopkeeper from Port Nicholson had established a trading store, where about 50 natives were loitering and haggling about; and my fat friend Jimmy Jackson was alongside, loading potatoes into a schooner which he had built at Teawaiti.

When we got to Horowenua village, I was much struck by the honourable greeting which Watanui gave to his former enemy. He expressed his gratitude to me for having persuaded E Kuru to trust to the honour and good faith of Ngatiraukawa. It must be remembered that they themselves acknowledged that the result of the battle of Waikanae was entirely owing to the bravery and resolution of E Kuru and his followers. There was to me a great pleasure in this power of my friendship with both parties to reconcile them with each other, although they had been deadly enemies before. I felt that the natives themselves would appreciate the value of a mutual confidence, which thus became the means of making all friends between themselves who were friends of the same White man. And I was assured of the reality of the respect which both parties entertained for me, by the fact that they so cordially accepted my mediation.

Watanui was, perhaps, one of the native chiefs who best appreciated the value of the White man's presence and brotherhood. He had adopted the Christian faith very warmly; but without in the least injuring his

THE PATRIARCH'S FAMILY.

authority, for either he himself or his second son always read the prayers and enforced the performance of the Christian observances. He had always adopted a great degree of civilization. His houses and clothes were always kept scrupulously clean; he and all his family wore clean clothes, and washed with soap in the stream every morning; the cooking was attended to with great care, and the food was always served up on carefully scrubbed tin plates. In short, whenever I spent an hour at this little village, I felt that it was the residence of a gentleman. There was a quiet, unobtrusive dignity in the well-regulated arrangements of the whole establishment. The slaves did their work without orders and without squabbling; a harsh word was hardly ever heard. Every one vied in a tacit wish that the old gentleman should be comfortable; and it was pleasing to see him, sitting in his house almost always surrounded by some of his family – the men all well shaved and combed – the women in clean frocks and blankets, busy at some sewing or other work; while his son or his daughter-in-law would be kindly teaching him to write on a slate. I remember how proud he was when he could write his name; and with what genuine kindness he pointed out his son Tommy's wife as having succeeded in teaching him. The family of Watanui, so united and homely, were indeed a notable instance of the success of Mr. Hadfield's sweet and gentle teaching. No one could avoid feeling emulous of the praiseworthy qualities of many kinds which had enabled him to effect such an end.

Wahine Iti, E Ahu's son, having heard of my arrival, came here to meet me, and to invite E Kuru to Ohau on the part of his father. But E Kuru and the rest were anxious to get on, and struck off to the

beach. I went to Ohau by the lakes with five or six of my boys, who found many of their relations at all the settlements. Nothing of any consequence occurred till we reached Parramatta after I had joined my people at Waikanae. Here we were detained a day by a violent gale from the south, accompanied with heavy rain.

Rauperaha and Hiko were both here, and received E Kuru in great state, as he was nearly related to them both, through his Ngatiawa mother. I had little to say to Hiko, as I had never liked him since his false conduct before the Governor; but I had a good deal of conversation with Rauperaha, which he rather forced upon me than otherwise.

He told me that he had resolved to prevent the White people from spreading any further up the valley of the Hutt, as it belonged to him, and he had not been paid for it. I rather laughed at this at first, as I did not see how he could stop it. I knew that he had never visited Port Nicholson, because he was still afraid of the Ngatiawa, whom he had so often threatened to invade. Frequently when I had pressed him to pay us a visit there, to come to "Wide-awake's" house, and make acquaintance with the rangatira or "chiefs" of the White people, he had answered snappishly, that he had nothing to do with the White people at Poniki, and that if he were to go the natives would all say he had gone to beg.

He now told me that he had sent a number of his people over to clear land and settle in the Hutt, and that "Dog's Ear," or Taringa Kuri, from Kai Wara Wara, had agreed to go and join them in this object. I was somewhat startled to hear that the obstruction was likely to begin so near home from a totally new quarter, and hardly believed what he told me.

CHAPTER X

RAUPERAHA'S SLAVES ON THE HUTT.

CHAPTER X.

Rauperaha's, slaves on the Hutt – Veracity of natives – E Puni's present – Native labour – Fires – Furniture woods – Boats – Neglect of Nelson – Stagnation at Auckland – The Bishop arrives – Stifling of the Native Reserves – Their value misrepresented – Their real value – Unjust reproaches against the plan – Outrages by natives at New Plymouth – How quelled – Proposed arbitration – A Harbour-master appointed – His fitness for the office – Whales – Doings of the Bishop – Want of a Church – Death of Mr. Young – Mr. Deans migrates to Port Cooper – Calumnies against Colonel Wakefield – How refuted – Meeting at Auckland – Distressed condition – Remedies proposed – Illness and death of Governor Hobson.

ON arriving at Port Nicholson, however, I found it was true enough. A large party of stranger natives had been for some time clearing a large extent of land on the banks of the river Hutt, and preventing settlers from occupying other parts, which they stated it was their intention to clear. They kept up a constant communication with Porirua, by means of a path over the dividing ridge which leads to the north arm of Porirua harbour. They had first come over soon after my departure with E Ahu..

Taringa Kuri had settled immediately in the neighbourhood of Mr. William Swainson, the eminent entomologist; and his people had begun to clear the forest indiscriminately on a section of which Mr. Swainson had taken a lease, and on which he had commenced cultivation.

I met "Dog's Ear" shortly after my arrival; and he coolly began to abuse Rauperaha and Rangihaeata just as usual, saying that they were very bad to drive White people off land which they had sold; and that

now they had begun to do the same on the Hutt, to which they had no right. He was surprised to find that I did not greet him or make any answer, and ran for some distance along by the side of my horse, asking why I was angry with him. I told him that he and the two great enemies of the White people were of one heart, and that he too had begun to break his faith and to drive the settlers off the land. He stoutly denied it, and said that he had only gone to grow potatoes for the White people for one season, when he would come away. But he was astonished when I told him that my ears had received the whole story from Rauperaha himself, and that I knew him to be that chiefs obedient servant. He acknowledged that he had told me a lie, but did not seem at all abashed. On the contrary, he treated it as a good joke, and tried to laugh it off, repeating that he only went for a time, and all for the good of the White people.

The Maori generally are singular on this point. They have little shame in telling a lie; and it is no insult among them to tell a man that he is tito, or a liar. It even takes some time to make them understand that no deeper insult can be offered to a White man. The same word tito is also applied to improviso or inventive singing; and a famous poet among them is thus renowned as a "great liar." They are generally amused at the ingenuity of the person who proves to them that they have failed to conceal the truth, but are seldom ashamed or confused at the public exposure of their falsehood. A very few, like E Kuru and E Puni, have an idea of that sense of honour which makes lying one of the worst crimes which an English gentleman can commit. But I always considered these men startling exceptions, in many points of character, to the generality of their countrymen.

E PUNI'S PRESENT.

A row of brick building, 80 feet in length, had been completed by the Company as an immigrant barrack; and in one of its compartments I lodged my train. I obtained from the Company's Agent an order for rations during their stay, and gave them iron pots and free access to a potato-pit, containing some tons of potatoes, which E Puni had lately filled in Colonel Wakefield's grounds.

E Puni had brought this present from Pitone, with all his people, in great state. To show the rivalry of feeling existing between the natives who held fast to their bargain and those who had repudiated, it is curious to record that E Tako and the Pipitea and Te Aro natives immediately set about making a present of the same kind to Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke junior. This is only one proof of how completely, in the minds of the natives, the Court of Claims was identified with opposition to the settlers. The Commissioner accepted the present; but of course made it clearly understood to be a mere mark of courtesy to an indifferent visitor, and paid them the full value of the gift.

My train were quite the lions of the place for some days; the very natives at Pipitea flocking in numbers every night to see them perform hakas and waiatas with all the gusto of the olden time.

Mr. Molesworth employed some of them to put up a fence on his farm on the Hutt. They worked well for a "spirt," but he found that they gradually got lazy, and relapsed into their favourite pursuits of smoking and basking in the sun. In order to work well for a continuance, the natives require to be treated as companions, and to have the constant urging and encouragement of their employer. E Kuru particularly possessed the art of leading them on to exertion by exciting their emulation and ambition;

and from him I had managed to acquire a tolerable share of this valuable property. Any one employing labourers from among the natives would best succeed by a relation with them resembling that which I had so successfully established at Wanganui. They then strive for the honour and glory of the estate or house, of which they feel themselves to form an honoured and important part.

On the 5th of July, an "awful conflagration" had taken place. The building which had so long done duty as Police-office, Post-office, Court of Justice, and Church, took fire, and was burnt to the ground in half an hour. Fortunately, Mr. Halswell and the Police Magistrate had for a long while doubted the security of the edifice, and kept their documents at their respective homes; some carpenters who were at work near the spot, saved what was lying or blowing about in the post-office corner of the ricketty hut; and the whole damage done was estimated at nearly five pounds!

The wooden "Government-house" at Hobson's first "Folly" had been burnt down in May; and thus had perished the whole buildings in the town of Russell, which had cost so dear.

The making of furniture at Wellington had been now for some time successfully carried on. The totara, the mai, and the hinau, were found to work up into very handsome side-boards, tables, and bookshelves. It was predicted that the export of these woods to England would become of great importance as soon as they should become known there. 17

NEGLECT OF NELSON.

On the 9th, a rather smart shock of an earthquake was felt.

A schooner of 10 tons was launched this month, which had been built to the order of Richard Davis, the native teacher. He invited several of the settlers to a well-managed fete which he gave on the occasion.

Next to the building-yard whence this vessel had glided into the water, a man from Deal was driving a very profitable trade in the construction of whale-boats. The competition at the stations was now so great that speed became an indispensable quality; and six-oared and seven-oared boats were fast adopted. This man's boats got a reputation all over the coast; and I have often been told by the most experienced headsmen that they were far superior to any which they got from Sydney or from the whaling-ships.

The Nelson people were complaining sadly of the neglect of the local Government. It was only nine months since the first foundation of the settlement: but their population amounted to about 1900; 67 vessels, of the aggregate tonnage of 16,030 tons, had entered their harbour; and they were still without any political institutions beyond a Police Court and a Customhouse Officer. It was 92 days since they had last heard from the capital.

On the 3rd of August, a brig arrived at Wellington from Auckland, bringing news that Wellington had been proclaimed as a borough under the Municipal Ordinance; and that the Bishop, who had arrived at Auckland, might be soon expected to pay us a visit. Of the capital itself, nothing was said to show that its stagnation had ceased; for the papers were filled with complaints of the quaggy state of the streets, and of

impending law-suits ad infinitum, which had arisen from the quarrelsome spirit reported by the last arrival. Before this brig came, our latest dates from the metropolis were 127 days old, and those from London were only a fortnight further back.

On the 12th of August, the Bishop arrived in the Government brig, and was received with a salute by the inhabitants of Wellington. He landed at Te Aro, and was met by a deputation from a public meeting held some days before, who presented him with an address of congratulation on his arrival.

Before his Lordship had come, a number of ecclesiastical appointments had been gazetted. Among these were the Reverend Henry Williams, as Commissary of the Bishop and Surrogate for the granting of marriage licences of the District of the Bay of Islands; his brother, William Williams, as Archdeacon of the district of the East Cape and examining Chaplain to the Bishop; and Ministers for the townships of Auckland and Wellington, being the Rev. J. F. Churton and the Rev R. Cole. The last accompanied his Lordship hither.

At this time, Mr. Halswell received official notice from Auckland, to surrender the trust of the Native Reserves to the new Trustees appointed for their management, namely, the Bishop, the Chief Justice, and the Chief Protector of the Aborigines; which three officers for the time being were to hold the trust for the future.

Mr. Halswell had till now been associated with Mr. Hanson the Crown Prosecutor, and Mr. Murphy the Police Magistrate, for their management.

This had been left, however, almost entirely to Mr. Halswell; and had proved an unthankful task. I have already described how effectually the restriction

STIFLING OF THE NATIVE RESERVES.

of the leases by Captain Hobson to the short term of seven years had stifled their production of revenue. In the letters from the Colonial Secretary to Mr. Halswell, the most mean and spiteful jealousy lest the Company should interfere in the management of the Native Reserves had been displayed. And yet the Company had purposely avoided having anything whatever to do with them, until they could be handed over to trustees appointed impartially. In one letter, Mr. Shortland pointedly inquired whether it was not the fact that the grossest abuse had been committed in one or two instances by the Company's Agent, in disposing of native claims by persuading natives to settle on their Reserves; and he stated that no such arrangement could receive the sanction of Government. This was in answer to a report from Mr. Halswell that some natives on the Hutt had made an unjust claim to the land on which some White man had settled; but that he, not the Company, had since induced the same natives to locate on a Reserve. Mr. Halswell, with very shrewd notions of letting some of the Reserves of greatest European value to White people, and of inducing the natives to settle upon others more esteemed by them, had thus been completely frustrated in both his excellent intentions. All that the Government ever did for the Reserves was to render them useless, and then to employ that very uselessness as a weapon against the Company. They prevented, by their own restrictions, the accruing of any revenue from the Reserves, or the furnishing of any location for natives wishing to remove from places which had been allotted to White people; and then they called out that the Reserves were worthless for letting to White people, and useless for the occupation of the natives. They took great pains to make

this benefit a dead letter by artificial means, and then declared that no regard had been paid to the interests of the natives in the selection of their Reserves, which were incapable of producing revenue.

At this very time the newspaper edited by the Crown Prosecutor began its career, by a series of articles exactly in this strain. Only a few months before, this partisan of the Government had addressed a letter, unknown to any one in the colony, to the Society for the Protection of Aborigines in London, all in the same strain. He even very speciously pretended to review the actual Reserves, and to prove that they were of no value to the natives. But he prudently sent this letter to London; and it could only be contradicted in almost every statement when it returned to the colony, just like Governor Hobson's calumnies, sixteen months afterwards.

This argument was a very discordant chorus to the song so constantly poured into Mr. Halswell's ears by the Colonial Secretary, in words displaying the most vulgar suspicion and the most fictitious carefulness against abuse, by which he was instructed neither to locate natives on the Reserves nor to let them to White men on any terms that would be accepted.

It is useless for me to describe the position of the Native Reserves actually chosen; since no one, without being on the spot, can appreciate their value. But I can most distinctly assert, that the 110 town sections of 1 acre each, and the 22 country sections of 100 acres each, in the immediate neighbourhood of Port Nicholson, are of far more than average value as applicable to the purposes of the White man. I will add, that if barren rock were to cover all the land but those 2310 acres, and the 500 natives in Port Nicholson were left to live upon them, a large proportion of their

THEIR REAL VALUE.

Reserve would be allowed by them to remain unoccupied and untouched, even according to their wasteful system of agriculture.

In one or two cases, a deviation from the rule of choosing the unchosen section of most value to a White man was made at the express request of one of the chiefs themselves, in order to choose some hilly but favourite location of the natives. With these exceptions, I have no hesitation in saying that the Reserves were so selected, that I, if I had been the private owner of them, should have given my highest approbation to the agent who selected them.

With equal confidence can I affirm, that had the Government to whom their management was intrusted performed the trust as it was in duty bound, the chiefs of Port Nicholson would by this time have been men of wealth and station in the community. Their cattle would have been lowing in the pastures, and their cornfields waving in the breeze. Their sons would have been educated thoroughly, and their daughters perhaps married to settlers of property. Their followers would have been well clothed and fed, provided with good schools and hospitals, and profitably employed on their chieftains' estates.

And I should consider it one of the duties of a right-minded Protector of the Aborigines to impeach the local Government of New Zealand for a gross and wilful breach of trust in this particular towards their helpless and ignorant wards.

Mr. Halswell was allowed to remain as agent for the new Trustees; but he had little to do after this.

The value of land generally was beginning to decline considerably, in consequence of the long delay in obtaining a good title. The dilatory proceedings of the Court of Claims and Mr. Clarke's letter had so encou-

raged the natives to remain in disputed spots, and to dispute other spots which they would not occupy, that there was little to be done. In hiring a Native Reserve from the Trustees, you might now very probably be expelled, Trustee and all, by one of the wards of the trust and his uplifted tomahawk. So this property, which had been put in Chancery while it might have been made useful, was rendered, when released, comparatively valueless by the delay itself.

Except at Nelson, and of this I shall speak presently, nothing more was effected by the new trust.

And in due time, at the end of the year 1843, Mr. Clarke, the Chief Protector of the Aborigines, thus tolled the death-knell of the Reserves, in his Official Report to Mr. Shortland: –

"The majority of the Native Reserves at Wellington have been so partially selected as to render them unfit for cultivation and ineligible for leasing, in order to realize for their (the natives') subsistence, or for the amelioration of their moral or physical condition, as it must be remembered that the allotments having water frontages, marked on the Company's plan of Wellington as reserves, are mostly native pas, or spots at present inhabited by natives, and which, as they were never alienated, are not in the power of the Trustees, although nominated and marked Native Reserves on the chart; in consequence, the Trustees of the Native Reserve Fund have not yet been able to raise sufficient means to procure medical comforts for the sick, the sum total of assets at Wellington being 67l. 10s. Whether Mr. Halswell, the gentleman appointed by the Company to look after these Reserves and apply the funds raised from them to their legitimate uses prior to Her Majesty's Government assuming this trust, met with better success, I cannot say,

UNJUST REPROACHES AGAINST THE PLAN.

nor have the present Trustees the means of furnishing information on this subject, although application has been made to Mr. Halswell for it."

Mr. Clarke junior constantly tells the same story in his Reports; and Mr. Campbell, the Surveyor of the Land Claims Commission, seems to have joined in the statement in order to obtain the appointment of Sub-Protector of the Aborigines at Taranaki; which was conferred upon him immediately after he had given the opinion which Mr. Spain thus embodied in his Official Report as Commissioner of Land Claims, at the end of 1843: –

"Mr. Campbell, our Surveyor, informs me, and I fully coincide in his opinion, that, with few exceptions, the Native Reserves have been selected in spots so distant from the pas, and where the ground is so hilly as to render them almost useless to the natives for the purposes of cultivation; and that little regard has been paid to the interests of the natives in these choices."

The coincidence of the Commissioner's opinion with that of his Surveyor is curious, as many of the Reserves were certainly never seen by the Commissioner, and probably not by the Surveyor, who was seldom known to go further than Kai Wara Wara, a mile from town on the Pitone road.

There was never a more complete illustration of the proverb, "Give a dog a bad name and hang him," than the way in which the Government and its officers vilified and destroyed the system of Native Reserves.

On the 13th of August, two settlers from New Plymouth arrived in Wellington by land, to make arrangements for buying and forwarding some cattle to Taranaki.

The general progress of that settlement was de-

scribed as most satisfactory. Everybody spoke in ecstasies of the country and climate.

But the natives had given considerable trouble, and had only been checked by very decisive measures.

A large number of natives who had been made slaves by the Waikato conquerors of Taranaki, but manumitted since the conversion of their masters to Christianity, had returned to their ancient dwellings since the establishment of a White population on the nearly deserted site. They, of course, found themselves without utu; not having been parties to the sale, and being disqualified, according to invariable native custom, by the very fact of their captivity from any claims to land or payment for it. Although the Native Reserves, whether as located by them or let to White people in order to produce a revenue for their support, were ample for a much larger population than had inhabited Taranaki even in its most populous days, yet as no officer of Government made any use whatever of the Reserves, and the Company had neither the right nor the inclination to meddle with them, the emancipists found themselves also without potato-grounds.

Having applied to the Company's Agent, but in vain, for utu, some of them had recourse to violence. They entered a section belonging to a very peaceable settler named Pearce, burnt down his cottage, and destroyed some raupo for thatching. They then proceeded to the next section, where some brothers, named Bayly, had put up their tent, and were commencing their farming operations. They were very furious, brandishing tomahawks, &c, and attempted to tear down the tent; but the Baylys, very resolute and strong men, resisted, and a sort of scuffle or wrestling-match ensued between one of the brothers, who is a famous West-country wrestler, and a native, who acted as

OUTRAGES BY NATIVES.

champion of the assailants. Twice Bayly threw the Maori, and was thrown himself the third time; whereupon the natives crowded round him, and one apparently was going to cleave his skull with a tomahawk, when a bystander levelled his fowling-piece at the native, who then gave way. There were about thirty natives and six white men. A parley ensued, and they agreed to refer the case to the Company's Agent, Mr. Wicksteed.

He told them he was determined to put the White settlers on the land, and that he would call on the Police Magistrate to send any native to prison who should break the peace. He assured them at the same time, that any chiefs among them having a rightful claim to the land should receive whatever compensation Mr. Spain, on his arrival, might award. As they knew that there was no such chief among them, and they heard that protection would be given to the White people, they promised to give no further annoyance; and became very good friends with the settlers, working for them, and sleeping in the same tent; satisfied also with the excellent Reserves made for them.

Soon after, a similar affair took place. on the banks of the Waitera river, 12 miles north of New Plymouth. A body of armed natives drove Messrs. Good-all and Brown, agents of large absentee proprietors, off their section, lying on the north side of the river, cut down trees and brushwood, and declared their resolution to keep the White settlers to the south of the Waitera.

The real chiefs assured the Company's Agent that the rioters had no claim whatever to the land, and only intended to terrify him into paying utu. The day after the riot, he called upon Mr. John George Cooke, a magistrate, to swear in a body of special constables; and

that gentleman administered the oaths in the presence and with the sanction of Captain King, the Chief Police Magistrate. Twelve muskets and fifty ball-cartridges were put into the long-boat; and Mr. Cooke nominally commanding the party, they proceeded to the Waitera. There they swore in the surveying labourers, making their force 28 men.

The mere demonstration had the desired effect. A long korero with the natives ended in their promise to refrain from any further annoyance; and the Agent took formal possession, firing a volley of musketry as a salute, and then distributed a few presents. Mr. Cooke, who was well known and much esteemed among the natives, warned the ringleaders, that on a future occasion of the sort he would in person seize the culprits with a file of men and lead them to be tried. Since this decisive preservation of the peace, everything had remained quiet. The Company's Agent reported the whole proceedings to Colonel Wakefield.

Soon after receiving this intelligence, and in consequence, also, of the increasing progress of the invasion on the Hutt, Colonel Wakefield proposed to the Commissioner that the Government should agree to an arbitration for the amount of compensation to be awarded to the natives who had really not been paid for land to which they had a fair claim, and that the award of this arbitration should be arranged to coincide with the progress of the investigations; so that the necessary payment might be made at once, and affairs thus set at rest in a more speedy way than if the final report of the Commissioner on all the claims had to be made before any arrangement could be come to. The Commissioner was understood to approve of this proposal, but could only forward it to Auckland

A HARBOUR-MASTER APPOINTED.

for the Governor's approval, when an opportunity for doing so should arrive.

A Harbour-master and two pilots were at length appointed in this month for Port Nicholson. But even in this trifling appointment, the Government had apparently taken pains to disregard the wishes of the principal part of the community. The Police Magistrate had been instructed to find out two or three persons suited for this office and willing to accept it, in order that one might be selected. One of the candidates, Mr. Richard Houghton, had come out from England early in 1840. He had been commander of a steamer in England, and was a pilot for the English Channel. He and his large family had engaged in the trade of boatmen; and he had two large boats constantly sailing about different parts of the harbour in the employ of the shipping. He was an exceedingly industrious, hard-working man, perfectly competent to handle a ship of any size, thoroughly acquainted with every sounding and flaw of wind in the harbour, and a regular hard-weather sailor. A memorial, requesting his appointment as Harbour-master, received the signature of nearly every settler of respectability and note from Colonel Wakefield downwards, and of every mercantile house of any influence and business. Another candidate was a Mr. Hay, who had commanded small craft which formerly supplied the whaling-stations and traded on the coast from Sydney, and who had since settled in Wellington as a trader and shipping-agent in a small way. It was heard with great surprise that the Governor had decided in favour of Mr. Hay. It appeared that he grounded this decision on the fact that his memorial contained more signatures. Being acquainted with some of the people who had influence with the Scotch labourers at Kai

Wara Wara, Mr. Hay had got a long list of Donald Macdonalds, and Angus Camerons, and Dugald Dugalds, and Archie Campbells, to set their crosses to a paper which very few of them could read. So Jesuitical a reason for annoying the settlers in a petty way was worthy of the Government officers. Captain Hobson and Lieutenant Shortland both knew perfectly well who the leaders of the Wellington community were. But the signers of Mr. Hay's address were the ragged mob who had assisted Mr. Davy and the drunken horse-breaker in welcoming the Governor to Wellington; and in Richard Houghton's memorial was a long array of names, which had not been in the list of those present at the Governor's levee.

The new Harbour-master at once took upon himself all the airs of a full-pay Government officer. He boards the ships, with white gloves on, when they are just going to anchor or have anchored; has a happy knack of laying them athwart each other's hawse, as though by predilection; and has been more than once known to ground a vessel in moving her out of the harbour, on occasions when the least skilful boat-sailer in the town could hardly have done it if he had tried. In most cases, the pilots do the whole of the Harbour-master's duty. Mr. Hay seems perfectly satisfied with the pay, and the honour of being a Government officer.

During this and the last month, whales had been more than once seen inside the harbour. Inefficient crews, with incomplete apparatus, had sallied out in chase from the beach, but had proved unsuccessful. I remember one party of amateurs pulling out a long way, furnished with such a harpoon as small porpoises are speared with, and about 20 yards of line. It was

DOINGS OF THE BISHOP.

probably fortunate for them that they did not get a chance of tickling the whale with their harmless weapon.

A sperm whale was taken this season by one of the shore-parties in Hawke's Bay, and another by a party lately established at Kaikora ("The Lookers-on") south of Cape Campbell. It is very rare for the sperm whale to be met with so near the coast of New Zealand.

The Bishop made but a short stay amongst us, sailing for Nelson six days after he had arrived. He had left with us, however, a clergyman; of whose services we had long been in want. The Rev. Robert Cole has ever since amply deserved and obtained the respect and kindly feelings of all the settlers as well as of his more immediate congregation. Bishop Selwyn became deservedly popular at Nelson during his short stay there. He was enabled by the Company's Agent there, who made him an advance on the fund to be derived from the Native Reserves, to order the erection of some buildings for the reception of native visitors on one of the Reserves in the town, and proposed to add schools and hospitals for the natives at an early period. Colonel Wakefield had offered the Bishop the same facilities at Wellington, besides two of the emigration-houses as temporary places for a native infirmary and school; but his Lordship had pleaded the precarious state of his health, and a pressure for time, as an apology for not arranging these things until he had visited Nelson and New Plymouth. But he promised to return soon to Wellington for this purpose, and to start the erection of a Church.

Since the destruction of the barn-of-all-work, the Church of England congregation had met in a house occupied by the Mechanics' Institute, inside the Public Reserve on which Colonel Wakefield's house stood. A

large subscription had been made towards the erection of an Episcopalian church at Wellington both in England and in the colony; the Company had come forward with a sum of money for this specific object; and all were waiting anxiously for the Bishop to fix on the site and to direct the commencement of the building. At this time, the Scotch Presbyterian congregation met in the Exchange, and the Wesleyan congregation in a large store closely adjoining.

When I left Wellington in February 1844, the Scotch Presbyterians had enjoyed a neat, substantial, and roomy wooden chapel, on the Public Reserve assigned to them, for some months; the Wesleyans had possessed a small wooden building, also for some months, and had laid the foundations of a very large brick chapel. The Episcopalian church had not yet been begun; nay, the site for its erection had not yet been finally decided upon.

By the same ship that brought the news of Bishop Selwyn's active doings at Nelson, we received the melancholy intelligence of the death of Mr. Young. He had been accidentally drowned while fording a river in an exploring expedition with a friend, who was unable to save him.

William Curling Young, the eldest son of one of the Directors of the Company, had been a leading man in that band of generous and self-denying spirits whose character I have on a former occasion attempted to depict. I may say boldly that the little society of Nelson had scarcely a better man to lose. The last public act of his life had been to refuse, with manly indignation, the offer of the Auckland Government to place him on the Commission of the Peace. His published letter rebuked the Governor most justly and severely for having asserted as a principle that a Jus-

MR. DEANS MIGRATES TO PORT COOPER.

tice of the Peace must consider his political opinions shackled by that of the Government under whom he held the appointment. The sorrow of the Nelson men for the death of a loved fellow-colonist, full of promise and honourable feeling, was sincerely shared by his numerous friends at Wellington.

Early in September, Mr. Deans, who had formed one of the exploring party which travelled by land from Wellington to Taranaki about two years before, returned from a trip to the east coast of the Middle Island. He was so pleased with the district near Port Cooper, which had been described by Messrs. Daniell and Duppa, that he began making preparations for squatting there with a herd of cattle. He had been cultivating, in the interval, a patch of some 10 acres at a place called Okiwi, nearly abreast of Ward Island on the east shore of the harbour, but wished for a more extended field of operations. In the course of the next two months he disposed of his lease and improvements, and fulfilled his intentions. He visited Port Nicholson towards the end of the next year, and spoke in raptures of the country where he had been living. He was in quiet possession of a vast tract of rich pasture, where he could ride about and see his cattle increase and prosper rapidly; and he soon returned to his chosen location, disgusted with the tangled web of difficulties in which he found his old fellow-settlers still involved.

It was at this time that Colonel Wakefield, in a letter to the Gazette, took upon himself to answer the repeated string of most unfounded charges, constantly made against him in the 'Colonist,' the Crown Prosecutor's newspaper.

Among other specific charges, he was accused of having made no effort for the adjustment of na-

tive disputes;" and it was averred that he had declared at a public meeting that he "had not taken any great trouble to urge upon Captain Hobson the necessity of the settlement of the native claims, because, in compliance with the instructions of the Company, he was desirous of keeping the question open, in order that it might be made an instrument in the hands of the Directors for attacking the local Government."

To a positive denial of ever having made such a statement, either in letter or spirit, Colonel Wakefield added the publication of Mr. Clarke's letter to Wairarapa – which he had asked me to translate – together with a private one from the Governor to himself in September 1841, authorizing him to make any equitable arrangement with the natives to yield up possession of their habitations.

The letter of the Governor to Colonel Wakefield concluded with these words: –

"I have made this communication private, lest profligate or disaffected persons, arriving at the knowledge of such an arrangement, might prompt the natives to make exorbitant demands."

This paragraph of a letter dated September 6th 1841, looked very extraordinary in juxtaposition with that of Mr. Clarke, dated four days later, which I have transcribed before.

Many people understood for the first time why Colonel Wakefield had been so signally unsuccessful in his numerous and persevering efforts to adjust the dispute amicably. The additional odium engendered towards the local Government, and especially towards the misinterpreting Protector of Aborigines, maybe better imagined than described.

The Bishop returned here from Nelson on the 10th

PUBLIC MEETING AT AUCKLAND.

of September, and remained for a month; at the end of which time he proceeded by land towards Taranaki. Through Nelson, we gathered a sad account of the languishing state of Auckland. On the 5th of August, a public meeting had been held at that city for the purpose of devising, if possible, some means for bettering the condition of the settlement. No one, however, had come prepared with a resolution; but the meeting, after adjourning for a week, adopted a memorial to his Excellency, recommending, as the grand nostrums for sick Auckland, a speedy adjustment of the claims to land by old settlers, and the lowering of the upset price of crown lands to 5s. per acre. The poor unfortunates, like many a man dying of quack medicines, clove fast to the land which had ruined them. Some of them seemed to have a faint idea that population and capital would be desirable addenda; for the Auckland paper threw out the following despairing suggestion, like a drowning man catching at a straw: –

"Something should also be done to appease the Port Nicholson and Nelson settlers, whose unfortunate quarrels with the local Government have already done much harm to our settlement. Could not his Excellency do something to enable them to leave the mountains, marshes, and fens of Cook's Strait, for the settlements to the northward, in each of which there is an abundance of rich and fertile land, which would yield them a remunerating profit for the capital and labour they are now so unprofitably wasting on comparatively useless and unproductive lands?"

The Port Nicholson and Nelson settlers would surely have been tempted by these kind offers of the old settlers to sell them their land; but, unfortunately, the productiveness of the Auckland

territory and of the county of Eden had not yet been tested by the plough; and the second year's wheat crop of the "mountains, marshes, and fens of Cook's Strait," was beginning to look very promising for the harvest.

A deputation had waited on the Governor with the memorial; but his Excellency was too ill to see any one, and even unable to affix his signature to a written answer.

This was indeed his death-illness; for on the 28th of September, the Government brig, bringing the Chief Justice to hold a sitting of the Supreme Court at Wellington, bore the news of the Governor's death on the 10th of that month, at Auckland.

Any recapitulation of the manner in which he had discharged his public duties would be here misplaced. Fulsome and unmerited praise is no graceful offering even to the memory of the dead; and censure, however just, must refrain from opening its stern lips when passing over the grave.

In the virtues of private life, the first Governor of New Zealand was allowed by all to have been exemplary. He was carried off by the same harassing and enfeebling disease, of which the first symptoms had appeared on his earliest arrival to assume his office. Let the blame of the evils which were gathered for the country during his reign fall on the worthless advisers who did not scruple to presume on the weak state of his bodily and mental faculties.

No unseemly exultation was manifested at Wellington. This was prevented by the same self-respect which had induced the inhabitants to express, in so firm and yet decent a manner, their disapprobation of the Governor's acts when he was present among them.

DEATH OF GOVERNOR HOBSON.

The public press, the officers of the Company and of the Government, and some few of those settlers who had attended the levee, put on mourning on the occasion.

And the colonists listened anxiously for the first words of their new ruler.

17 A cabinet-maker, named Levien, has a workshop adjoining the New Zealand House in Broad-street Buildings, where he continues to construct furniture of New Zealand woods, which has been much admired, and bought at high prices.

CHAPTER XI

CHAPTER XI.

Lieutenant Shortland assumes the Government – His friendly promises – State of Auckland – First Corporation election in the borough of Wellington – List of Aldermen – "Old Jenkins" – First sitting of Supreme Court – Case of Rangihaeata – Judge Martin's decision – Horticultural Shows – Weather – Pitone races – Enlivening scene – First emigration from Great Britain to Auckland – A newspaper printed by a mangle – Picturesque mill – Captain Daniell's farm and road – Beauty of the scenery about Wellington.

LIEUTENANT SHORTLAND'S first words consisted in a proclamation, pompous and intricate in its formalities. After recapitulating the provision in the Charter for the assumption of the office of Governor, in case of his decease or absence, by the Colonial Secretary, and therefore so assuming it to himself, and calling on all persons to aid and assist, &c, the proclamation thus concluded: –

"Given under my hand and seal, at Auckland, this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two,
"WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND,
"Colonial Secretary,
()

"The Officer administering the Government.
"By his Excellency's command,
"For the Colonial Secretary,
"JAMES STUART FREEMAN.
"God save the Queen!"

This is very like the awkward mistake of an uneducated man, who puzzles for a long while over the suitable termination to some important letter. After

LIEUT. SHORTLAND ASSUMES GOVERNMENT.

vainly seeking to decide between "yours very truly," "your obedient humble servant," and "sincerely yours," he generally stumbles into the most unappropriate formula which he could select. Willoughby Shortland could not appreciate the dignity of simply signing his assumption of the office.

But, apart from the absurdity of the confused wording at the end, there was a serious objection to the continuance of the Acting Governor as Colonial Secretary; for, if he should die, no one would be authorized to take the reins of Government.

His Excellency, however, wrote to Colonel Wakefield the expression of his eager desire to be friendly towards the settlers, and approved, in general terms, of his proposal for an arbitration. He professed the utmost anxiety to promote the speedy adjustment of the land-claims; and promised that when these had been once arranged, no interference on the part of the natives should be allowed.

Colonel Wakefield therefore determined to go to Auckland in order to confer with his Excellency on the nature of the arrangements proposed. Mr. Spain, who had not yet concluded a single case, agreed to accompany him. - They went in a schooner of 50 tons on the 12th of October.

Sanguine hopes, so long smothered, again prevailed among the settlers. The Acting Governor had begun well. He had given Nelson a County Court; and promised to make the colonial brig at least of use by keeping up a more constant communication between the different settlements.

The Auckland press might certainly be termed a phoenix of its kind. The fourth newspaper within twelve months had now risen from the ashes of its predecessor, under the name of the 'Times,' and began

by promising to "hold out the hand of friendship to Port Nicholson." It was not, however, free from the spirit of jealousy which had ever distinguished the metropolitan public, though it professed only to "feel compassion for the miserably-chosen settlement at which the hopes and prospects of the Port Nicholson settlers were perhaps doomed to disappointment."

Retrenchment and economy were beginning to be felt at Auckland. Clerks and mechanics were discharged in numbers from the Government service; and the latter, only able to get work on the roads at 2s. 6d. a-day if they had interest with the Superintendent of Works, were claiming loudly to be sent back at the expense of the Government to the settlement from which they had been lured by false promises. It was publicly known that Lord Stanley had disallowed the job by which the officials had obtained choice town-lots at average prices and long credit; and it was conjectured that instructions had also been sent to reduce the reckless expenditure which had alone sustained the capital.

This disallowance must have been exceedingly unpleasant to the Acting Governor, as he had already sold his little lot to one of the independent Members of Council for 1200l.

On the 3rd of October, the election took place for the Aldermen and Mayor of the borough of Wellington.

Ever since the proclamation of the borough in August, great excitement had prevailed on this subject.

The Act provided that all male inhabitants should be entitled to register their votes with the Sub-Sheriff by paying one pound sterling each: 350 availed themselves of this privilege.

The usual competition took place between the Gentry and the working men. Each party formed a committee,

LIST OF ALDERMEN.

which suggested a list of Aldermen for election, held meetings, and canvassed voters. The canvassing began even before the registry of voters; for the two parties paid the registry-fee for many of the electors. The meetings were most stormy; and at one of them Dr. Evans was pulled off the table upon which he had climbed in order to address the populace, by a rough stock-keeper from South Australia who was on a visit to the settlement.

Placards, advertisements, electioneering cards and squibs, were in as great profusion as on the occasion of a contested election for a borough in England.

On the day of poll, flags and a band of music paraded the beach with some of the popular candidates; distinctive cockades were worn; and the straw hut inside the pa, generally used as a Police-office, but now as the booth of the returning officer, was surrounded by agents of both parties, eager to force cards with their own list into the hands of each voter as he arrived.

All the usual tricks and intrigues were resorted to; and bribery, in the shape of glasses of grog, was largely at work. Mr. Macdonnell, the laird of Kai Wara Wara, who had received 25l. wherewith to register the votes of some of his Highland following, from the Gentry's Committee, betrayed them at the last moment. He was exceedingly fond of his glass; and Johnny Wade, the "popular candidate," hob-and-nobbed with him after breakfast till he had won his heart, and then formed a procession with his clan to the poll in rather a discreditable state, with drums beating and colours flying. The Highlanders of course did whatever was done by the "laird."

But notwithstanding many such tricks, the "Gentry" secured a very good Council, and the Aldermen might be held to represent the community very fairly,

At the top of the poll, and therefore first Mayor of Wellington, was Mr. George Hunter, one of the early colonists from England. He was of advanced years, with a large family, and a merchant of the first standing in the place. He was also a Justice of the Peace.

The other eleven Aldermen were elected in the following order: – Mr. William Lyon, the shopkeeper of whom I have spoken as having so extensive a trade with the natives; Mr. Fitzherbert, a merchant and auctioneer from England, who had been some time in the colony; Johnny Wade, the auctioneer and man of the people; George Scott, a thriving, industrious, and well-educated carpenter; Mr. Molesworth; Dr. Dorset, who had been in our early expedition; Robert Waitt, William Guyton, and Abraham Hort, the three principal merchants of the town; Edward Johnson, a wholesale and retail shopkeeper; and Robert Jenkins, a publican from New South Wales.

The next six on the list formed a reserve list to supply vacancies. They consisted of the Crown Prosecutor, Captain Edward Daniell, a carpenter, and three shopkeepers and shipping agents.

The most extraordinary elevation was perhaps that of Robert Jenkins. He had come in one of the vessels from Sydney at the same time as the first colonists from England. Soon after the move to Thorndon, he bought a barrel of beer, and set it on tap in a miserable little hut on the beach. He had then crept on from one thing to the other, until he had a pretty neat grogshop, with the sign of the "New Zealander." When the town sections were given out, he took a lease of part of one of the most valuable sections near Te Aro, and built on it a large brick house, which quite looked down upon the wooden cottage beside it in which the

"OLD JENKINS."

Bank was situated. Here he did a thriving business; having his bar full of boatmen and sailors, whalers, bullock-drivers, stockmen, and others of the thirsty class, and a neat parlour in which commercial transactions and sales of cattle and horses were often concluded over a jug of beer. At length he built extensive stables, with four stalls and five loose boxes; speculated a little in buying cattle and setting up a butcher next door to him; took in horses to livery and to be broken in; and became the owner of considerable property both in land and stock. When I left, he was paying a rent of 20l. a year for 100 acres of hill-pasture near the town; had made an excellent road up the steepest hill in the neighbourhood to his section; had fenced in half of it; and had a fine troop of brood mares running on the farm.

"Old Jenkins," as he is generally called, is quite a character. He can suit his conversation and manners to any class of society, and there is not a gentleman in Wellington who will not willingly chat over the news of the day with him at the door of his tavern, and often be glad to profit by his experience and knowledge of the world. For, although of unknown origin, and ignorant even of writing, he has many sterling qualities. Though a public-house keeper, he is an absolute observer of temperance without having taken the pledge; and he can boast an uncommon share of vigour, manly independence, and public spirit. He is one of those men who must be in a new community to obtain the estimation which they deserve.

On the 4th, the first sitting of the Supreme Court at Wellington was held by Judge Martin.

A case of some interest, and of great importance to the relations between the White people and the natives, was tried before his Honour. As I was not present,

I extract from the report of the law proceedings in the Wellington newspaper: –

"Mr. Brewer, on its being understood that all the causes standing on the roll had been disposed off, renewed his application (which had been adjourned) for a bench warrant to arrest Rangihaeata, in order that he might be brought before his Honour and held to bail for the ensuing session. The offence of which the chief had been guilty was that of violently and illegally taking possession of and demolishing certain buildings in the Porirua district, and it was known that proceedings had been previously instituted against him, and an indictment drawn up by the Crown Prosecutor and served upon the refractory chief. His Honour the Judge considered the whole subject of a very grave and difficult nature, and he requested that some of the Counsel at the Bar would take up the case for the native. Most of the Counsel present stated objections to their pleading the case for the native; but Dr. Evans kindly proffered his aid in so far as his legal knowledge might enable him to assist his Honour as to the proper steps to pursue. A lengthened discussion followed, during which the blue book was more than once referred to. It appeared that Rangihaeata had not signed the agreement made with the confederate chiefs; but it was argued by Mr. Brewer, that the proclamation of the 21st of May 1840 clearly made Rangihaeata a British subject, and amenable as such to British laws. Dr. Evans was of opinion that the onus lay upon the party applying for a bench warrant to shew that Rangihaeata had ceded possession, by signing the treaty entered into by the confederate chiefs. He also suggested that Rangihaeata was now in the hands of Lands Claims Commissioners,

CASE OF RANGIHAEATA.

and in fact he had never ceded the land to any one, or parted with the rightful possession thereof, as a free and independent native chief. The proceedings of the Court closed rather abruptly, and it was understood that his Honour the Judge would, if his time permitted, give the case all the consideration in his power before leaving the harbour."

Some carelessness was displayed in stating that Rangihaeata had not signed the agreement with the confederate chiefs, commonly called the Treaty of Waitangi; for Major Bunbury distinctly states, in the report of his mission made to Governor Hobson, that both Rangihaeata and Rauperaha signed the document in question, on the 19th of June 1840, at Mana, on board H. M. S. Herald. It seemed odd that neither the Judge nor any of the Counsel should have been in possession of an authentic copy of so important a paper, with all the signatures attached. But even in the Blue Book, which was referred to by them, the brief words "512 signatures," are considered sufficient record of a document on which the sovereignty of Great Britain over New Zealand and certain rights of the natives to land are founded; and scarcely any one knows to this day, except by rumour and incidental evidence, who were the 512 natives that did sign the Treaty of Waitangi. It would at least be interesting to know how many out of the number now acknowledge the sovereignty of Queen Victoria and hold themselves amenable to her laws.

I believe the statement was also unfounded that the indictment had been served upon Rangihaeata. It is true that an indictment was preferred against Rangihaeata, and a true bill found against him by the Crown Prosecutor. The attorney for the prosecution then applied to the Magistrates for a warrant to hold Rangi-

haeata to bail at the next court. Upon that occasion there was a full bench of Magistrates; and the grounds taken by Mr. Murphy and Mr. White, and acquiesced in by the Bench, for declining to issue their warrant, were, that as the party prosecuting had applied in the first instance to the Crown Prosecutor for a bill of indictment, and he upon hearing the evidence had found a true bill, the Judge of the Court before whom the case would ultimately be tried was the proper authority to apply to for a bench warrant. The next step was the application made by Mr. Brewer to the Judge of the Supreme Court.

Judge Martin reserved this as well as several of the civil cases for further consideration; pursued his circuit to Nelson and New Plymouth, which was concluded by the end of November; and then met the Bishop at Waikanae, and set off overland, with the cases in his pocket or sent round by sea, to Auckland. The party ascended the Manawatu, crossed the plain of the three rivers seen by Mr. Kettle, descended the Hauriri to Hawke's Bay, and then proceeded all round the coast to the capital. When his Honour got to Auckland is not accurately known; but, to the great inconvenience of the parties concerned in the civil actions, the decisions on the reserved cases did not reach Wellington until March 1843, five months after their being pleaded in the Court at Wellington. Governor, Commissioner of Land Claims, and Judge, all seemed equally bent on causing the Cook's Strait settlements to wither from neglect and delay.

In the following words did Judge Martin, after such ample consideration, at length shrink from hazarding an opinion on the most important case that had been brought under his notice: –

"The Queen v. Rangihaeata. – This is a motion for

JUDGE MARTIN'S DECISION.

a bench warrant against one of the aboriginal natives, for the purpose of holding him to bail on a charge of felony.

"The issuing of this warrant would be equivalent, to decision of several important points. The two main questions involved are: –

"First, – That of the status, or legal position and liabilities of a certain portion, and that a large portion, of native population.

"Secondly, – That of the true construction of the 4th section of the Police Magistrate's Ordinance, Session 2, No. 4.

"The former of these points was touched upon by the Council; but the discussion was, from the nature of an ex parte application, less complete than was desirable. The latter was not adverted to; although, if ever the point shall come to be fully argued, the clause referred to may possibly be found to preclude all applications like the present. 18

"Under these circumstances, seeing that the matter sought by this application is not one of right but within the discretion of the Judge, and seeing also that the granting thereof would be a virtual decision of the points referred to, and that too upon a mere ex parte motion, without any full argument or even

without any argument at all, I do not think I should be exercising a sound discretion if I were to issue this warrant. 19
(Signed) WILLIAM MARTIN, C. J.,
January 28, 1843."

We heard that a Horticultural Society was in progress of formation at New Plymouth. That at Wellington had continued to have quarterly exhibitions since the opening one which I before recorded; and they were always well worth seeing. Such good shows throughout the year could take place in few countries. Our coldest month, September (answering to March in the northern hemisphere), was just over. On the 2nd, the thermometer had been as low as 31 deg. Fahrenheit, in the night and at day-break; but the thin ice, which had formed on puddles where water had collected in small quantities, melted as soon as the sun rose; and in the afternoon the temperature was 60 deg. in the shade. Towards the end of the month, there had been genial warm weather, with bats flickering about at twilight; and cauliflowers and other summer vegetables had never ceased to appear on the table.

A grand race had been appointed to come off on the 20th of October on the beach at Pitone. Nine of the best horses had been entered some months before at 10 guineas each; and now all was the bustle of preparation. The horses were in regular training; jockey jackets and caps were in process of manufacture; top-boots and whips were actively sought after; and

PITONE RACES.

betting-books were pulled out at the hotels, at the club, and at other lounges.

I had been appointed Clerk of the Course; and rode over the day before with "Old Jenkins," the most active Steward, to superintend the putting up of the necessary posts on the course. A day had been selected on which a very low spring-tide would leave a hard sandy beach uncovered; and the distance was about a mile and three-quarters, from the mouth of the Hutt to Pitone pa. It poured with rain on the 19th, and we augured badly for the weather on the next day. Mr. Molesworth's house, where I spent the night, was full of sporting characters, including two or three of the gentlemen riders for the next day, very busy drying themselves after the soaking they had got in coming from town.

In the morning, the village of Aglionby, on the opposite side of the river, was in an uncommon state of agitation; the stable-yard of the neat little inn was full of grooms and horses; and clodhoppers, dressed in their best, were coming down the path along the river-bank, with their wives and children; for a general holiday had been agreed upon.

By dint of begging and borrowing, I had managed to dress myself out in very great style for the performance of my duties; and when I rode out of the inn-yard in full Clerk-of-the-Course's uniform, the pink coat – the only one in the colony, and an old traveller in the East Indies and New South Wales, belonging to Mr. Watt – excited universal admiration. I was thinking to myself at the time, how awkwardly I should be situated if every one were to claim his own on the course.

Soon after I had seen that the course was in due order – here and there getting a large pebble or a

glass bottle picked out of the sand, and begging E Puni to have the natives' dogs carefully tied up and to keep the pigs at home – the company began to arrive from Wellington. Carts, waggons, bullock-drays, were all pressed into the service to-day, and the line of road was a miniature representation of that to Epsom. Six or eight of the ladies came over in a spring-cart containing chairs covered with flags; and the only gig in Wellington, an importation from New South Wales, brought over the chemist of Medical Hall and two other shopkeepers. One waggon contained the band of music; and a large flotilla of boats, of all shapes and sizes, brought over those who had no carts or horses or were too lazy to walk. Booths, tents, and stalls were rapidly put up; and one man wheeled a barrow about selling "ginger-pop."

The "coming in" was close to Colonel Wakefield's old house; and there a cold collation had been provided for the ladies. The grand stand consisted of a few planks on the top of eight or ten water-butts outside the fence, supporting the chairs out of the carts.

And now my duties began to multiply. Here I had to explain to a party of natives why they could not lie basking on the middle of the beach; there to beg a party of whalers to haul their boat right up or push her nose off the beach; to get the sails of another boat, moored close off, furled so as not to flap about in the horses' eyes; and finally to stop the persevering band as the horses were "coming."

It was one of our brilliant cloudless days, with the heat of the sun just tempered by a light air from the southward as the tide made. Five or six hundred people were assembled by eleven o'clock when the horses started; and it was truly exhilarating to see so English a sport well supported, under the more genial

ENLIVENING SCENE.

climate and amidst the beautiful scenery of New Zealand.

Seven horses started; as one had paid forfeit, and another had been unfortunately killed some weeks before by a bullock, which scoured the beach of the town in the paroxysm of fury which the cattle often display upon being landed after a long voyage.

I cannot do better than copy the report of the sport from the newspaper of two days afterwards; premising that the favourite among the natives was Mr. Molesworth's Calmuc Tartar, because he resided near them on the Hutt; and that among the White people was Figaro, the thorough-bred horse which Mr. Watt had brought from Sydney as a yearling early in 1840.

"PITONE RACES.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1842.

"Sweepstakes for ten guineas each. Gentlemen riders. Heats of one mile and three-quarters.

"The following horses started: –

Mr. Watt's ch. h.

Figaro, ridden by Owner.

1

1

Mr. Molesworth's bk. h.

Calmuc Tartar, ditto

2

2

Mr. Virtue's gr. g.

Marksman, ditto.

3

0

Mr. G. Hunter's b. m.

Temperance, ditto Dorset

4

4

Mr. Bannister's ch. g.

Sulky, ditto Wade

5

3

Capt. Buckley's br. g.

Daylight, ditto Owner

6

dr.

Mr. Revans's gr. h.

Mazeppa, ditto Tyser.

dist.

"Figaro's superior blood enabled him to win both heats with the greatest ease. He was the favourite throughout, and freely backed at 5 to 1 after the first heat.

"Several other matches were afterwards made up on the spot, of which we believe the following to be a correct account.

"Sweepstakes for one pound each. One mile –

Mr. Revans's bk g.

Dandy, ridden by

Dr. Dorset.

1

Col. Wakefield's ch. g.

Beau, ditto

Mr. Watt.

2

Mr. G. Hunter's br. g.

Wai-ake-ake,

Owner

3

Mr. Allen's gr. g.

ditto

ditto.

4

Mr. Virtue's b. m..

5

"Matches for one pound a side, distance one mile –
"Mr. C. Von Alzdorf's bk. g. Black Billy beat Mr. Machattie's bay pony.
"Mr. Lyon's cart-horse beat Mr. Virtue's cart-horse.
"Match for five pounds a side. One mile.
"Colonel Wakefield's ch. g. Beau beat Mr. Virtue's bay mare."

About thirty gentlemen on horseback followed in procession behind the ladies' cart on the road to town in the afternoon; and we closed the day with a race-dinner at Barrett's hotel.

Early in November, news was brought of the arrival of two ships, containing 561 emigrants from England, at Auckland. These were the first vessels that had come from England direct to the north, except one which brought about thirty immigrants to Manukau for the Scotch Company just before Captain Symonds's death. As no farming was going on, and there were therefore no employers among the settlers, the Government had to engage them temporarily, at very low wages.

The Auckland 'Times' now appeared, printed by a mangle, and with capital K's instead of C's. The Acting Governor had quarrelled with the editor, and forbidden the use of the Government printing-press, which was the only one there, and some of the type. It was also said that he had despatched the Government printer to buy up the apparatus of the Bay of Islands newspaper, in order to complete the smothering of the press in his own district. The mangled paper still scolded these settlements violently; but this was not surprising, as the editor was the brother-in-law of the Rev. J. F. Churton, who had deserted his flock in their early struggles.

The only other intelligence was, that 100 land-claims had been settled in the north, up to the 24th of August.

The industrious mechanics who had been outraged

PICTURESQUE MILL.

by Rangihaeata had not been daunted by their first failure. They had at length found a spot, on a large tributary of the Kai Wara Wara, fit for the erection of a mill; and it was now at work.

In the bottom of a thickly wooded valley, only accessible over a steep ridge, a natural fall in the narrow rocky gully of the stream afforded great facilities for erecting a dam. A platform and rough shed extended from side to side of the gully over the dam-head; the wheel and machinery were working underneath; and two or three circular saws were kept in constant employment. The open sides of the workshop displayed this curious work of art in the midst of nature's wildest scenery. Two trees mingled their branches overhead above the rough mill, and several others seemed to grow out of the pool formed by the dam underneath their arching boughs. The stern craggy sides of the gully might be imagined to frown upon so strange a neighbour as the fretting wheel. Two or three log-huts under the forest sent up their curl of smoke; while the neat housewives, with their flaxen-haired children, stood at the doors to receive with joyful pride the praises bestowed by visitors on the untiring industry of their husbands.

Captain Daniell had found a spot in this valley suitable for a farm; and while others were agitating and calling upon the Company to make more roads, each to his own section, he had himself engaged some labourers to make a bridle-road from Kai Wara Wara up to his discovery, which cost him about 30l. The millers, who became tenants of his with certain rights as to cutting timber, continued the road to the mill. It was afterwards found that Captain Daniell's bridle-road might be continued into that leading to Porirua, so as to avoid some hundred

feet of ascent over the first hill out of Port Nicholson by about a mile of circuit; and the Company completed this line so as to admit the passage of a dray. The entrance into Wellington by this road is singularly beautiful. As you wind round the sides of the rocky spurs, beneath gigantic boughs and luxuriant foliage, you obtain peeps of the velvet woods of the valley of Kai Wara Wara and its tributaries; then a view of, the western face of Wade's Town, with its cottages and bright green gardens; and, lastly, the wide expanse of Port Nicholson, with its ships, its peaked mountains, and its glistening town.

18 The following is the section of the Police Magistrate's Ordinance referred to: –
"4. Offenders to be committed or held to bail only by Police Magistrate.
"Before any person shall be committed for trial, or held to bail to take his trial on any charge of felony or misdemeanour, he shall be brought before the Police Magistrate of the district within which the offence shall be alleged to have been committed, who shall inquire into the case, and commit the party so charged, or hold him to bail, or suffer him to go at large on his own recognizance, or dismiss the case, as circumstances may require."

19 The practice in issuing the bench warrants is, that where the parties are not under recognizance, the prosecutor has a right, during the assizes or sessions, to this process against them, to bring them immediately into court to answer. – 1 Chitty's Criminal Law, 342.

CHAPTER XII

PHORMIUM TENAX, OR FLAX.

CHAPTER XII.

Phormium tenax, or flax – Details of its manufacture – Flax-trade hitherto unsuccessful – The reasons – Flax agitation – Otaki – The Rev. Octavius Hadfield – His energy and disinterestedness – His wise benevolence – Results of commerce on the natives – Inducements to engage in trade with them – Opposition of Rauperaha and Rangihaeata – Good class of emigration – "Puffers," "grumblers," and "good colonists" – Advantages of an exclusive club – Mr. Charles Buller's description of "the gentlemen" colonists – Disgrace of Mr. Murphy – The Police Magistrates governing Cook's Strait – Fire of Wellington – Good results – Shipping – -Death of Warepori – Sketch of the causes of his illness and death – Captain Smith's expedition to the South – Colonel Wakefield's visit to Auckland – Its harbour and the neighbouring country – Its society – Parkhurst boys – Picnics and balls at Wellington – Exports – Dye-bark – Titoki oil – Mr. Swainson's troubles with Rauperaha's annoying emissaries – His vain appeal to the authorities – Rauperaha's slaves continue to encroach – Christmas sports at Wellington – Horticultural productions.

AT this period I began to pay some attention to the preparation of the phormium tenax by the natives; and determined to endeavour to resuscitate the trade which had once been carried on in that article, as prepared by them, from Sydney. Numerous experiments by White people for separating the fibre from the pulpy portion of the leaf had failed. Whether by boiling with soap, retting and beating like the European flax, passing between fluted rollers, or other processes which the foolish inventors made it a point to keep secret, the expense of producing was too great, and the material produced was generally harsh and inferior in quality to the produce of the native manufacture. It struck me that this arose from the starting on a wrong principle. I have already described, in the account of my

visit to the Pelorus river, the process pursued by the natives. They only use a very thin layer of fibres on the inner or glazed side of the leaf, and reject the rest as refuse, or use it without further preparation for the roughest thatch-mats. And all the inventors, on the contrary, aim at separating the pulp from the fibre of the whole leaf, and thus produce the fibre cleaned, but of mixed quality – that refused together with that selected by the natives.

The attention of most people was now turned to the subject of making some use of this plan, evidently intended to become a main export of the country. It became the fashion to have an "idea" about flax; and I, like the rest, formed one of a party who had theirs. This was to proceed on the same general principle as the natives; and, if possible, to discover some more expeditious way of separating, like them, the best from the ordinary part of the leaf. In the meanwhile, it seemed feasible to start their manufacture again on a large scale, and to send experimental cargoes of the raw material, thus roughly prepared, to England, for examination and report.

In order to get the fibre which has undergone the first scrape into that clean and silky condition in which the natives work it up into mats, they pass it through many long and laborious processes. It is soaked in water, beaten, and twisted; and then soaked, and beaten, and twisted, and dried, over and over again. When only scraped, there still hangs to it a brittle and glossy chaff, formed by the drying in the sun of the glazed surface of the leaf; but, by mere hackling, this is entirely removed. The scraped fibre loses 12 per cent, of its weight in hackling; and the remaining 88 per cent, is divided between straight clean fibre and tangled tow. As labour is of course much dearer in a

FLAX-TRADE HITHERTO UNSUCCESSFUL.

colony than in England, we calculated that the hackling, or other purifying process, would be most advantageously performed in England; and resolved to pack the rough-scraped fibre for exportation, as the 12 per cent, of chaff could not create an unnecessary surplus of freight equal to the difference between the cost of labour in hackling in the two countries.

The event has as yet proved unsuccessful; and those who engaged in the speculation know to their cost that it has not been profitable. We had to pay the natives at the rate of 9l. per ton at their own residences. The goods which we paid them were furnished by merchants in Wellington at a very high rate of profit; the difficulties of carrying the goods and the bales of fibre in small craft and boats to and fro between the scattered stations and Wellington, and the wages of agents at each station, increased the cost to 15l. per ton delivered in the port: and the incomplete apparatus existing for pressing and packing the fibre into bales was both costly and inefficient; for it cost 3l. more per ton to pack and put on board ship, while a ton weight was not compressed into less than nearly two tons' measurement. Moreover, the respective merits of the different kinds of the phormium tenax were not yet known, nor was the most suitable time for cutting the leaf ascertained; and the natives, finding they could get the same utu for any kind, continued to cut all the year round, and were careless as to mixing what was made from three or four species of the plant, varying essentially in their qualities. They probably also neglected the proper time and manner of drying after the scrape. All these particulars could only be ascertained by some length of experience and observation. The bales, too, were often wetted in salt water, when taken through surf to a schooner or carried in a leaky craft; and most

of those as yet imported have reached England in so bad a state, that what cost 18l. to put on board ship, besides freight, insurance, and other expenses, has generally been sold in London for 15l. per ton.

But I still believe that this is the right principle upon which to proceed; and that a person or company who should import their own goods into the colony for trade, attend to the details which I have noted with regard to the time and manner of cutting and drying, and the various species, and establish the collecting and pressing on a good footing, would eventually succeed. The next step would be, to invent some process of machinery which might imitate the native process of separation and scraping, with a saving of time and manual labour.

It will probably be found that even the best varieties of the plant will be improved by cultivation; and this conjecture is supported by the knowledge that the natives themselves cultivate the kind which they use for their finest and most silky mats. I have described in a former chapter the appearance of the deserted cultivations of this plant on the table-lands above Ikurangi on the Wanganui river. On the same character of land on the banks of the Patea, and at various settlements all along the fertile table-plain between Wanganui and Taranaki, I have observed the same custom. The species of phormium tenax thus cultivated is the tihore, literally the "skinning" flax. This name describes the ease with which it submits to the process of scraping. I have seen a native boy take a leaf of it to make a lash for his whip, cut it across, and then strip off the inner fibre, perfectly clear of the pulp which dries into chaff, without a muscle-shell, and merely by pressing it all along with his thumb. The fibre thus produced was peculiarly white, soft, and silk-like.

THE REV. OCTAVIUS HADFIELD.

But, to return to my story: I now began to act as "Flax-agitator," using the influence which I had acquired among the natives to induce them to resume their scraping operations. I commenced at Otaki, where the grounds growing korari are very extensive, and where the large population promised a good supply of the article. In the course of my endeavours, I was constantly to and fro between Otaki and Wellington for some months, and soon learned to know, as they say, every inch of the road, and almost every inhabitant.

These trips procured me the advantage of an intimate acquaintance with the Rev. Octavius Hadfield; and I had the good fortune to add to this valued pleasure the satisfaction of securing his earnest co-operation in the introduction of the new trade. It was at this time that I learned more fully to appreciate the excellent qualities of this genuine missionary of the Gospel. He was a perfect enthusiast in his vocation. A highly educated gentleman, gifted with an extraordinary share of talents, and the most delicate and honourable feelings; mild and forbearing, persuasive and unassuming in his manners; of distinguished address and personal appearance; possessed of very extended information on most general subjects: endowed, in short, with all the necessary qualifications for being known and admired in the highest circles of the old world, or for enjoying the luxuries and comforts which attend upon the most self-denying pursuits in a highly civilized society, he had nevertheless devoted his every thought and energy to the reclamation and amelioration of savages, who were but little advanced from their most warlike and ignorant state when he arrived amongst them.

No selfish views were seen to mingle with his duties. No one could say of him, as of most mis-

sionaries in New Zealand, that he had the best of everything in the place. He had not even so much as a garden at either of the two houses, one at Waikanae and the other at Otaki, between which he divided his time. That at Waikanae was in the most crowded part of the pa, hemmed in by fences, and cook-houses, and noisy crowds of natives. That at Otaki was among the barren sand-hills close to the coast. At one, the outer fence of the territory which he occupied barely left room (or the stock-yard, in which the two horses, absolutely necessary for his constant journeys, were tied up; and at the other, the fence pressed close upon the little kitchen and potato-store near the house. The furniture of both was such as was barely indispensable. Mr. Hadfield was most frugal in his diet, scarcely ever eating meat, but living principally on biscuit and an occasional fowl; and would never allow even his delicate state of health to interfere with his onerous duties. On one occasion, he very nearly killed himself by persevering for several days in contending against an adverse gale on board a schooner of ten tons, when bound on a mission to Otako in the Middle Island, although he was so severely affected as to spit blood the greater part of the time.

I have already related how wisely Mr. Hadfield had availed himself of the influence of the chiefs to introduce the Christian faith with more permanance and authority, gently mingling the spiritual change with the preservation of the institutions to which the people whom he had to change were accustomed; and I have elsewhere dwelt on some remarkable instances of the effect of so merciful and well-devised a system. Nor need I repeat that his irreproachable character and winning demeanour had procured him the love and respect of all classes in both races; of

RESULTS OF COMMERCE ON NATIVES.

the heathen native and the brutal beach-comber, as well as of the grateful converts and the colonists of education.

Mr. Hadfield thoroughly appreciated the advantage of introducing among the natives a more permanent and profitable employment than their rude cultivation of potatoes and the rearing of pigs, in both which pursuits they would soon be outrun by the White settlers themselves, and both which tended to supply a market very fleeting and uncertain in its demand. He had early taught them how to cultivate wheat; and he gladly used his best endeavours to support the establishment of the flax-trade. Such was the revolution produced by it in a few months, that the natives would no longer drive pigs to Wellington or sell them at a low price to traders who travelled the coast for them. They soon found how great a share of the luxuries of the Europeans they could receive at their own doors by a moderate but steady toil with the muscle-shell; and I frequently saw at Otaki, what I had never seen before except on occasions of especial festival, the natives killing pigs, cleanly as they had seen it done by the butchers at Wellington, for their own consumption. New and improved wants were also introduced: they talked of exchanging the produce of their now well-paid labour for horses, sheep, and cattle; hand-mills for grinding their corn; spades, carpenter's tools; rice, sugar, flour, and European clothes. They found that they could not only arm and blanket themselves and smoke, but feed and dress better, and afford to learn many new tastes, while constantly employed in the production of an article for which the demand at a good price seemed inexhaustible. For I had carefully explained to them, when they asked me what could be done with so much muka, that millions of

people in England required it for sails and rigging of ships, for shirts, trousers, sewing-thread, and other innumerable objects, while the potatoes and pigs were only fit to supply the mouths of a few thousand settlers until they could supply themselves. And as I persevered in my old system of treating the natives whom I employed as friends, companions, and retainers, rather than as mere hired servants, and took pains to excite their emulation, watch and praise their efforts, and rather to lose money than to encourage the slightest haggling or overreaching on either side, I was soon almost as great a favourite among the Ngatiraukawa of Otaki,; Ohau, and Manawatu, as among my older friends at Wanganui.

But I had printed several hundred circulars in the Maori language, signed with my Maori name, which were despatched by various opportunities to all parts of the coast where I had been seen or heard of. In these I recommended earnestly the general adoption of the manufacture; and I proposed to myself, in the course of time, to superintend the renovation of it all along the north coast of Cook's Strait.

I engaged in this pursuit in the same way as I had engaged in pig-trading and shopkeeping at Wanganui, not for the sake of profit, but in order to benefit the natives. I had become by this time much attached to the Maori; I was well acquainted with their language, their customs, and their predilections; and I was delighted to see, in a trade which would realize such immediate profits to large numbers of natives, an easy means of facilitating the civilization of the weaker race, and their adaptation for intercourse on equal terms with the White man. As the Reserves might have been applied to save the chiefs from degradation, so a well-regulated commerce of this kind would seem calculated

OPPOSITION OF RAUPERAHA.

to enable the great body of the natives to advance in habits, desires, and refinement of ideas. The intimate friendships which I formed with the various chiefs, and the kind of feudal attachment which I have already described to be secured by their means from their followers, was especially pleasing to me. I hoped that I was serving both natives and colonists on a large scale; and in this hope I was indifferent to the loss of a considerable sum of money consequent on the confined knowledge which I had of mercantile transactions.

I had always availed myself of the friendship and persuasion of the chiefs to work my object; and Watanui, E Ahu, E Puki, and the other heads of the Ngatiraukawa, were my principal co-operators. I only met with serious opposition from Rauperaha and Rangihaeata; who resolutely set their faces against a trade which seemed so well calculated to knit the Maori and the White people in a strong bond of mutual confidence and frequent intercourse. They refused to allow a store to be built on Kapiti for the deposit of the goods and flax, although they had very fairly sold the proposed site to the man from whom my partner wanted to rent it. They tried to prevent my sawyers from cutting plank for a barge to carry goods across, although they were authorized to do so by the chief to whom the wood belonged; and they always sneered at the possibility of such a traffic being for the good of any but the White people. They feared, in fact, for the destruction of their own pernicious authority, only of great weight in warlike and quarrelsome circumstances, by the introduction of so peaceable and civilizing an occupation. They hated the very yearning for new wants; as they could foresee that a population with civilized habits and desires must necessarily be linked in a friendly commerce with their

wealthy and civilized neighbours; and that, as leaders possessed of no eminent qualities but those necessary for intrigue, menace, and war, they themselves would soon become ciphers in a peaceful tribe of well-dressed and well-fed flax-scrapers and cattle-holders.

On the 7th of November, the George Fyfe arrived from England with immigrants for Nelson, and a large batch of cabin-passengers, some for that place, some for Wellington. About this time a fresh impetus seemed to have been given to emigration in England. Several ships had lately arrived at Nelson and New Plymouth. They generally bore a very superior class of settlers; and it appeared to have become an increasing fashion for the cadets of some of the best families in the mother-country to swell the ranks of colonial society. The Fyfe brought Mr. Charles Clifford and Mr. William Vavasour, among other colonists, to Wellington; and Mr. Constantine Dillon to Nelson. One or two of the established settlers had also sent home for wives; and these came with the families of the new settlers in this and one or two succeeding ships with the same class of colonists. We also heard with great pleasure that Mr. Henry Petre might be soon expected, having married a wife, and concluded his preparations for a final return to the colony.

Happening to be in Wellington at the time, I went on board to greet Mr. Dillon, whom I had known before I left England. I remember being impressed with the curious scene which took place on board.

We had hardly shaken hands, when my friend burst out with a series of questions. "Have you got 100,000 acres of the finest land in the world up the Hutt?" and "Is it true that you've had to live upon rats for some time?" were among them.

THE "PUFFERS."

I looked round the cabin-table at those who had preceded me on board, and at once answered, "I see you have had the grumblers and puffers on board: listen to but little of what you hear from the people who are in the habit of rushing on board fresh emigrant ships; come on shore, and judge a good deal for yourself until you have secured an impartial informant."

The puffers are, perhaps, the most mischievous of these two classes, who both seem to delight in perplexing and tormenting the new-comers almost before the anchor of the ship is down. They are people who seek to give themselves an air of consequence by dwelling on the length of time that they have been in the colony, on the important station which they individually hold among its founders, on their perfect and exclusive knowledge of the capabilities of the country and the politics of the place, and on the advantages to be derived from making their acquaintance, and thus gaming a share of their notability and experience. I remember once hearing one take extraordinary credit to himself, before a knot of gaping and bewildered passengers under the break of the poop, because "the ship was at that precise moment," as he declared, "passing over the identical spot where his schooner, which he had ordered, and he had built, and he had manned, and he intended to send round to his whaling-station for his oil and his bone, and which was the fastest schooner on the coast, had turned over and sunk some months before!" They generally support their vulgar rhodomontade by the most exaggerated accounts of people and things; and, of course, the man from England thinks that a person who knows such wonderful facts must be better informed than the newspaper, or the people who write

home. Then perhaps a grumbler steps over the gangway; and the puzzled emigrant is met by totally different accounts. The grumbler shrugs his shoulders and sneers at almost every answer that he makes; and looks at his querist as much as to say, "Well, you are a fool." He dribbles out words of doubt and discouragement, looks forward to difficulties, and puts everything in the light of a deception. He says the land is all over 12 miles of hills like those; that it blows and rains worse than any part of the world; that the people are nearly starving; that the farms on the Hutt, about which you have read so much, are only model-farms of the Company, managed under some good name so as to act as a trap for land-purchasers; and ends by telling you that the Company are a set of swindlers, the Government no better, and both leagued together to take in every new-comer and do for him. And then, perhaps, a violent and ill-bred discussion ensues between the puffer and the grumbler across the table, and the poor settler retires to his cabin half distracted between the two.

Some few of the puffers have at least an apology for making great men of themselves. They are auctioneers, shipping-agents, or people with land to sell or houses to let; and if you once show them the way to your breeches-pocket, they at once descend from their Pegasus and become your very obedient humble servants. But I have been ashamed to see one or two men of some station, who ought to have known better, puffing on board a ship out of mere wantonness and inordinate self-esteem.

Some of the grumblers, too, have "reason in their madness." They are often from among the little pedling class of shopkeepers who have been forced into the trade by the long delays about land-titles, and who

THE "GRUMBLERS."

have got so habituated to the new pursuit that they do not leave it when they can. They come to depreciate articles of commerce which you may have to sell and they may buy cheap. They tell you things are so bad that nothing can be sold; and you are glad to get your little venture off your hands, at once. They tell you, too, that it is quite useless to set up yourself in trade, for there's nothing doing and ruin impends over the whole settlement. But I remember one, who after dwelling upon this for a long while, and then finding out that his victim was neither going to become a grocer nor had anything for sale, would point out his miscellaneous shop on the beach, and say "That's my store where you see the tri-coloured flag flying. If you should want anything, you'll get it cheaper there than anywhere else." In the early days, the crimps for Auckland and the Australian colonies were also among the most active grumblers. But there are plenty of them who seem to act from the mere spirit of mischief.

The grumblers are, indeed, an extensive class, and do not all come on board ship. They are chiefly to be met with in the parlours of the hotels, smoking and drinking; pitching stones into the sea off the jetty; wandering lazily from one resort of idlers to the other; in the billiard-rooms, and near the public-houses. But the stranger who frequents these places deserves his fate, and no pity is felt for him. He often becomes a grumbler himself, by constant association with his tormentors.

The grumbler takes pride in sneering at every sanguine hope, in ridiculing every energetic effort to progress; and will hear of no attempt to examine into the discouraging circumstances which do really exist, or of any reason for their existence except the systematic deceit practised by the founders of the colony and by

those whom the grumblers are pleased to look upon as first their victims and finally their accomplices.

They are, of course, disappointed men; many of whom have some cause for their disappointment, but no courage to exert themselves or to seek for means of overcoming the difficulties in their way.

A large portion of the class consists of the worthless idlers, of whom their families have thought to rid themselves by sending them to the other side of the world with a few hundred pounds, a land-order, and no friend or adviser. No language can be too strong for reproving such parents or guardians. The exiled scamp (for he has generally deserved that name in England) arrives on the beach, expecting to find everything as complete and comfortable as at home, only a good deal more like an earthly Paradise or Eldorado. He has probably been told that in a few years he may come home with a fortune; and he thinks that this is to be done by standing still with his hands in his pockets. He has had no education to fit him for a colonial life; he has not the slightest knowledge of the value of money; and is one of the unfortunate people who can do "anything."

He finds that his section is some miles off, and covered with timber; that he will have to live for some time almost by himself, to have nothing done for him, and in short to work, without many of the comforts and luxuries of an old society. And he is shocked to find that the gentlemen of the place do not disdain to be busy and occasionally to handle an axe or a hammer themselves; and that the really good and pleasant circle of society which does exist will not acknowledge him or receive him amongst them till he has proved his qualifications to join them by roughing it like a gentleman and a "good colonist." He is required to

THE "GRUMBLERS."

assume the esprit de corps before he is allowed to put on the uniform.

So he resolves to wait till a road is made to his section, and till there are some people living near it; he dawdles about the beach; sets down the gentlemen for a clique of proud, disagreeable people; gradually gets into the habit of frequenting the billiard-rooms and the hotels; and thinks he has found out a particularly jolly set of fellows in their permanent inhabitants. He drinks, smokes, and sings; perhaps sells his land-order, without having seen his section or even been outside the town; and enjoys the thing vastly until his money is spent in doing nothing. He goes on for some time on credit. But the duns begin to gather round him; he is perhaps deserted by the set at the hotel for some newer hand; and he begins to think that, after all, this sort of life is managed better in London. Of course, there is a great dearth in Wellington of the amusements which would suit his taste: the industrious colonists only indulge now and then in recreation, and even at those times it is short and moderate, and they return to their work.

He is now a confirmed grumbler, and applies the maxims and principles which he has picked up over the brandy-bottle at the hotel to everything which he sees or hears of. He finds excuses in everything for his own misconduct: the wind is too violent, the rain is too heavy, the sun too scorching, the timber too abundant, the land too barren, the houses too slight, the roads too bad, the food too nasty – he never could have got on; in short, "it is a wretched hole:" and he starts off one morning for Sydney or India, having borrowed money or drawn a doubtful bill for his passage. He returns to England, generally a worse

scamp than before, to explain why he could not possibly have succeeded by painting everything in the blackest colours.

What can be said of the bounden protector of such a youth, who has not only abandoned his charge to irretrievable ruin, but has inflicted a pest on the young colony for a greater or less space of time? No education can be too good, no especial preparation too careful, no maxims of prudence and self-dependence too rigidly instilled, for a young man who is sent to take part in a new colony. There is, perhaps, more need to consider the peculiar fitness of the character of an individual to become a colonist than to join any other profession. He is thrown very much upon his own resources, and into a totally new state of society and circumstances; so that a sound education and carefully cherished moral courage are the more necessary to supply his want of experience and his ignorance of any world but home. But it is probably rather through indifference than miscalculation that reckless parents send their young idle dogs to New Zealand.

This class of grumbler is of course an extreme case; but the causes of the discontent of many others may be soon understood by a careful observer. Some have even a very good right to grumble. Their land is, perhaps, among that disputed by the natives; and they have made vigorous but unsuccessful efforts to get possession of it. They belong to the unfortunate throng who have fallen victims to the resentment of the Government at being forced to take possession of New Zealand and its determination to misprotect the natives. They are among those crushed by the long delay in the investigation of the Land Claims' Commissioner. But even they might, long before, have hired land that could be occupied, or found some other

THE "GRUMBLERS."

employment in the meanwhile. Their principal fault has been that of fraternising with the worthless set who have a less right to grumble than themselves. For my part, I would rather have hung my coat on a peg and worked at labourer's wages, keeping my capital safe in a box until a better day should come, than live the fretful and thin-skinned life they often sink into leading, in the company of men who have not half their worth, and who have no claims to be their associates.

Another class of grumblers are too ridiculous to require much notice. These are people who have been minor lions, scientific or otherwise, for a few months in London, and who hope to be still more so in a small colony. Through some inadvertence, the young society has not been taught, and fails to discover their peculiar vanity – they are talked to for a time more about the progress of the colony than about their own heroic achievements; and they become neglected when the colonists discover that they can do nothing but talk. These are, perhaps, the most vicious grumblers; but they are quite harmless, because easily discovered by the levelling of their growls principally at the really very good society of the higher class of settlers.

The grumblers are a dangerous shoal, upon which the newly-arrived colonist is very apt to founder. But the danger requires no buoying off to the old colonist. He keeps in the straight channel of brave perseverance and endurance, beating steadily to windward between the sands to whose formation he has been a witness, and occasionally warning a stranger of their whereabouts.

This leads me to speak of another class of people, sometimes met with in the colony, of whom the oldest colonists are not at first aware. They come from

England as well as from the sister colonies; and bring with them letters of introduction as well as personal recommendations which introduce them at an early period to the familiar friendship of the best society in the colony. And it is not, perhaps, till long afterwards that some disreputable history or disgraceful circumstance of their former life is discovered, which explains their exile from the old world. They have come with all the outward appearance of gentlemen; they are backed by education, talents, capacity, vigour, knowledge of the world, amiable manners, and the true spirit of a good colonizer. And when the startled society learns the blemish which must dismiss their new friend from its ranks, its indignation is often mingled with regret that so valuable a colonist in other respects should be inevitably unfitted for their companionship. He is a man who has betrayed the society into a sincere admission of him as their equal, though he knows himself to have been irreparably degraded from a similar station in the country from whence he came. He thus proves guilty at once of a breach of honour, and can be called by no milder term than a swindler of their friendship, even though he do not repeat the offence which should have been confessed in order to be forgiven, or, if too grave, hidden in conscious retirement. Those who give recommendations to this class of persons are as much to blame as the parent who sends his wild son to become a grumbler and a sot. The exposure of their protege is certainly greater and more vivid than it would be in a larger society; and the injury inflicted on the young community is more serious than that arising from the presence of a known and unheeded idler. But when a colony is considered by the Imperial Government as a good place to send its least worthy dependants, it is not

EXCLUSIVE CLUB AT WELLINGTON.

to be wondered at that society at large should conclude that they too can send the people who hang unpleasantly on their friendship to a place where their demerits will be connived at or unknown.

Against this class we early made some provision by the institution of the Club, on which I dwelt shortly in my former pages. Any new-comer is admissible as an honorary member for three months, on being presented and seconded by two members and approved of by the Committee. If he wish to become a member, his name has to be posted with that of his proposer and seconder for a month, and he is then balloted for.

So near the penal colonies of Australia, where loose characters abound, this was a most necessary measure. Although very quiet and hidden in its operation, it has tended very much to preserve a high British tone in the society of Wellington, and even of the other settlements of Cook's Strait, whose best inhabitants become honorary members of the Club during their visits to Wellington. Although this club was at first assailed with much derision and loud abuse of its aristocratic character as unsuited to the tastes and feelings of the majority, it has steadily maintained its station; and possesses by this time an undoubted power of determining the claim of a new man to the respect and confidence of society. It has, in fact, scarcely any other object; for several married men belong to it, who hardly ever use it is a club except when some visitors of importance are invited guests, or when some business matter requires their attendance. Some idea may be formed of its very exclusive character, when it is known that there are to this day only 25 members, although the number is not limited. This club has probably contributed in great measure to preserve the tone of

Wellington from becoming quarrelsome and ignoble like that of Auckland, or vulgar and bargain-driving like that of a young town in the west of the United States, because it has cherished the great safeguard of society, honour.

It is difficult to describe a "gentleman and good colonist" of the Company's settlements; but as it has been my good fortune to live among this class for four years, and they have been my constant companions and intimate associates during that period, I may be allowed to quote the description of them which was given by Mr. Charles Buller to the House of Commons in his famous speech on Colonization: –

"Within the last three or four years our colonization has entirely altered its character. The emigration to Port Philip, South Australia, and New Zealand, has been an emigration of every class, with capital in due proportion to labourers, with tradesmen and artisans of every kind, and, with the framework of such social institutions as the settlers have been used to in their native land. Clergymen and school-masters, and competent men of every liberal profession, are among the earliest emigrants; artists and men of science resort to a new field for their labours; in the foundation of the settlement you find funds set apart for public works, for religious endowments, and even for colleges. Associations of a religious, and charitable, and literary nature, are formed at the outset; and these are intended to benefit not only the poor emigrants, but the helpless native, who is brought into contact with a superior race. To such settlements, men of birth and refinement are tempted to emigrate: they do so in great numbers. I will be bound to say that more men of good family have settled in New Zealand in the three

DESCRIPTION OF "GENTLEMEN" COLONISTS.

years since the beginning of 1840, than in British North America in the first thirty years of the present century. It is notorious that the greatest change has taken place in the public feeling on this point, and that a colonial career is now looked upon as one of the careers open to a gentleman. This change in the character of colonization – this great change in the estimation in which it is held – is of greater moment than the mere provision of means for conducting emigration without cost to the public. It makes colonization, indeed, an extension of civilized society, instead of that mere emigration which aimed at little more than shovelling out your paupers to where they might die without shocking their betters with the sight or sound of their last agony."

One of these "men of birth and refinement," the son of a wealthy English peer, who had worked as hard as any yeoman in the settlement, was pressed by somebody, when on a visit to England, to give information about the mode of life of the "gentlemen" colonists. Being of a taciturn disposition, he answered, "Oh, I don't know: why, we dress for dinner, and don't drink."

Only one of our "gentlemen" had been led by the Government puffing and auction-sales of "the site of the capital of New Zealand" to desert his fellow-colonists, and to exchange the industrious life of a settler in Cook's Strait for that of a mere dealer in land at Auckland. This was Mr. Dudley Sinclair. I should have objected to mentioning the fact with his name, if he had not frequently and publicly boasted of it himself, after residing for some time among the hungry land-sharks, land-jobbers, and officials, who composed the population of the "metropolis."

A rival club was once set up for a short time by some men who would certainly not have been admitted into the first; but it broke down in a disgraceful fight between two of the members with the poker and the chairs inside the locked doors of the club-room.

And as the exclusive club still continued to sift the arrivals carefully, unmindful of calumny or ridicule, it was at length looked up to and acknowledged, to a certain degree, as the legitimate censor of polite manners. And those who had begun by being its most strenuous opponents were the first to call upon it to perform its duty, when one of its members was discovered to have committed an unpardonable offence, and to have escaped its penalty by an inevitable train of circumstances.

Mr. Murphy, the Police Magistrate and Government representative, had been seen to abstract money from the pool at a game at cards, by a young member who was looking on. Being only a looker-on, his inexperience led him to suppose that he had no right to interfere in the game. But he took one of the players aside and told him what he had seen. The player returned to his game and also observed the proceeding. But he wished to secure more evidence, as the first observer had gone home; and he only took the precaution to tell a third member what he had seen as they went home for the evening. The third person could only advise that nothing should be said, but that the culprit should be taken in the fact at a future opportunity. He had, however, observed that he was detected; so he returned once or twice and played honestly, and then gave up play, saying he could not afford it. Thus it became a delicate matter to rake up the question – one of those which should always be settled at the moment; and people only wondered for a long while, why the two persons who had seen the deed gave up

DISGRACE OF MR. MURPHY.

the acquaintance of the person in question. But after many weeks the affair got abroad, and a loud call was raised in all quarters that an inquiry should be made. I need hardly say that the evidence of the two gentlemen was conclusive, and that the culprit was expelled by ballot at a general meeting of the club. This was towards the end of the year. It afterwards turned out that some persons who had been honorary members for a short time had observed equally dishonest tricks a long while before, but had not thought themselves bound to report what they had seen to any member.

A dereliction of his public duty soon afterwards necessitated the resignation and total banishment of Mr. Murphy. To serve purposes of his own, he had been accustomed to send a married constable, who lived next door to him, to the gaol, with a note to the gaoler to keep all the constables he could get or find on gaol-duty until four o'clock in the morning – in other words, to lock them up till that time. The constable, suspecting something, read the note which had been left unsealed, and returned to his bedroom in time to find the Police Magistrate going in, and to give him a sound thrashing The cause of the numerous robberies which had lately occurred was now apparent; and the unpaid Magistrates assembled to request the Police Magistrate to resign, or to expect the result of their application to the Acting Governor. He resigned.

It remains to be told; that the Acting Governor sought to place the culprit in a subordinate situation at Nelson, when he visited that place after coming to Wellington, and was only prevented by the indignant remonstrance of the settlers. Even the doubtful society of Auckland scouted him on his arrival, and he disappeared. It is only to be hoped that he has changed his name, and gone far from the society of man. I

have already stated that he was known to have acted the character throughout of a clever Government spy. And yet so numerous were his apparent good qualities, that this was one of the cases in which the indignation of society was mingled with regret.

At this time, the Police Magistrate of Wanganui was labouring under a charge which prevented any man from sitting on the bench with him, and under the unrefuted imputation of which he has since been obliged to retire in utter ignominy and confusion.

The Police Magistrate at New Plymouth appeared to have been selected from among the settlers on account of the thorough inaction of his character.

The appointment of the late Mr. Thompson at Nelson was at least imprudent, on account of his known excitability of temperament.

Such were the sole wielders of law and authority under whom the Cook's Strait settlers had been doomed to writhe and linger for three years.

On the night of the 9th of November, a fire swept part of the beach at Wellington. The houses were chiefly roofed with thatch, and many of the walls of the same material. A smart N. W. breeze was blowing at the time, and the fire spread with fearful rapidity, the pieces of blazing thatch flying along to other houses 100 yards off, and igniting them immediately. I formed one of a party who tried to save the fire from spreading by pulling down houses along the line; but, though we began far to leeward, the house would frequently light under our hands, or sparks flew over our heads to houses still further off. Fortunately, a large number of sailors from the shipping acted well in concert under their commanders – several houses were torn or cut down, and the thatch carried bodily into the sea. The people, too, of the houses to the south of the Flag-staff

FIRE AT WELLINGTON.

Point 20 had been alarmed in time to wet their roofs; and though the fire ran along a dry brush fence on the top of the hill, it was thus prevented from spreading to the bonded warehouses and large stores at the back of Te Aro beach. If this had happened, the damage would have been immense, as nothing could have escaped the conflagration of the bonded spirits. As it was, the damage was estimated at 16,000l. Twenty-three houses of thatch were burnt and three pulled down.; and upwards of twenty wooden houses of various sizes were also burnt. Some curious escapes were observed. In one case, the whole wooden wall was scorched into charcoal, round the window of a room in which there were four-hundred weight of gunpowder in kegs; and all the surrounding houses were burnt to the ground. After the fire had ceased, all the young settlers still remained till daylight, rolled in blankets on the floors of some of the large stores at Te Aro, watching lest some new outbreak should threaten that part of the town.

The greatest humanity and good feeling for the sufferers prevailed. Many people willingly put themselves to inconvenience to shelter their houseless neighbours; and very large subscriptions were collected at Wellington, Nelson, and New Plymouth, and even little Wanganui added its mite, for the relief of those really distressed by the event.

In some respects the fire did good. Many of the pedling shopkeepers whom I have described were driven into the bush, where they might have gone long before; and these seemed surprised to find how easy it was to settle, even with their reduced circumstances. Two villages, with cultivations and clearings of moderate size, soon sprang up along the Porirua bridle-road,

at distances of four and six miles from the town; many settled in the upland vale of the Karori; and a more wholesome spirit was thus given to those who remained in the town.

Perhaps the most surprising thing was the rapidity with which, notwithstanding so many discouraging-circumstances, the beach was again covered with a better growth of buildings. Out of the ashes of the raupo thatch sprang substantial brick and wooden stores and taverns, with slate or shingle roofs; and heaps of melted glass and other rubbish were cleared away from the site of one of the merchant's stores, to make room for the foundations of the Scotch church. Within two or three months, this part of the beach was more thickly populated than before, and no vestige of the fire remained.

Some of the natives had joined in the subscription for the sufferers, and others offered their services to rebuild houses without payment. They had been exceedingly active in their exertions on the night of the fire; grateful, no doubt, for the like exertions of a body of settlers which had saved the greater part of the Te Aro pa from destruction in the same way some months before. It is painful to record that the Wesleyan missionary had taken advantage of that circumstance to induce them to extend the disputed village very much in rebuilding it, carrying the outer fence fifty yards beyond where it had formerly stood, instead of agreeing to Colonel Wakefield's renewed instances that they should quit the location for their own Reserves. The natives of the Pipitea pa soon after followed this example; apparently aware that the Governor's restriction as to the alienation of their occupied land had not defined any limits.

The shipping was exceedingly busy about this time.

DEATH OF WAREPORI.

Vessels direct from Valparaiso with flour, one from Manilla with tea, sugar, and cigars, and several with cattle from Sydney, gave the anchorage and the wharfs a busy appearance. The most ridiculous disputes might be seen daily occurring between the Police Magistrate, the Health Officer, the Postmaster, the Harbour-master, the Collector of the Customs, and the Landing-waiter, as to who had the first right to be taken on board by the two boats which served for all purposes, and which were hardly ever alongside a new arrival till it was surrounded by a dozen boats belonging to watermen or private individuals.

On the 22nd of November, Warepori died, the abscess in his head having proved incurable. The poor fellow had lived a degraded and pitiable life for some time. He was always peevish and irascible; and had much of the same spirit which I have described as existing in Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, of anger at the loss of his authority through the introduction of peace and industry. As, however, before the dominion of the local Government, Warepori had always been held up and maintained by the settlers as a great chief, and as Colonel Wakefield had more than once made it a point to back himself by his authority and that of E Puni to repress the outrages of the lawless among the White people, we had entertained sanguine hopes that the institution of the Reserves would soon reconcile him to a station by wealth and property equal to that which he had formerly maintained by eloquence and the art of war combined with his high descent. And he had appreciated these intentions to a great extent, for he expressly pointed out the land which should be chosen for two of the country sections of Native Reserve. His wish had been complied with, although these two sections were very hilly, and there-

fore only fit for the state of agriculture then existing among the natives, or for pasture when they should have become instructed in our improved methods. But from the first arrival of Lieutenant Shortland might be dated a change in the temper of this child of nature; the more to be regretted because it might have been so gently guided into noble and energetic paths under a fostering system. His proud spirit soon rebelled under the marked contempt of the Kawana for those who had been the chiefs when the first White people came. He observed that minor chiefs, of no importance formerly, were made much of, and considered as the leaders of the natives, because they seemed inclined to be dissatisfied with the White population. And though the original settlers still treated him as the chief, and paid him the same attention and deference as before, he soon discerned that the Whites who had real authority took every means of degrading him below his former inferiors. And he found that the promises about the value of the Reserves were not made good. He observed that neither were the natives located upon them under any system, nor was any other good effect produced by their income on his sinking condition among his people. And when the Governor confirmed the degradation by giving the subordinate chiefs presents to be distributed among those who had been their ariki, or superiors, the final-blow seemed to have been given. It was this feeling of bitterness at being degraded that led Warepori to refuse to give up his village at Nga Hauranga; to attempt to rouse the natives to revenge the death of the man whose body had been found; and to be snappish and reproachful in his behaviour towards his best friends among the White people, even while they tried to do him honour and console him against the galling

CAPTAIN SMITH'S EXPEDITION.

insults to his native dignity. He knew that they were not the chiefs in authority of the White people; and he naturally felt as though they had deceived him wilfully into the belief that they could secure his treatment as an honoured and influential leader of his people. The whole question rankled in his mind; he pined, and fretted, and stormed, and grew thin and haggard, negligent in his dress, and undignified in his manner; he took to drink and begging; and died, a notable instance of the misprotection of the aborigines. He was buried at Pitone; where his mausoleum of wood, painted with kokowai, or red ochre, forms a prominent object. At Nga Hauranga, too, some quaint figures, meant to represent the chief, are erected to his memory in a tapu spot, according to native custom.

I often wondered how E Puni had managed to escape the same fate. He was equally aware of the slight cast upon him and others of real rank. But I truly believe that he possessed judgment enough to distinguish between the generous esteem of Colonel Wakefield and the educated settlers, and that, only springing from party motives, of the Government officers; and that he was wise enough to prefer the friendship and companionship of the gentlemen, without pining after marks of honour from an authority whose burlesque pomp must indeed have been more despicable to savages than even to civilized men.

On the 23rd of November, Captain Smith returned from an expedition to the Middle Island on the Company's service. Colonel Wakefield had despatched him in a small cutter, about the time that he himself sailed for Auckland, to examine and report upon the coast, the harbours, and adjoining country along the whole east coast of the Middle Island. He had made a very careful and interesting report, with accurate sketches

and maps of the principal harbours and rivers. Unfortunately, the cutter, in entering the port of Akaroa on her return, had been suddenly upset by a squall and sunk in deep water; so that all his maps, books, journals, and valuable instruments were irretrievably lost. Captain Smith's report to the Company, made partly from memory and partly from materials which he had sent to Wellington by another, opportunity, is still a most interesting document, and causes the reader to lament the accident which prevented it from being complete. The principal new information related to the Lake Waiora (mis-spelt Wihola), stretching for a long distance behind the Ninety-mile Beach south of Banks's Peninsula; to the harbour of Otako and the surrounding country; to a harbour called the Bluff, near the eastern entrance of Foveaux's Strait; and to the New River flowing into that Strait. In short words, it proved that a very large and promising field was open for colonization in the Middle Island, with excellent harbours and inland water communication, scarcely any native occupants, and a climate, perhaps not so warm as that of Cook's Strait, but equally productive.

We heard that the natives of Massacre Bay had obstructed the operations of the diggers of coal and limestone in that neighbourhood, upon finding the value of the rocks which they had formerly considered worthless, quoting "Spain and Clarke" as having to come and decide upon the land; but that Mr. Thompson and Captain Wakefield had gone thither with a boat-load of special constables, and had set things to rights by an adequate display of firmness and a declaration that they would enforce British law against any disturbers of the peace.

On the 6th of December, Colonel Wakefield returned

COL. WAKEFIELD'S VISIT TO AUCKLAND.

from Auckland in the same little schooner in which he had gone thither. He had been 24 days getting to the capital, as a gale of wind had compelled them to heave-to for twelve days off the East Cape. He had spent nearly a month at Auckland, and was twelve days in returning. He brought word that the Acting Governor would shortly follow in the colonial brig with Mr. Spain; but they were to call at Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty, to settle some dispute with the natives. Colonel Wakefield had left them to follow, as he was anxious to reach Wellington in time to bring the opinion of the Law-officers of the Crown as to a question of the utmost importance to the Municipal Council.

The Ordinance provided that the election should take place every year on the 5th of December. But the first election at Wellington had been appointed to take place, and had accordingly taken place, on the 3rd of October last. It remained undecided whether it was necessary to have a fresh election on the 5th of December of this year, or whether the election of October would hold good until December 1843. The majority of the Council themselves passed a resolution in favour of the latter opinion. Colonel Wakefield had come one day too late to inform them that the Attorney-General at Auckland was of a contrary opinion, but stated it to be a case for the decision of the Supreme Court. The Council determined to remain in the performance of their duties until this decision could be obtained at the next circuit of Judge Martin in May. For if the Attorney General's opinion should prove correct, an Act of the Legislative Council would become necessary to amend the omission of the election on the 5th, and the Legislative Council could not be assembled until the arrival of a new Governor at an indefinite period.

Colonel Wakefield's experience of Auckland during a month might be thus briefly summed up. He described the harbour as a good one; but he confirmed its two great points of inferiority to Port Nicholson, which I had often heard allowed by Mr. Blackett and other naval men, and by persons even interested in the capital. The first is, that a strong tide runs both ways through the anchorage; and when the wind blows fresh against this tide, which is in the direction of the two prevailing winds, east and west, a very inconvenient rip is produced, which makes it even unsafe for ships' long-boats to be moored to their stern. Mr. Blackett had invited Colonel Wakefield to live on board his yacht, but had warned him that in rough weather communication with the shore would be difficult and unpleasant. The second point is, that at low water long flats of soft mud reach out to the distance of 400 or 500 yards from the dry beach, and at this time much trouble is experienced in landing both goods and passengers. Colonel Wakefield likened this to what we had observed at Hokianga on a smaller scale.

He described the neighbouring country, chiefly on the isthmus between the harbours of Auckland and Manukau, and between Auckland and the range of mountains west of the Piako river, as offering a tolerable expanse of level ground, and pleasant, because easy to ride over. But this very quality arises from one less promising, which is, that the soil consists chiefly of pumice, with scattered lumps and masses of scoriae of various sizes lying about on it, and that nothing but a stunted growth of fern obstructs your free galloping if you avoid these lumps. He had observed many pretty and fertile spots; but these were either in gullies or scattered along the valley of the

SOCIETY OF AUCKLAND.

Tamaki river, whose embouchure lies a few miles east of Auckland heads. Colonel Wakefield described with much admiration some fields of artificial pasture laid down by Mr. Fairburn, the missionary catechist who had claimed 40,000 acres of land on the isthmus, as almost the only agriculture which he saw. He described the general appearance of the country as pretty, from the very contrast between the bare plains and the gullies fringed with small timber, and from the numerous volcanic peaks of varying size with which that tract of country is dotted. As to climate, there seemed little to prefer in that of Auckland. During the whole month there had been plenty of heavy and continuous rain; and the prevailing westerly wind blew almost incessantly across the flat isthmus from Manukau, hard enough to prevent you from hearing your companion speak when galloping side by side over the plain.

The society, as might have been expected, was positively none. Even the families of the officials were alienated from each other by vulgar quarrels and recriminations; and the only pleasant associates were a Captain of Engineers on service at Auckland and the other habitues of the mess of the garrison.

As an improvement to this state of society, 91 juvenile delinquents from the seminary at Parkhurst, in the Isle of Wight, sent out by the Government, had arrived at the capital. Some of these were to be liberated at once; others were to be bound to a certain term of apprenticeship. It was not long before these ingenuous youths showed their skill as instructors of the natives. I have heard it more than once described, by visitors from Auckland, that there were known places of rendezvous outside the town, where the boys used to meet the natives coming into town to trade at

the stores, and teach them how to pilfer with secrecy and comfort. A meeting was held at night, as the natives returned to their settlements, for the division of booty; and the Maori, unable to keep the secret any longer, bitterly complained that the young thieves invariably managed to cheat or rob them of all that they had stolen on joint account. The natives have probably become weary of getting so small a share of their own plunder; as some of the Parkhurst seedlings have lately been caught breaking into the houses of the settlers, independently of their simple allies.

A fifth newspaper, the Auckland 'Chronicle,' had started with the assistance of the Government printing-press.

A very few farmers were said to be going out upon suburban allotments; and the streets of the metropolis, which had been long in an impassable state of mud and mire, were said now to reflect credit on the improved policy of the Acting Governor.

A schooner, wrecked at Hokianga, had been totally plundered by the natives of that part; and the crew of another, at Hawke's Bay, had been assisted in saving the cargo and their own lives by the natives.

Two boys' schools were now established at Wellington; one under the superintendence of the Mechanics' Institute, the other founded in opposition by a private individual. The two schools had about 150 scholars.

Picnics and balls began to multiply as the season of the anniversary approached. Among the most pleasing of these was a picnic given by Messrs. Clifford and Vavasour, who had set an excellent example by clearing away at their section, half a mile beyond Captain Daniell's farm on the Porirua road, immediately that they arrived. They were in time to ask their fellow-

DYE-BARK – TITOKI OIL.

passengers in the Fyfe, who were going on to Nelson to lunch in a tent in the midst of their first clearing; and a party of the ladies of Wellington joined the merry throng, and cheered them to perseverance in their good work.

About this time, a vessel of 230 tons was re-launched, having been hauled up, and some damage repaired, on a slip which her owner, Mr. Mathieson, had put up at Kai Wara Wara. He prepared to receive a vessel of 400 tons, which had arrived in a leaky state from England some months before.

Another export was now much talked of. This was the bark of the hinau, a large forest-tree which abounds all over the country near Cook's Strait. The natives extract from this bark the black dye for their mats. The bark is simply pulled into shreds and soaked in water. The flax to be dyed is then put to soak in the decoction; and when taken out, is sometimes rubbed in a sort of sandy mud which contains much iron, and is very common on many parts of the coast. But this process seems to be avoided in some cases by making the decoction in an iron cooking-pot. I must leave chemists to explain what the iron has to do with the dye. A considerable quantity of this bark was now collected and sent to England, that its value might be ascertained, and information obtained as to what portion of the inner or outer bark, or both, it would be expedient to send home. But if any answer was obtained to these queries, the merchants have kept it all to themselves.

The berry of the titoki tree might also be turned to account. The natives extract a very fine oil from it; and a small quantity, which was sent to England as a sample, has been described as of great value for the finer parts of machinery. The tree abounds in all the

forests. The berry is a small black nut, peeping out of a pulpy husk, like a raspberry in size, shape, and colour. 21 Poor Mr. Swainson was at this time more distressed than ever by "Dog's Ear" and Rauperaha's other native emissaries. He had hired three sections, of 100 acres each, of untouched forest-land on the banks of the Hutt. He had fondly made plans for laying this out according to principles of his own, by leaving belts of timber to shelter the patches of cultivation from the wind, clumps in various spots for ornament, an orchard here, a flower-garden there. He had built a substantial farm-house for his family and another for his labourers. And he had begun with a clearing of about two acres, in which a fine crop of wheat for seed was just coming to perfection. Taringa Kuri, who had established himself close to the house, at first promised to cut only what Mr. Swainson pointed out to him, and pretended only, to want one crop in return for his trouble. But, notwithstanding repeated mediations of Mr. Spain or of Mr. Clarke junior, which only seemed to make matters worse instead of restoring peace, the deceitful chief had cleared all the wood indiscriminately off a large tract of ground. Belt after belt, clump after clump, fell beneath the merciless axes of his followers; and the native clearing at length reached to within a few yards of the house and the little patch of wheat. They now openly laughed at their victim, and told him to "look out," for as the dry weather came on, they should set fire to the fallen wood. His appeals to the Police Magistrate for interference, to the Crown Prosecutor for an indictment, to the Court for an injunction, had been all of no avail. He only involved himself in a long cor-

CHRISTMAS SPORTS AT WELLINGTON.

respondence with these Government officers; whose letters, since published, do little more than find flaws in his statements, while they are themselves full of the most frivolous arguments and quibbles. And the little knot of officials used to sit over their dinner, and quiz "that old fool Swainson," as they called him, while the work of destruction was going on. How his wheat, nearly ripe, and his thatched roofs were saved from the fire, I do not know; but the clearing was burned off, potatoes planted and gathered more than once, a pa was built on the river-bank; and in October of last year the natives were not only living there permanently, but encroaching still further on a large portion of the valley, in any part of which they forbade White men from settling. The clearings of the Ngatirangatahi, Rauperaha's especial servants, extended nearly a mile along the banks; and they carefully stopped every White man who began to clear or saw even in parts that had never before been occupied. On one occasion the Pitone natives, and some of those from the refractory villages in the town, came over with their arms to insist on the abandonment of this tract, to which the occupiers had not a shadow of right. But Mr. Clarke junior was well informed of their intentions; and he and Mr. Spain came over on purpose to confine this burst of justice to mere palaver and negotiation. And a day or two afterwards fresh clearings were being made, and more settlers were obstructed by the intruders.

I spent my Christmas at Otaki, and dined off a haunch of goat venison instead of a sirloin of beef. But I heard that the festival had been celebrated with "right merrie" sports in Wellington. A cricket-match between two clubs which had practised for some months, quoits, swings, and other diversions, were mi-

merously attended on Te Aro flat; and, to the credit of the community be it spoken, not a single case of drunkenness or disorderly conduct disfigured the pleasant associations of the day.

This had been reckoned rather an inclement season in New Zealand; but barley was cut in the beginning of December on the banks of the Hutt, which weighed 74 pounds to the bushel. At the show of the Horticultural Society on the 27th, prizes were given for potatoes, peas, beans, cauliflower, Spanish as well as English onions, carrots, rhubarb, artichokes; wheat, barley, oats, rye-grass, turnips, and pot-herbs; strawberries, cherries, gooseberries, and black currants; dahlias, pansies, geraniums, roses, balsams, stocks, pinks, gladiolas, various bulbous flowers from Sydney and the Cape of Good Hope; and three prizes for cottagers' gardens on the Hutt and near the town.

20 Among the illustrations already referred to, is a panoramic view of Wellington, taken from this Point before the fire.

21 A drawing of this plant forms one of the before-mentioned illustrations.

CHAPTER XIII

CONCLUDING SELECTION OF LANDS.

CHAPTER XIII.

Concluding selection of lands – Murder of a native woman at Cloudy Bay – Disputes with the natives at Tauranga – Lieutenant Shortland proposes to enforce the law – The Attorney-General considers the natives not British subjects – Mr. Clarke supports him – Arrival of Lieutenant Shortland at Wellington – His reception – Speeches about land – Tact of E Puni – Copper ore – Return of Mr. Petre from his visit to England – Race-horses – Mr. Cooke drives cattle to New Plymouth – Dicky Barrett and Mr. George Clarke junior – Arbitration – Mr. George Clarke junior promoted – Discussions about compensation for land – A mad native – Windmill – Comet of 1843 – Mr. Spain proceeds towards the north – A native murdered by another native in Wellington – The murderer goes unpunished – Interview with Rauperaha – His allies – His irritated and threatening behaviour – Proposed journey – The rata, or flowering myrtle.

1843. – ON New Year's Day the concluding selection of preliminary country sections took place. The new districts laid open were the valley of the Upper Hutt, above a gorge six miles from the sea; a large district between the Manawatu river, and a line drawn east from Lake Horowenua to the Tararua range; a varied and rather inaccessible district between Port Nicholson and the coast of Cook's Strait, which extends from Mana to Cape Terawiti; and some new valleys in the neighbourhood of Porirua, and between that district and the valley of the Hutt. A few persons availed themselves of the permission to reserve their choices for some other location, such as Waikanae or Otaki, where the responsibility of satisfying the natives was to he with themselves. The sectionists and land-agents had made a very thorough examination of the new

districts, and every one appeared well satisfied with the choice which he had made. The different maps were laid on a long table in the open air outside the survey-office; and the crowd of bustling agents and tormented surveyors' assistants formed a gay scene.

Early in the month, the Police Magistrate went over to Cloudy Bay to inquire into the circumstances attending the death of Rangiawa, or "Squeaker," the native wife of Mr. Wynen, who had formed one of our party up the Pelorus river in 1839. An Englishman, and old whaling inhabitant of the place, was taken up on suspicion of having murdered her, and brought over to be committed for trial; but the evidence against him did not prove sufficient, and he was acquitted at the next Court. I heard afterwards in the course of my trips to Otaki, where many relations of the murdered woman lived, that the natives had been by no means satisfied with the result of the proceedings, and that the acquitted man had thought it prudent to leave the country.

On the 11th, the colonial brig arrived, bringing Lieutenant Shortland with his suite and Mr. Spain. The settlement of the affair at Tauranga had proved less easy and speedy than had been expected. The circumstances were these. Some members of two hostile native tribes in the Bay of Plenty had seized upon the boats of two White traders, in order to carry on some of their predatory expeditions against each other. In the course of these, they had committed several bloody and treacherous murders; and having got excited, kept the boats. The owners applied to the authorities in Auckland to interfere. The authorities were always much more ready to do this at the north than in Cook's Strait; so Lieutenant Shortland carried Mr. Clarke junior and his own brother, Edward Short-

DISPUTES AT TAURANGA.

land (whom he had appointed Protector for that district, after he lost his place of Private Secretary at Captain Hobson's death), to Tauranga, and applied for restitution. The Tauranga people, being the weaker side, were easily persuaded to give up their boat; but the Maketu natives, who were of the same tribe as the wild inhabitants of Lake Rotorua, only answered by insulting messages to the deputation of three Protectors and the acting Governor's Aide-de-camp, a Lieutenant of the detachment at Auckland. They sent back word, according to Lieutenant Shortland's despatches, that they were determined to persist in their practices of war, murder, and cannibalism. I was told by a European and by several natives who were on the spot, that one message, perhaps not reported to his Excellency, was, that "they had nothing but dry fern-root to eat, and would much enjoy a slice of his fat sides to moisten it." It remains on record, at any rate, that his Excellency became very irate on the return of the deputation with these free-spoken opinions instead of the boat; that he sent the brig back to Auckland for the whole of the troops and the Commanding Officer, Major Bunbury; wrote to the Commander-in-chief, Governor, and Senior Naval Officer of the station in New South Wales, for all the reinforcements which they could spare; and flourished his pen for some time in the seven cuts of the broadsword exercise.

But, with Major Bunbury and the troops came a protest from the Chief Protector, Mr. Clarke, and a very pacifying letter from Mr. Attorney-General Swainson, raising doubts as to whether the whole of New Zealand was British territory, and whether the natives who had not signed the Treaty of Waitangi were British subjects, and therefore within the opera-

tion of British laws. So the Acting Governor left his brother and the troops at Tauranga, and returned to Auckland to hold a consultation with the Executive Council, which consisted of himself, the Colonial Treasurer, and the Attorney-General. Mr. Swainson persisted in his opinion, and gave it officially; for which he was told by Lord Stanley afterwards, that if he continued to entertain such an opinion, he would not be considered fit to hold office under Her Majesty's Government. The Colonial Treasurer supported Lieutenant Shortland in a contrary opinion; and. Mr. Clarke, examined for two days before the Council, supported the Attorney-General. So it had ended in the leaving instructions with Mr. Protector of Aborigines Shortland to do nothing until Mr. Protector of Aborigines Clarke should arrive on the spot; but to keep assuring the natives of the Acting Governor's determination to protect British property and enforce British law upon all British subjects. And with this assurance, I believe, the affair was allowed to drop.

His Excellency arrived one evening when a ball at Mrs. Daniell's had assembled all the ton of Wellington; and as Lieutenant Shortland had made the amende honorable by reinstating Captain Daniell in the Commission of the Peace, he appeared as an invited guest. Notwithstanding his former faults, he was received in a very forgiving disposition, in consequence of Colonel Wakefield's reports of his earnest promises that the land-claims should be speedily settled. Only one or two of the most influential settlers, who had learned not to put their faith in Government officers, and had seen especial reasons during his former visit to doubt the possibility of his good intentions, still showed their distrust in a marked manner. Otherwise, the Acting Governor was feted in every possible way. He and

LIEUT. SHORTLAND AT WELLINGTON.

Mrs. Shortland were asked to every ball and dinner-party. They were taken to see the Hutt, now in its golden beauty; and they were placed in the front seat of the grand stand at the anniversary races. The Acting Governor was invited to dine at the Club, which had never happened to the late Governor; and his levee was very fully attended. He was altogether treated with great confidence and good feeling. I really believe that he was at this time well inclined to do justice to the Cook's Strait settlers; but of the two subordinates who had ruled the former Governor, the more influential one exercised a similar sway over him who had succeeded to the reins of power; and by such a sway the best of intentions must have been withered.

H. M. S. Favourite again called in at the same time on her way home from Sydney; and carried to England a batch of letters full of the sanguine hopes which were generally prevalent.

His Excellency at least conferred one substantial benefit on the town, by directing the erection of a substantial and roomy gaol. Numerous escapes had recently proved the perfect inefficiency of the Maori hut and its stockade.

The Wellington Almanack was first published this year; and cheese began to be made in the colony with tolerable success.

The third anniversary was celebrated with great eclat; 150l. having been subscribed for the amusements, and a large concourse of natives having been persuaded by Mr. Halswell and others to join in the diversions. A remarkable scene ensued.

E Mare, the chief of the Ngatimutunga, who had six or seven years before forsaken this place for the Chatham Islands, and his eldest son, had been here some time concerting mysteriously with E Tako and the Te Aro natives as to maintaining their claims to the land;

urged by Mr. Scott, who professed to have bought the land which he claimed from E Mare himself. These, besides Richard Davis and E Puni, were all among the throng who came in front of the stand to go through their war-dance before the ladies. E Tako took advantage of the presence of the Governor to lead the speeches, with which the natives always excite themselves into the dance, upon the acrimonious subject of the land. E Mare's son was beginning to follow in the same strain; when old E Puni, with the feeling of a true gentleman, perceived how inappropriate such a discussion was to this occasion, when all differences were to be drowned in festive rejoicing. With intuitive tact, he sprang to his feet, began one of the old and favourite legends of the Maori in the accustomed dirge-like recitative, warmed with his subject till their straining attention was wound up to think of nothing but his song, and watched the moment when their muscles were distended and their mouths panting with excitement to give the thrilling signal to rise, to lead them through the measured dance to its maddening termination, and finally to head them in a sham charge down to the pa a hundred yards off; where they dispersed, having forgotten all about the land for that day.

Two more features of the day must not be omitted. A prize was given, and numerously competed for, to the native who could scrape the greatest weight of flax in a given number of minutes. And the tee-totallers had a pleasant party in some pretty tea-gardens which had been neatly cultivated and filled with flowers and rustic benches in a nook among the picturesque hills at the rear of the town.

On the 30th, his Excellency sailed for Akaroa; returned on the 8th of February; and took his final departure for Auckland by way of Nelson and New

RETURN OF MR. PETRE.

Plymouth on the 11th of that month. Governor Hobson had deigned to spend five weeks at Wellington; the Acting Governor managed to spare three from the superintendence of Auckland.

It was at this time that I first saw some New Zealand copper-ore. Captain Nagle, the commander of the Government brig, was the owner of part of the Barrier Island in the Gulf of Hauraki, on which a very promising mine had been discovered. About 100 tons of the ore have been since forwarded to England through Sydney. I believe a company of Sydney capitalists has been formed to work the mines; but their means are so limited that their operations appear to be suspended for the present.

The people of Nelson were now thinking of petitioning for the extension of the Municipal Ordinance to that town as well as to Wellington. Auckland could not yet boast the required population of 2000.

On the 31st of January, Mr. Henry Petre arrived with his new-married wife and his whole establishment in a ship from England. Almost everybody that was in Wellington went on board to greet him warmly on his return. The Reverend Mr. O'Reilly, a Roman Catholic clergyman, was a passenger on board. Mr. Petre brought valuable importations to the colony. First and foremost were "AEther" and "Riddlesworth," two thorough-bred English horses, which had come in boxes on deck, as fat and in as sleek condition as though turned out of a London stable. Between decks were 19 brood mares and a mule from the Cape of Good Hope. Peacocks and pheasants completed the muster-roll of the menagerie.

Mr. Petre was a thoroughly "staunch colonist." When he landed on the beach, he confessed that he had never been quite happy till he got back.

At this time, the Company's agent issued a contract for the clearing of the Porirua bridle-road to a width of six feet, and the felling of the timber for 10 feet on either side along the whole 12 miles, so as to admit the sun and wind upon the swampy and muddy portions. The contractors engaged a large gang of Hutt axe-men, headed by a renowned Yankee backwoodsman, who used to pocket many a half-crown by making bets with new-comers as to the number of minutes he would take to get through a tree. They got expeditiously and creditably through their contract.

On the 20th, Mr. John George Cooke, the magistrate who had so firmly settled the Waitera dispute at New Plymouth, started for his home with a herd of 70 head of cattle and a large flock of sheep. They defiled along the beach, followed by their owner, two or three stockmen, and Dicky Barrett; some mounted, some on foot. Mr. Cooke had been spending the anniversary at Wellington, and employing it usefully in buying stock. Dicky Barrett had been giving his evidence before the Court of Land Claims, which had resumed its sittings. I was one day present, and was much hurt by the pains which Mr. Clarke junior took to sneer at his way of pronouncing Maori, and at his unsophisticated narrative of his doings as interpreter at the different sales. Barrett's Maori diction, like that of most of the whalers, was of course not superior to his English; and he had a broad honest way of uttering both, for which Mr. Clarke junior seemed delighted to display his contempt. Dicky perfectly understood and could make himself understood by the natives; was thoroughly acquainted with their customs and feelings; and possessed twice the qualifications to be Protector of Aborigines that the almost equally uneducated and infinitely worse-bred lad could boast, who took

MR. CLARKE JUNIOR PROMOTED.

upon himself to laugh at him for faults of accent and grammar.

The arrangements for the arbitration were finally made in the end of January. Colonel Wakefield had proposed to abide by the decision of Mr. Spain and Mr. Halswell, the Protector of Aborigines, as to the amount of compensation to be awarded. But the Acting Governor appointed Mr. Clarke to act as one arbitrator, and any agent on the part of the Company; Mr. Spain to be umpire, in case of any difference.

It was only at this time that Mr. Clarke junior was released from his duties of Interpreter to the Court of Claims. When Mr. Spain accompanied Colonel Wakefield to Auckland, Mr. Clarke junior went thither in the Government brig, by way of Kapiti, Nelson, and New Plymouth. On arriving at the seat of Government, he reported to his father, the Chief Protector, that the local Protector at Port Nicholson was liable to be influenced by his connexion with the Company, and seemed negligent of the interests of the natives. Mr. Clarke, the Chief Protector, embodied this statement in his half-yearly report to the Acting Governor, and recommended the appointment of a Protector for the Southern District. This appointment was immediately conferred on Mr. Clarke junior; who was thus placed over the heads of Mr. Halswell and Mr. Thompson for all matters relating to the natives, as he had already been for the defence of their interests before the Court of Claims.

I was present at the first meeting which took place at pa Te Aro for the purpose of settling the amount of compensation to be awarded. A table and chairs were placed in the midst of the pa, round which sat or stood the umpire and the two arbitrators – Colonel Wakefield acting on the part of the Company; and

Mr. Meurant, who had been 20 years in different parts of the island, both north and south, being interpreter.

E Tako, E Puni, and Taringa Kuri, were among the crowd of natives assembled. Of these E Tako was the only one that spoke; but he was supported by several of the unknown Moseses and Abrahams of Te Aro in showing that the refractory natives were not disposed to take any but a very exorbitant payment. They assumed all the consequence of head chiefs to themselves, while E Puni and Taringa Kuri sat still and silent on the edge of the crowd. A mad but harmless native, named E Huka, had got excited by the talking, and indulged in a bitter satire on the mock solemnity of the whole proceeding. He had on an old beaver hat, with a piece of tin tied to the front of it, several ragged coats and shirts hung in various shapes over his blanket, a shoe on one foot and a stocking on the other, and was bedecked from head to foot with ribands, scraps of paper, and old rags. With a spear in his hand, he ran up and down within ten yards of the table, drowning the consequential assertions of E Tako and his friends by loud shouts that "all the land belonged to E Huka, that there was no one like E Huka, that E Huka was the Queen. Never mind Spain, never mind Wide-awake, all-the-go E Huka! Never mind E Puni, never mind E Tako, listen to E Huka!" And then he would stop to smile and have a quiet joke with some friend among the surrounding White people, or to grin foolishly at Mr. Spain; but directly the speeches got at all loud or egotistical, he was off again louder than they could speak. No persuasion, no frowns, no harsh words, no kind entreaties, could prevail upon him to be silent; he took it all for encouragement and admiration. The meeting ended in nothing.

In this month, Mr. Brees, the Company's Chief

COMET OF 1843.

Surveyor, returned from an excursion to the Wairarapa lake and Ruamahanga plain; and soon afterwards a party of settlers, chiefly those lately arrived in the Fyfe, also made a trip to that district. The very graphic account of Mr. Fox, who was the journalist of the party, confirmed to their full extent the former accounts of Mr. Kettle and other travellers. Sketches, too, represented an almost boundless expanse of varied land; the richest natural pasture, the most luxuriant forest, watered by numerous streams and rivulets. Colonel Wakefield now directed the principal exertions of the labourers under the Company to be devoted to the completion of the road into the valley of the Upper Hutt, with a view to its continuation over the Rimutaka range, so as to give access to the plains of the Ruamahanga. 22

At this time, the first windmill in the colony was advancing towards completion at Te Aro; and several tanneries were busily at work near the town. The tanners found both the bark of the hinau, from which the natives get their dye, and the bark of the towai, or "black birch," highly suited to their purposes.

I was at Otaki on the 4th March, when the splendid comet of 1843 was first seen in the S. W. The first night some natives rushed into the house to ask for explanation of the extraordinary sight. After watching it for some hours, I foretold that it would be seen again for many nights; which they would not believe, telling me that I was porangi, or "foolish," to think that the atua, or "spirit," would appear when I liked. And I was much laughed at till the next night, when there it was still! It was seen for nearly a month; and the clearness of the atmosphere added to its beautiful appearance. The nucleus was distinctly visible,

like a small star; and the tail, of uncommon brilliancy, subtended an angle of 36 deg. as observed from Wellington, and of 45 deg. as observed from Wanganui.

Towards the middle of the month, Mr. Spain closed his Court at Wellington, and proceeded to hold sittings on the road to Taranaki. No case had been finally reported on by the Commissioner; but Mr. Spain had declared that the claims of the Te Aro, Pipitea, and Kumu toto natives, those living in the town, to compensation, were a fit subject to be arbitrated upon by Colonel Wakefield and Mr. Clarke junior.

About this time, a native deliberately shot another in the town of Wellington, for former adultery with his wife. After coolly reloading both barrels of his gun, he threatened to shoot any one who should attempt to follow him, and escaped safely to Ohariu on the shores of Cook's Strait. A coroner's inquest was held, and a verdict of "wilful murder" was returned against Kai Karoro, or the "Gull-eater," the native in question. But no very strenuous efforts were made by the authorities to execute the warrants issued against him, or even to discover the place of his retreat.

In this month, Colonel Wakefield and Mr. Molesworth started to go to New Plymouth on horseback, with a groom leading a pack-horse. In passing Mr. Spain's Court at Porirua, Colonel Wakefield agreed to meet Mr. Spain at Wanganui on his return, for the purpose of investigating that purchase and arbitrating as to compensation; and he asked me to go thither, as soon as I should hear that the investigation was likely to take place. I proceeded to Otaki to carry on my flax operations, which were beginning to require pretty constant attention; and waited for further accounts of the proceedings of the Court of Claims. Between some of my trips backwards and forwards, the

INTERVIEW WITH RAUPERAHA.

Commissioner pushed on, and I only heard fleeting rumours that he was examining witnesses at Manawatu, then that he had reached Wanganui.

About this time I had occasion to go in a boat from Otaki to Rauperaha's islet near Kapiti, in order to fetch some goods which had been landed for me by a schooner at Captain Mayhew's store at that place.

I had not seen Rauperaha or Rangihaeata at Otaki for some days; but I found them both here. It appeared that they were receiving the visit of Karitahi, a head chief of the Ngahitau tribe, who had come from Otako in a fine large sealing-boat, in order to make overtures for the reconciliation of the two tribes. It was said, that if this could be effected on a sure footing, Taiharoa and "Bloody Jack," Rauperaha's former inveterate enemies, were coming to confer with him on various affairs. The natives of Waikanae and Otaki told me that this was one of the cases in which, as the common Maori proverb says, you must be clever to "dive into the projects of Te Rauperaha;" and his movements and those of his new allies were watched with the greatest suspicion.

The southern chief was dressed in an old dragoon helmet, and black tail-coat without trousers under his dirty mats. His manner was very insolent and undignified; and his language a mixture of Maori "bounce" and whaling "slang," which showed that he was tainted by the character of the coarse Europeans among whom he had lived.

I turned to speak to Rauperaha about the flax; telling him how many new people were joining in the occupation every day, and trying to interest him in the benefits to be derived by the natives. He sneered, as usual, at the whole affair, and told me it was only a plan of mine to make the natives slaves to the White people. He said they were fools to listen to me.

He then began to talk about the land with much violence; which surprised me, as I had seen him frequently at Otaki in the course of the last few months without his even broaching the subject. Rangihaeata, too, as usual excited by drink, ran up and down for a little while using very violent language on the subject; but he went back to lie down in his hut when I laughed, lit my pipe, and passed some merry joke upon his large mouth having it all to himself.

Rauperaha then pursued the subject in a conversational style, as I lay on the shingly beach close by him, among his basking train.

"Do you mean to take all the land?" said he; "you are driving the natives first from one place and then from another; are you and Wide-awake to have it all?" He went on for some time, positively as though the natives were being driven out instead of the White people, as was really the case in all the settlements; and he declared he would stop it.

I knew it was useless to argue the point with him, as I felt sure that some sinister influence had been at work upon him recently, from his irritated manner and tone. So I answered, jokingly, and rather to turn off the subject, that I supposed when ships enough with 200 people in each had sailed past Kapiti to Port Nicholson, they would, in time, cover the land with their grandchildren. And I asked him why he did not stop the ships in the Strait with his canoe. I told him, too, that it was no affair of mine, and that I had no control over it; that the Governor and Wideawake would settle between them what he had really sold and pay him for the rest. I concluded by urging him, as I had often done before, to go and see Wideawake at Wellington, and convince himself that nothing but kindness was meant to the Maori. He scorned the offer as usual, saying he should be thought a beggar;

HIS THREATENING BEHAVIOUR.

and repeated that he would stop the White people: he didn't care for Wide-awake or the Governor either. They shouldn't have Porirua, and they shouldn't have the Hutt; and they shouldn't have Wairau, which he informed me was being surveyed by people from Nelson. He declared none of those places were paid for. I told him that we should always be of two opinions about that, and that it was of no use discussing it, as we could not agree. And I again tried to joke off the dispute, saying that the White people would creep on and get their right at last. I remember being struck with the hyena-like scream with which he said, "Then we'll fight about it!" But I still laughed at his obstinacy, and showed him how unequal a battle it would be if he trusted to force instead of justice. He said, however, that he did not care; "it must be one for one, till either the Maori or the pakeha were kuapo," or "exhausted."

As I rose to get into my boat, which was now loaded, Rauperaha told me that he and Rangihaeata were going to Nelson soon to tell the Wide-awake of that place not to survey Wairau, as it had not been paid for. I highly approved of his intention; and told him Wideawake would receive him as a welcome guest, and be sure to arrange the affair peaceably for all parties. For I imagined that Rauperaha would go and get some presents, and learn the advantages of being on terms of friendly intercourse with the White settlements.

A few days afterwards, Rauperaha brought his guests to Otaki; and the Ngatiraukawa received them with great feasting at the small pa near the mouth called Pa Kakuiu, the residence of Topeora, Rangihaeata's mother.

I had appointed with E Ahu to go to Taupo with him early this year; he having promised to show me a very

easy road, the one by which he originally came to assist Rauperaha. It communicated between the "Sacred Sand," at the foot of Ruapehu and the country at the head of the Rangitikei river; and E Ahu assured me that, with a very little labour, this path might be made passable for a horse. Our method of assignation had been one peculiar to the natives: we were to start when the rata should be in bloom. This is a curious but very common plant, which is at first a parasite, winding round large trees of the forest till it encircles and destroys them, when its numerous coils join together in one hollow trunk, leaving their victim to rot inside.

The rata thus full-grown is certainly the monarch of the New Zealand forest. In the gnarled form and tough contortions of its limbs, it much resembles the oak, and is therefore highly valued by ship-builders for knees and timbers. The foliage has also the noble appearance at a distance of the English forest-king. But the plant is of the myrtle kind, and bears a bright crimson blossom 23 in such abundance that, at its time of flowering, the forests look as though some playful giant had dipped every other tree in crimson dye and stuck them up again.

This tree is somewhat irregular in its flowering, and earlier in some parts of the country than in others. But this fairy hue is generally thrown over the wooded steeps soon after the middle of summer, about harvest-time. The numerous engagements of E Ahu in starting the flax-trade put our trip out of the question for this season.

22 A view of the Plain of Ruamahanga forms one of the Illustrations published by Smith and Elder.

23 I must again refer the reader to the Lithographic Plates.

CHAPTER XIV

JOURNEY TO WANGANUI.

CHAPTER XIV.

Journey to Wanganui – Wahine iti joins me – His relations object – He asserts his own authority – Mr. Spain, the Land Commissioner, at Petre – Upright conduct of an old chief – Death of Mr. Mason – The Rev. Richard Taylor – Spirited behaviour of E Kuru – Journey towards Taranaki – Bridle-road – Missionary opposition – Luxuriant country – Food for cattle in the forest – The tutu, a poisonous shrub – Signs of a settlement – Suspension-bridge – Advantages of having no port – The yeomen of New Plymouth – Contentment in a good climate – Security bestowed on Taranaki by the Whites – Flocking of natives to the district – New claims – Suspension of the Company's operations – Negotiations with Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke junior – Coast near Cape Egmont – Religious feuds among natives – Inhospitality – Changed character – A captive belle – E Kuru's home.

IT was not till the beginning of April that I got a letter from Colonel Wakefield, dated from Wellington, instructing me to go on to Wanganui and manage the Company's case before Mr. Spain. Colonel Wakefield and Mr. Molesworth had returned by sea from New Plymouth in the Government brig, which called on her way to Wellington from Manukau with the Chief Justice and a new Police Magistrate for Wellington.

Numerous appointments of Magistrates, including many of the principal settlers in the Cook's Strait settlements, had been made by the Acting Governor.

Wahine iti, the eldest son of E Ahu, whom I have already noticed as so eager, although so young, to become a civilized gentleman, able to lead his future dependents by means of the respect which should e paid to him by the colonists of station, determined to accompany me to Wanganui and Taranaki; for I

intended to proceed to New Plymouth as soon as I should have concluded the Company's business at Wanganui.

Although a recent feud had broken out between the Ngatiraukawa and the Wanganui tribes, and several retaliatory outrages had been committed on either side of every sort except actual bloodshed, E Ahu readily intrusted his son to my care and protection.

At Horowenua, however, I met with serious opposition to the young chief's accompanying me. I staid there one night, having to settle with Watanui about the removal of several tons of flax which his family and his tribe of slaves at a pa on the lake had been collecting. Watanui, although of a younger branch of the family than E Ahu, is an older man, and has more to say on especial family matters. He called Wahine iti his mokopuna, or "grandchild," although the relationship existing between them is much more distant. After breakfast in the morning, the old man said very quietly to me, "The boy shall not go with you; he will be killed." I reminded Watanui of his recent alliance with E Kuru; and appealed to him whether that chief had not good faith enough to repay his hospitality by taking care of his grandchild. He acknowledged this, but feared that the boy would be makuti, or injured by sorcery and incantations on hostile territory; and this, he said, neither I nor E Kuru could prevent. I remonstrated with him on the unfitness of these fears in a Christian; but he would not be persuaded. I claimed the permission given by E Ahu, the father of the boy; but Watanui said E Ahu was porangi, "a fool;" and persisted in putting his veto on the licence. Watanui's wife, too, Peropero, or "War-dance," told me that Wahine iti was a great chief, and not fit to carry

WAHINEITI, THE YOUNG CHIEF.

baggage for White men like a tutua, or "common person." I instantly replied to her, with some indignation, that I too was reckoned a chief among the natives; and that I had asked the young chief to go with me not as a servant, but as a companion. And I showed her that the baggage was divided between two slaves of E Ahu, who had been directed to attend on their young master, and one "boy" from my own Wanganui troop.

I then went to Wahine iti, to shake hands with him and bid him farewell. I told him how much I regretted that this opposition should have been raised by his relations, as I had hoped to gratify him as well as do good to all his people, by treating him as my constant companion and equal, and thus exacting for him the respect of both White people and natives. The little fellow had listened in silence, but with intense attention, to the whole discussion. Now he squeezed my hand convulsively, drew me towards him as though to say something, but could not find utterance; and I saw tears spring from his eyes, although he buried his face in his blanket, vainly attempting to overcome his emotion by the dignity of his rank. I left suddenly, and without the customary farewell to the old patriarch and his wife, for I felt much hurt at their want of confidence. The surrounding natives immediately observed this, and said, "He is gone away angry; he did not speak to the patriarch in going! Awe! awe!" (alas! alas!)

I had not got more than half a mile along the path to the beach, when Wahine iti came running up, his eyes sore with crying, and seized a tight hold of my arm. Loud shouts were heard from the village, E Wahi, e Wahi, hokimai! hokimai! "Come back, come back!" I stopped, and asked him what this

meant. He only pointed along the path, and said Haere taua! "Let you and I go on."

Two or three of his relations came up with us, and tried all means to persuade him to return; but in vain. When they asked him if he had not heard the words of his tipuna, or grandfather, he answered that he had; but that he too was a chief, and had his word to say as well as Watanui. "Remain in your place," said he; "I am going on to Wanganui with my White man, to see his good chief E Kuru, and then to Taranaki to live in the houses of the White gentlemen his friends. Remain!"

Wahine iti was certainly not yet 14 years of age: but his claims to be an independent chief were immediately recognised; and his early assumption of the dignity seemed to produce a sudden awe upon the minds of Watanui's messengers. Although they were men 30 or 40 years of age, they appeared to grieve at his decision, but to yield implicit obedience to his will in striking out his own line of conduct. They shouted "Go to Taranaki!" and returned to the village.

I augured the most happy consequences from the firm determination of this noble lad to risk all dangers and decline advice, in order to prove his perfect confidence in me, and to secure the means of learning to be like a White gentleman. On a mind of such amiable docility and such manly decision, what great effects might not be produced by the training of it to honourable and enlightened objects!

At Manawatu, where Taratoa and Watanui's eldest son, Billy, again tried to dissuade him and to warn him of the dangers, he persisted in his intention, though he smothered a tear as he left the last dwelling of his own tribe.

Our party was here increased by one of the Assistant

THE LAND COMMISSIONER AT PETRE.

Surveyors of the Company, on his way to Wanganui to assist the Commissioner's Court with the necessary plans and maps.

We reached Wanganui safely on the evening of Sunday the 17th of April. I wrote a note at once to the Commissioner to apprise him of my arrival.

But I found that Mr. Spain had got impatient at the delay in the arrival of either Colonel Wakefield or myself; had held his Court and closed it, after three days' examination of witnesses; and was about to return to Wellington the next morning.

I also heard that E Kuru had begged that no investigation might take place until all the parties to the sale were present; and had gone up to Tata, and some other places as far as 150 miles up the river, to collect many of the chiefs who had signed the deed of the Company. I immediately despatched a canoe with two boys to hasten his movements; and begged Mr. Spain to postpone his departure, as I found, on availing myself of his permission to peruse the evidence taken, that it entirely consisted of that of repudiators, and was for the most part a tissue of falsehoods. Some denied having signed at all; some said that E Kuru had taken all the goods; some that they were porangi, or foolish, when they signed; and others that the pigs and potatoes which were given to me after the sale as a present, and for which I had immediately paid out of my private property, were the only consideration given by the natives for the Company's goods.

Some correspondence ensued between the Commissioner and myself; which displayed on the part of Mr. Spain a feeling of personal offence at having been kept waiting three weeks, and a scrupulous attention to hours (such as dating his letters 3 p. m., in answer to mine "only just delivered") as important to the public

call upon the duties of his office. This attention to minutes consorted but little with the long months which had been dragged over the Port Nicholson investigation. Here, too, quite as large a district had been bought, as large a payment had been made, a larger number of chiefs had signed, and a larger number of natives had partaken in the transaction.

The result of our correspondence was the postponement of the departure, and the opening of the Court for two days more; one of which was occupied by the evidence of Rangi Tauwira, called by me.

Like E Puni at Wellington, this venerable patriarch told a plain unvarnished tale; proving how perfectly he had understood the bargain, how sincerely he had entered into it, and how faithfully he had maintained its fulfilment. His evidence closed with the emphatic Ae! answering to "Yes, truly!" in reply to three pointed questions from the Commissioner himself, whether he had sold his pas, his cultivations, and his very burying-grounds. The fine old gentleman had repeatedly promised to remove his pa from the section on which it stood to a Native Reserve half a mile higher up the river, the moment that the sectionist, who lived in the town of Petre, should wish to occupy his land.

The next day was a blank one: but I was not surprised at this, as my messengers could not reach E Kuru's village by any possibility in less than four days; and if he were there, or perhaps still higher up, he could not reach the sea with all his train for several days more.

But on the Friday, notwithstanding my remonstrances, the Commissioner departed towards Wellington.

When dawdling for many months over the Wellington purchase, Mr. Spain had lived in a tolerably

DEATH OF MR. MASON.

comfortable house, was constantly dining out, and spending a very agreeable life. During not quite four weeks at Wanganui, he had been obliged to live in a miserable hut, hardly tight from the weather, and its sandy floor abounding with fleas; his food consisting of pork and potatoes; and the society almost none. He went away after devoting five days out of the four weeks to the examination of witnesses, but without having even seen the great majority of the chiefs who had signed the deed.

Nine days after Mr. Spain's departure, E Kuru arrived with a large fleet of canoes, bearing his father and most of the influential chiefs of his own and allied tribes, who had waited for his summons to come and give their evidence. The indignation of the whole party may be better conceived than described when they found that the Commissioner was gone. Especially did E Kuru storm, when he heard from some of the natives and one or two of the White people that Mr. Spain had described him as having been anxious to avoid giving his evidence, or as having been employed in catching pigs for me instead of collecting witnesses.

Mr. Mason, the missionary, had lost his life some weeks before this, in crossing the Turakina river on horseback during a freshet, in company with Mr. Hadfield. That gentleman had made vigorous but unsuccessful efforts to save his friend, till he was himself exhausted. The Columbine, a schooner of 60 tons, arrived from the Bay of Islands soon after Mr. Spain's departure, bearing the Rev. Richard Taylor as Mr. Mason's successor. In numerous conversations with Mr. Taylor, I learned to believe that he was impressed with the urgency of teaching the natives of Putikiwaranui to be friendly towards the Whites, and to abandon, in part, their exorbitant ideas as to compensation. In the meanwhile, he

persuaded them to allow one or two of the settlers to locate on sections which had been formerly strictly interdicted, and to trust that they should be ultimately treated with the most ample justice. This was indeed an improvement on the conduct of his predecessor. But I regret to say that I have since heard, from most excellent authority, that he has taken advantage of the death of poor E Kuru in last September to urge the repudiators on to as great exorbitance and obstinacy as before. 24 They had already refused the compensation of 1000l. awarded to them finally by Mr. Spain as umpire.

E Kuru had distinguished himself during my absence by a very spirited action. A White settler had begun farming operations on a section close to the town, in a part of the country the entire alienation of which had never before been disputed by any native. Soon after he had built a small straw hut there, two or three natives from one of the missionary villages had come and given him the usual "notice to quit." A slave of E Kuru, acting as servant to the White man, heard the threat and reported it to his master. E Kuru immediately ordered six of his young men to take arms, to go and live at the hut, and to assist in building a larger house which was in progress on the section. A few days afterwards, a party of 30 missionary natives, well armed, went up avowedly to pull down or burn the houses; but they had desisted from all interference as soon as they heard from the slaves that E Kuru had instructed them to fight if necessary, and had promised to make the affair one of life and death.

I now proceeded by land to Taranaki, accompanied

MISSIONARY OPPOSITION TO ROADS.

by Wahine iti and one or two "boys" to carry baggage and provisions.

As far as Wenuakura we also travelled in company with a New Plymouth settler, who was driving a flock of 300 sheep and six or eight bullocks thither from Wellington, after a rest of a week at Wanganui.

From Patea we had a tedious walk along the top of high cliffs for 17 miles. There two small rivers break the cliff with their gullies, and a pa, called Manawapou, or "Broken Heart," contains a population of about 100 of the Ngatiruanui tribe. Nine miles more along the foot of the cliffs, the beach being passable at low water, brought us to the Waingongoro, or "Snoring Water."

Here resides a fine old chieftain, who was named "Te Pakeke" or "The Grown Man," by the Waikato tribes, from the ingenuity and hardihood which he had displayed in escaping from their predatory excursions into this part of the country, and in harassing their retreats.

The Agent of the New Plymouth settlement had determined to cut a bridle-road inland of Mount Egmont, to connect New Plymouth with the coast of Cook's Strait, somewhere between Waimate and Patea, by an easier and a shorter route than that round the coast. This object had at length been effected, notwithstanding the opposition of the great body of natives on this side, entirely by native labour.

A Wesleyan missionary residing at Waimate, named Skeffington, had made the most strenuous efforts to overthrow the scheme; telling the natives that the road was made with a view to seize their lands, and that it was nothing but a design upon them which ought to be viewed with the utmost suspicion. Accordingly, they had refused to allow egress to the road at Waimate, Manawapou, or Patea.

But Pakeke, who had become acquainted with a kind farmer's family at New Plymouth, two members of which were intended to superintend the native labourers as soon as permission should be obtained to cut the road, at once gave the plan his cordial support, and engaged that his own especial followers should do the work. And he appointed Waingongoro as the place of egress on the coast, as his out-cultivations were on the edge of the wood, near the valley of that river.

Upon this, the missionary raised such a hornet's nest about his ears, that though he had formerly lived in Waimate pa, and had been one of the most zealous attendants on Mr. Skeffington's religious instruction, he removed his own family and retinue to a new village which he built at the mouth of the river where the road was to emerge, and suddenly but resolutely abjured his sectarian faith and called himself a Church-of-England man. His following all did the same; and the most revolting religious feud was going on between near relations in the two septs of this tribe when I passed through the district. The road, however, was finished; and we had met a party of the workmen at Manawapou, who were on their way to show the double-barrelled fowling-pieces, in which they had insisted on receiving the principal part of the payment, to their friends at a settlement inland between the Manawapou and Patea rivers.

On one occasion, Mr. Skeffington had not scrupled to ride up among the party when at work, and to use such expressions and inducements to them to give up their engagements, that one of the two honest young farmers, who acted throughout as superintendents, had told him his cloth alone prevented him from being pulled off his horse.

Along this bridle-road we proceeded, accompanied by one of Pakeke's men, who was christened Koriniti,

LUXURIANT COUNTRY.

or "Corinthians," and who offered to guide us along a part of the way, and to carry a heavy basket of potatoes for food. For about eight miles from the edge of the cliff, fine pasture-land extends, mixed with occasional patches of fern. The whole tract from Wanganui hither, and as far west as I could see, appeared to be of precisely the same character as that over which I had passed between Wenuakura and Waitotara in 1840; the level table-land being broken by the gullies of numerous streams which are partially or wholly filled with wood. Before entering the forest, I observed that a low wooded range of hills extends from the highlands of Wanganui about half-way to the base of Mount Egmont; and that we were directing our steps towards the centre of the flat district between Mount Egmont and the spot where this low range sinks gradually into the forest.

After all the beautiful spots and districts which I had already seen in New Zealand, I was struck with the surpassing beauty and luxuriant productiveness of the country hereabouts, just after entering the wood, which is at first like an immense shrubbery with occasional large trees. The abundance of the second crops in the existing native gardens, the rankness and yet softness of the grass which had sprung up in the old deserted patches, surrounded with flowering shrubs amidst which countless flocks of singing-birds were chasing each other, all combined with the genial atmosphere, although it was approaching to the middle of winter, to remind me touchingly of Shakspeare's sweet picture of the perfection of agriculture. Just such a country and climate is described by him, if worked by happy and industrious farmers: –

"Earth's increase and foyson plenty,
"Barns and garners never empty;

"Vines with clust'ring branches growing;
"Plants with goodly burden bowing;
"Spring come to you at the farthest
"In the very end of harvest!
"Scarcity and want shall shun you,
"Ceres' blessing so is on you!"

A long trudge through the forest, of which the trees increased in size as we advanced, presented but little variety till we emerged on the picturesque broken country which stretches northwards from Mount Egmont at a distance of 10 or 12 miles from the coast. We had slept two nights in the bush, and the third we reached a hut in a small cultivation on the western edge of the forest. The journey had proved very tedious, from the extraordinary number of gullies and streams which we had to cross. Among these were the Patea and several of its tributaries, which take their rise in the side of Mount Egmont. After passing them, we came to those which join together to swell the four or five small rivers that flow out on the western coast between the Sugar-loaf Islands and the Waitera.

We had passed about half-way the skeletons of two horses. These had belonged to Mr. Cooke and his stockman. On his journey with the herd of cattle, he had expected to find this road open. On being disappointed, he left his horse, and was guided by the natives through the forest along the line which the road was to take. His cattle and sheep were in the meanwhile feeding and resting in the rich pastures which I have described. He directed his stockman to take the horses back and drive the cattle round the coast; but the stockman left his horse too, also came through the forest, and remained drinking a week at New Plymouth. When he got back, both horses were dead of starvation. It is a curious fact, however, that cattle will not only

THE TUTU, A POISONOUS SHRUB.

not starve but thrive in the New Zealand forest, as there are many evergreen shrubs, including the karaka, of which cows and oxen are extremely fond. Captain Daniell has a herd of 50 or 60 that keep in excellent condition on his farm near Kai Wara Wara, although there is but little grass on a few small and scattered patches of deserted potato-garden. The cottagers along the Porirua road keep cows, which give excellent and abundant milk, although there is nothing but leaves for them to eat for six miles in any direction.

In the open lands, a shrub called the tutu, to which I have more than once referred, is rather dangerous to cattle. The natives make a sickly beverage from the berries, which are very small, in bunches like currants, and of which the seed is highly poisonous. The leaves, and especially the young and tender shoots, are much liked by the cattle, and often deadly in their effects. But this seems a very irregular occurrence. I have often known cattle eat the tutu without being at all affected. At other times, and especially in newly-arrived cattle, a very small quantity causes a disease very much resembling that produced by an excess of clover. Instant and severe bleeding is the only chance of saving the stock affected. The tutu is very abundant among fern and dry grass pasture, and is exceedingly difficult to exterminate. Horses and sheep either do not eat this plant or are never affected by its noxious qualities.

Descending from the broken country, we found ourselves on the plains of New Plymouth, which are almost entirely covered with fern, varying in height from three to ten feet. Scattered groves of timber and gentle undulations from the plain into the valleys of the water-courses and their tributaries diversify the view agreeably.

At length we got into a line of road through the fern. One or two strong wooden bridges over the streams, and three or four neat houses and fields in various directions, soon told of the neighbourhood of a European settlement. We crossed a rough suspension-bridge in process of erection, of which the chains were supported on the round trunks of four large trees; then some smiling gardens, neatly hedged and ditched; a forge; a row of labourers' cottages; some cob houses in various stages of progress; and we reached the house of Mr. Cooke, who had invited me, when he was at Wellington, to come and find him out.

From thence to the mouth of the Uatoki river, about a mile north of the Sugarloaf Islands, the houses and gardens thicken apace; and there a little nucleus of dwellings forms the town. 25

The absence of a port had been of great advantage to the 1100 people who had settled at New Plymouth. The commerce of a shipping town had not encouraged a race of small shopkeepers and petty merchants; but the colonists had at once struck the plough or the spade into the ground. I found that a very large proportion of the people were scattered about in different directions on promising farms; and a numerous race of small farmers or yeomen is rapidly springing up there. A great many of this class originally arrived at this settlement from the West of England; and they have had no temptation to change their pursuit for one to which they were less accustomed.

The soil of this undulating and very pretty country is for the most part excellent for agricultural purposes; but the growth of pure fern is not suited for the imme-

NEW PLYMOUTH.

diate maintenance of cattle and sheep. While I was staying at Mr. Cooke's house none of his cattle could be found for nearly three days, as they had strayed many miles in search of pasture. But, of course, artificial pasturage will soon remedy this; and if the fern were burnt off, and every one that walked about were to carry a few grass-seeds in his pocket, I have no doubt but that the grass would eventually choke the fern, as it does in other places.

The population of New Plymouth seemed a particularly happy set of people. As they are little troubled with politics, I rarely saw many of them in the town, which is as dull a place, except to look at, as you can imagine. But on going to their little farms a mile off in one direction or two miles in another, I found them hard at work, delighted with the fertility of the soil which they were turning over, with hardly a complaint to make, and spending homely English evenings round a huge farm-house chimney; rising early, and not long out of their beds after their tea and pipes. I could not help reflecting, while spending an evening or two in this domestic way as a visitor at one of these farmhouses, that New Zealand is just the country for people like these, the better class of English yeomen. The climate is better adapted to an English constitution than that of almost any other of our colonies, although without a distinct winter, or frost, or fogs, or raw easterly winds, to check vegetation or make you house your cattle. The amazing productiveness of the soil, or rather of the air – for almost all land, if sufficiently turned over and exposed for a time, gives abundant crops – must tend to make agriculture the most pleasant of occupations. And, unless the flax, or the timber, or the bark, or mineral productions, are soon discovered to be valuable exports, it will be difficult to make a rapid fortune in the country.

It is rather a colony for persons of contented mind to enjoy life better with the same means, than for fortune-hunters to acquire a great and rapid increase of means wherewith to go back and enjoy life in the old country. But in the enjoyment of life in the colony, I include the constant pleasure of seeing scenery through a clear atmosphere, of breathing pure and invigorating air, of sleeping nine months in the year with your bedroom window open, and yet never feeling it too warm for fire when rain or a gale of wind keeps you in-doors. For otherwise you are always out of doors, watching the robust growth of your plants or the brilliant rising and setting of the sun, the surprising condition of the cattle without any great care, or the constantly varying but constantly beautiful appearances of the landscape, be it ever so meagre, which is open to your view. A gentleman who had lived nearly four years at Wanganui almost without doing anything, and totally without society or excitement, expressed the calm and contentment thus infused into the most secluded existence in the following words: –

"So we continue to vegetate. How it is we are not all killed with ennui, I cannot imagine, for a duller life than ours at present cannot be conceived; but I must say, I never in my life found time hang so lightly on my hand, or was more free from care, blue devils, or sickness, than since I have been here. The days pass so quickly that you can scarcely believe that Sunday is come again. Few can say with certainty what day of the week it is; and yet you do nothing; walk a few times up the beach, smoke a pipe or two, chat with a few Maoris, kill a pig, and the day is done."

Wahine iti, who always accompanied me to the houses of the different settlers, was delighted at the urbane treatment which was secured to him by our companionship. He appeared to take as great interest

NATIVES FLOCK TO TARANAKI.

as I did in the progress of the White community, and was in raptures with the roads and bridges.

While at New Plymouth, I rode with Mr. Cooke to the Waitera, 12 miles north of the town, and then went inland to the Pa Pukerangiora, on the edge of the broken country. This site is famous for the dreadful carnage which took place upon the capture of the pa Wero Wero, in about 1833. At a settlement near the base of the hill on which it once stood, we fell in with an old chief of the Ngatiawa, named Watitiri, or "Thunder," who had managed to escape from the massacre. He related to us many vivid scenes of the bloody campaign which had occasioned the total desertion of this country for so many years.

Now that living in it was rendered secure by the presence of the White settlers, the native population was almost daily increasing. Not only returned slaves, freed by their Waikato masters as they embraced the Christian faith, but numbers of those who had retreated from the harassing life of a frontier country to Waikanae, Port Nicholson, and Queen Charlotte's Sound, were flocking back to their ancient habitations; and these formed two classes of new claimants for compensation. Finding how great a value had been conferred on the land which had been worthless before they left, each strove to establish his claim to that surrounding the spot where he had formerly lived or grown potatoes; and all denied the right of the natives whom we had found resident on the spot to sell any but a very small portion.

If we had not bought it, and rendered it secure by colonization, they would never have thought of coming to establish their claim even to the cultivations and ancient sites of pas which they had formally abandoned so many years ago.

The Native Reserves, however, were abundantly sufficient to maintain these new-comers as well as the few inhabitants who had dwelt on through danger and trouble in their native land. But as the Reserves were not managed for the benefit of the natives, the returned slaves and exiles were constantly causing little disturbances, which would have been doubtless more serious if they had not remembered the intrepid conduct of Messrs. Cooke and Wicksteed at the Waitera, and heard of the heavy falls which Bayly, the West-country wrestler, had given the champion of the party who came to pull down his tent.

It was while here that I first heard of the uncertain state in which things were now standing between the Company and the Colonial Office in England. Mr. Wicksteed, the Company's Agent, received a despatch from Wellington, informing him of the reduction of the Company's expenditure at all the settlements, including that of the salaries of the Agents and other officers, by one-half in most cases.

The Directors were applying to Lord Stanley for the equitable fulfilment of the Agreement of 1840, and a long negotiation and correspondence had ensued, of which the result was not yet known. But in the meanwhile the Company's operations were suspended; no more land was sold; no more emigrants were sent out; and the impetus which had been given to immigration of the best sort at the end of the last year was brought to a stop.

Great difficulties seemed likely to ensue; especially at Nelson, where there was at present too large a proportion of labourers, and where the inability of the Company to fill up the large scale on which that settlement had been founded, in consequence of the general discouragement caused by the obstruction to their

NEGOTIATION WITH MR. CLARKE JUNIOR.

proceedings, must necessarily produce very dire effects on the condition of the few capitalists already there.

Even at Taranaki there were a number of labourers employed by the Company until they could suit themselves with another master; and the reduction of their wages was likely to create much excitement and discontent.

Thus things seemed to be taking a more unfavourable turn than ever when I departed from New Plymouth to return by the coast to Wanganui.

Colonel Wakefield had postponed the continuation of the arbitration for award until he might hear the result of the negotiations in England. The Directors had placed at his disposal 500l. and 1000 acres of land for satisfying the natives for such reasonably disputed lands as they might be willing to alienate. But Mr. Clarke junior had begun by demanding 1000 guineas as compensation for the waste and unoccupied lands of the natives of the three pas in the town alone, amounting to perhaps 3000 or 4000 acres, which they hardly disputed with the settlers. This was when Colonel Wakefield had asked him in March, before leaving Wellington for New Plymouth, to "determine upon one proposal, to include all claims for the Port Nicholson district, if there were any beyond those he had advanced, and upon such terms as would leave no question as to the surrender of the pas and cultivations required for the settlement, so soon as the natives could be reasonably expected to leave them."

Before Colonel Wakefield received any answer from Mr. Clarke junior to this new proposal, he received, on his return from New Plymouth, the news from England which I have mentioned, and wrote to Mr. Spain on the 24th of May to explain why he was compelled to await further orders from the Directors.

On the same day, he received a letter from Mr. Clarke junior informing him, in answer to his proposal, that he considered all claims of the natives resident within the Port Nicholson district entitled to compensation to the amount of 1500l.

Colonel Wakefield, however, still refused to re-open the negotiation; especially as he had not yet received an answer from the Colonial Secretary to his application in January to be allowed to select blocks of land, in pursuance of a provision of the Agreement, and could not therefore know where he should have to extinguish the native claims. For he wished to make no payments unless the question could be definitively settled without intervals to make each claim on this coast greater than the preceding one.

On my way back round the shore, I saw but little that was new. From immediately south of Sugar-loaf Point, the belt of open country between the coast and the wood reassumes its character of rich pasture mingled with the fern; and this all the way to the spot where I had struck off to go inland of Mount Egmont. Cliffs form the coast, except just about Cape Egmont, where the country slopes down gradually to high-water mark. Between Ngamotu and a large pa called Otumatua the country is now thickly peopled, entirely by persons who have returned since the establishment of the English colony between them and the formerly dreaded Waikato.

At Otumatua I saw a very beautifully carved wata, or store-house, of which Mr. Heaphy had made a sketch on his visit in 1840; and it was pointed out to me on that account. 26

At Waimate, which is only nine miles from Wain-

RELIGIOUS FEUDS AMONG NATIVES.

gongoro, I was struck with the impregnable position of the three pas on isolated portions of the cliff, only to be reached by means of rough ladders. I wondered how even the little party of English soldiers should have made the natives fly on the occasion of the Alligator's expedition in 1834. But the inhabitants told me that they had been more afraid of the cannon of the frigate, which picked out the houses, than of the soldiers who climbed up one side of each of the three hill-forts one after the other, as the natives descended by the opposite ladder and finally fled into the interior.

The whole population of natives between the Sugar-loaf Islands and Patea struck me as being in a most repulsive and pitiable condition. They were all missionaries, but divided in their creeds. The most dreadful religious schisms occurred daily between the nearest, relations, on matters of which neither side really understood much. And this virulence of dispute on the most abstruse as well as the most trifling points of religion, both in form and doctrine, I found very much replacing the strict puritan observances and adherence to absurd exaggerated forms. The disputes resounded with the names of the various European missionaries of the two denominations, and they compared the teachers perhaps more violently than they did the doctrines. The Church party seemed generally to have the best of the dispute, for they quoted Mr. Hadfield and the Bishop as proofs that theirs was a "gentleman," or rangatira creed; and called their opponents' teachers shoemakers, tailors, and servants. I took not the slightest part in these degrading disputes; and Wahine iti treated the disputants with the most sovereign contempt, saying they were an iwi tutua, or a "nation of plebeians."

It is necessary to remind the reader that the Com-

mittees of the two Missionary Societies at home had agreed to divide the island between them; the Church missionaries confining their labours to the Eastern side, and the Wesleyans exclusively to the Western side of the island. The servants of the missions in the country, however, as soon as it became expedient to extend their labours to Cook's Strait, seem to have differed about the boundary line. The Wesleyans claimed a right to convert as far as Port Nicholson, and named Cape Palliser as the dividing point; while the Church missionaries considered the spirit of the agreement to allow them to extend their efforts as far as Cape Egmont. Geographically, I think the Wesleyans were in the right; but, in whatever way that point may be decided, it is not to be denied that the dispute gave rise to much indecent rivalry between the sects.

The most disagreeable and saddening remark which I made was, that these natives appeared to have entirely abandoned their primitive and beautiful hospitality, the great redeeming point in the character of the most ferocious and treacherous heathen native, whom no influence of any sort has yet changed for the better, or perverted from the customs of his fathers. Every village reminded me of the "touters" on the pier at Boulogne, seeking to pounce on an unfortunate traveller. Instead of the former dignified reception, with a house assigned you by the chief, to whom or to whose slaves you made a present for their trouble when you went, here, in these democratic religious communities where no man is above another, the whole population rushes at you, and you have to choose between five or six different parties, who each point to a house, and profess the utmost anxiety to treat you well. But you soon find that, whichever you may choose, you have to pay for each small kit of potatoes, for the

PRIMITIVE HOSPITALITY EXTINCT.

carrying of water, or of fern for your bed, and even for every stick of fire-wood before you are allowed to burn it. And you are withal treated with indifference to your friendship, and suspicion of your every motion and look, because you are a "devil," which means "not a missionary."

These tribes seem to have been tamed, without being in the least civilized, by the new order of things. They eat, live, and dress in the same unclean and unwholesome manner as before; and though they can read and write their own language tolerably, and repeat nearly all the New Testament by rote, they do not seem to have acquired a single generous feeling or the slightest refinement of ideas. They always excite in my mind the deepest commiseration for their totally disorganized state.

It was only at Otumatua that I met with any kindness or chieftain-like treatment. Turori, a sister of Herekiekie, the chief of Tokanu at Taupo, had been taken captive at the battle of Waitotara in 1840, and had fallen to the share of a man christened Wiremu, or "Williams," at Manawapou. But being esteemed a great beauty among the natives, – that is to say, being of very masculine figure, with large prominent features, a bushy head of hair, loud voice, and well tatued between the lower lip and the chin, – Turori had soon become the ruler of her master, to any extent but that of letting her return to her native country.

But there were many more claimants to her affections among the natives of the neighbouring pas, and she had at length abandoned her master to go and marry a handsome young teacher at Otumatua, called Nera, or "Naylor." A fierce quarrel of course ensued between the master and the husband. The relations of either party took part in the dispute,

which they mingled strangely with their religious discussions. But it ended in the belle remaining with her husband, and ruling him as she had ruled her master.

At the request of her brother, I had tried to ransom her when I returned from Taupo; having sent two of my boys with a double-barrelled gun each to lay at the feet of her master, with my letter begging him to accept them as payment for his slave, and to allow her to return to her family. But he had refused; and the boys brought me back the guns, and a private message from the slave, that had I come on horseback she would have jumped up behind to fly to Wanganui.

Now, however, she was perfectly reconciled to the life which she led with her husband, who was a fine, good-humoured youth, and with her position as the acknowledged belle of the country.

As I had brought her several letters and presents from her relations at Taupo and Wanganui, Turori was delighted to show me how thoroughly she joined in the grateful and respectful feelings of all her tribe towards me; and she ordered her husband about in all directions to make our party comfortable.

On arriving at Wanganui, I went up to Tata, and spent a very pleasant week or two with E Kuru and his family. The chief was living a most happy and contented life among his potato-gardens. He showed me the trunk of a totara tree, that he had cut down to make a war-canoe which was to be our joint property. He and his four wives vied in attentions of every sort to young Wahine iti, anxious to make him feel how unjust had been Watanui's suspicions. The lad fully reciprocated their kind feelings, and we made as it were but one family.

24 On receiving this intelligence, I looked at the List of Land Claims, and found that the Reverend Richard Taylor, who only went to New Zealand in the year 1838, was a claimant before the Land Commissioners of 50,000 acres of land in the northern part of the island.

25 One of the Illustrations, published by Smith and Elder, is a most interesting view of this commencement of a town, drawn by Mrs. Wicksteed.

26 One of the Lithographic Illustrations before referred to represents this building.

CHAPTER XV

RUMOURS OF THE MASSACRE AT WAIRAU.

CHAPTER XV.

First rumours of the massacre at Wairau – Rauperaha's message – E Kuru's offer of an armed force – The Police Magistrate's version – Fears of E Ahu for his son – Earthquake – Escort of natives – Kindness of Watanui – Affecting scene at Ohau – Rauperaha a missionary – His stratagems – He drives a herd of cattle back – Dispute with other chiefs – Speeches – Rauperaha insults the Queen of England – His kingly bearing – His powerful eloquence – Arrival at Wellington – Evidence relating to the Wairau massacre – Lord Stanley's episode – The truth about Rangihaeata's wife – No Coroner – Alarm at Wellington – Enrolment of volunteers by the authorities – Battle of Manganui in the North – Caused by the Government.

TOWARDS the end of June I descended the river in company with E Kuru.

When we reached Tunu haere, about 15 miles from the sea, strange reports were shouted to us from the pas and potato-gardens as we glided lazily along in the glowing sunset. The natives have generally a number of exaggerated stories which they delight to shout out in this way to people who have been away for some time; and I paid no attention to these cries at first, as they seemed no more than customary.

But suddenly E Kuru sprang up from the couch on which he was reclining by my side, the boys ceased paddling, and all signed to me to listen. A shout came clear and distinct over the water, and I felt faint at each word. "There had been a fight," the harbinger of ill news cried; "and Rauperaha had killed Wide-awake and 40 White people – no natives had been killed; that was all he knew!"

I tried to laugh it off; and E Kuru, too, kept telling it was all tito, or "lies." But from each little

settlement or hut the same story still rang, with varying additional circumstances; all agreeing, however, that Wide-awake was dead. I thought they meant my uncle in Port Nicholson, and could not understand how any fighting could have occurred there; I could not make it out; but the reports were too confirmatory of each other in the main circumstance; and every yard seemed a mile till I reached the White settlement. There was no longer any doubt. An Englishman had arrived from Wellington who told the following tale: – He had seen the Government brig arrive in Wellington and land Mr. Tuckett, the Chief Surveyor of Nelson, and two White men and a native who were dreadfully wounded, but had managed to escape from the combat which had taken place on the Wairau plain near Cloudy Bay. It was supposed that no others had escaped out of a party of 40 Englishmen who had gone from Nelson to the plain of Wairau to assist the Police Magistrate and two other Magistrates in executing a warrant upon Rauperaha and Rangihaeata. He knew no more of the details; but he knew that my uncle Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thompson were among those slain; for he had received an account of this from Rauperaha himself at Otaki on his way hither from Wellington. Rauperaha told him that he had tried hard to save the gentlemen and keep them as slaves; but that Rangihaeata would not listen to him and killed them all. He said nine had been thus killed, after a short deliberation as to what they should do with them. Rauperaha had also made this man promise to deliver me a message, only allowing him to pass on his undertaking to do so. The message was merely to know what I was to going to do – whether I was for peace or war, – and to ask me to come to Otaki and see him, that he might korero with me.

E KURU'S OFFER OF AN ARMED FORCE.

This messenger also told me that about 70 volunteers had embarked with Colonel Wakefield on board the brig, and were going to Cloudy Bay in hopes of saving their fellow-countrymen; but he had, of course, learned at Otaki that they would be too late.

The White people at Otaki said that Rauperaha had sent his canoes up the Manawatu to the care of some of his tributary tribes, and was considering by which route he should retreat to Taupo or Rotorua, in case of pursuit by the White people. Rangihaeata was with him; slightly wounded, my informant told me, in the foot.

I repeated this distinctly to E Kuru; who had declared that he would believe nothing except what I told him was true. When I had done, he took me to a hut where we could be heard by no one else, held me firmly by the hand, and addressed me in a calm and impressive voice so that I remember nearly every word. "You know," said he, "how many men I could count if I were to send my call to the tribes of my wives and those of my father. In two weeks, I can count a thousand men, all well armed. From Taupo, as well as from all the settlements where I have relations on Wanganui, they would all come. I have never teased them to assist me in wars and plunder-parties for trifling matters; I have never called for war; they will listen the better when I call them round my name for the first time. Listen! if Rauperaha tries to reach Rotorua by this path, I will put a net over his head and give him to you. Do not believe, because you have seen me speaking to him familiarly and sitting in his house, or because I am related to him through the Ngatiawa tribe, that I have love for him. He is treacherous and hard-hearted. Nearly twice ten years ago,

he slew my relations as he has done your matua (parent.) Much blood of my family was spilt at Putikiwaranui before they escaped to the 'Place of Cliffs.' Even Mawai and E Tu, who will not give up the land, will gladly join with the Whites against Rauperaha. Listen! you and I will go into the bush with our warriors, and we will rise up till we have taken him, or got payment for the blood of our fathers. We will stop him on his way; or if he escape us, we will pursue him. For this, I do not fear to go to Rotorua or Waikato, whose men I have formerly killed in war; we will follow him to Waitemata or among the Ngapuhi if he escape so far. It shall be the sacred war-party of our lives; and we two shall have but one heart. If I am killed first, you will have your brother as well as your father to take payment for. If you are killed first, my arm shall be stronger when thinking of your blood as well as that of my Maori relations. It is enough. I have done!"

As soon as I could speak, I thanked him sincerely for his offer; but explained to him that in these cases White men did not take revenge themselves for the murder of their relations. I told him that we had the Queen, and laws, and governors and magistrates, and ships and soldiers to help them, to punish such deeds; and that they would not be reduced to bringing the natives into fresh wars with each other.

E Kuru listened to all this very gravely, and then concluded by saying, as he squeezed my hand, "Well, I have spoken a true word to you. Remember it ten years hence, if you should then require it, and you shall find I have told no lie, but will do what I say."

The next day a constable brought a little further intelligence. Colonel Wakefield and a party of Magis-

POLICE MAGISTRATE'S VERSION.

trates had gone over, without the volunteers, to investigate matters at Cloudy Bay, as a gale of wind detained them for two days, and they reckoned they should be too late for the force to be of use. He also brought some circulars from Mr. Macdonogh, the new Police Magistrate at Wellington, begging me and the other Justices to keep things quiet; to allay the excitement and alarm among the White people and natives too; and to send him any intelligence which we could collect. He enclosed printed addresses for distribution among the White people; chiefly in the same spirit, but containing the statement "that the natives had not fired a shot until five of their own number were killed, including the wife of Rangihaeata, who at the moment had his own son in her arms."

I could not believe this; and threw the addresses with some disgust on the table of the inn where I was reading the letter.

Colonel Wakefield afterwards, on seeing this address when he returned from Cloudy Bay, drew Mr. Macdonogh's attention to the fact that he had made this statement with evidence to the contrary before him; and Mr. Macdonogh's acknowledgment that he had been mistaken as to these facts was published. But in the meanwhile, the unfounded assertion was spread all over Cook's Strait, and had been sent to Auckland, to Sydney, and to England.

I had written by a small cutter and also by land, by a native messenger, to Colonel Wakefield, begging for accurate particulars, and for advice as to what was going to be done; as, in case of an attempt to take Rauperaha at Otaki, I felt sure of being able to cut off his retreat to the interior, by means of E Kuru. I had also written to New Plymouth by a native messenger, giving the news as I had it to Mr. Cooke and others,

and begging them to be prepared for any emergency that might occur.

At length I got an answer from Colonel Wakefield, with a newspaper containing an account compiled from the evidence taken before Mr. Spain, Dr. Evans, Mr. St. Hill, and Mr. Clifford, as Magistrates, at Cloudy Bay, with Mr. Meurant as interpreter. It was not, however, till I got to Wellington that I had an opportunity of making myself fully acquainted with the facts, or to peruse the evidence which had been taken at Wellington, Nelson, and Cloudy Bay before Magistrates.

Colonel Wakefield wrote me word that it was not considered advisable to make any attempt to take the murderers now, as without an adequate force the attempt would probably fail, and only lead to retaliation on out-settlers.

A day or two after the first news, a slave had been sent by E Ahu to beg his son to come back immediately if he were still alive. For E Ahu had said he was sure I should kill his child in payment; and under this supposition had furiously urged the Otaki natives to join Rauperaha and Rangihaeata in an attack on Wellington. This I afterwards heard from his own lips.

When the slave had delivered his message to the boy, and a letter to me telling me to let him go. I turned inquiringly to Wahine iti, and explained to him that I should much prefer delivering him in person to his father, as I meant to walk along the beach to Poneke; for that I had no fear of Rauperaha, though I did not wish to speak to him.

The lad eagerly said that I was quite right, and that he would not go till I went, and that if I went by sea he would go by sea; and he joined me in a request to his father to come with an escort of armed

EARTHQUAKE.

men and meet us at Rangitikei. He assured me that Rauperaha was very likely to set slaves to watch for me and shoot me on the way, if I did not take this precaution, though he would not dare to touch me openly in the midst of my friends the Ngatiraukawa. So I engaged that we should go to meet E Ahu at Rangitikei, as soon as I should receive letters from Colonel Wakefield, and I should hear that the escort was there.

Having heard in reply from both E Ahu and Colonel Wakefield, I prepared to start. In the meanwhile, Wahine iti and I had felt the utmost confidence in each other. Far from keeping him under surveillance as a security for my safe journey, I scarcely saw him more than every other day; for he was living on the south side of the river with E Para and some relatives from Taupo, who took him out pig-hunting in the country towards the Wangaihu, whilst I lived in the town of Petre on the north bank.

A few days before I started, the most severe earthquake occurred that I had yet felt.

This was on the 8th of July. The day had been dull and calm, and a little heavy rain had fallen about noon. After this,. the wind breathed lightly up the river, and then shifted in a sudden squall to N. W. with some more rain. After this squall, a curious mist drove swiftly up the river from the sea, such as I had never seen before. It was in a light thin stratum about 60 feet above the ground, and did not extend either to the level of the river or to the tops of the hills. Then the mist cleared away, and the afternoon became warm and fine at about three.

Two hours afterwards a sudden waving motion of the earth commenced from the direction of Taranaki, accompanied by a low rumbling noise. The motion continued to increase in force, with occasional wriggles,

for about half a minute, and it was at least two minutes before it was entirely quiet. The people ran out of their houses, which were rocking and bending, being most of them built with very elastic poles and light tied roofs. Some were for running to the hills, some to the water; but the motion was just enough to make your footing feel too insecure to run, and some people told me it made them turn sick. The river was covered with bubbles; and a man who was standing at the bank, up to his ankles, washing a shirt, told me the water had suddenly risen to his knees, and then gone down again. In the morning some cracks were found in the mud-flat between high and low-water mark, five or six feet wide, and 100 yards long, and one or two smaller ones on the bank close to the water; as they had filled up with mud, we could not tell how deep they had been at first. Some of them, however, were still six or eight feet in depth.

A few badly-built brick chimneys and clay walls were damaged, but no accident occurred to any one. The natives sat still during the whole affair, apparently quite indifferent; though they afterwards acknowledged that they had never experienced so bad a ru, or "shake."

The most important effect appeared to have been the raising of many parts of the flat, on which the town is situated, a few inches, as they could now be seen from Putiki for the first time.

I have a notion that the slight shocks, very like the vibration produced by the rumbling of carts in the London streets, which we so often experienced in New Zealand, are gradually raising the whole country, and that much of the present coast has been thus recently raised from under the sea. This earthquake was felt more severely about Wanganui than anywhere else. The cracks were less at Wangaihu and Rangitikei,

AFFECTING SCENE AT OHAU.

hardly perceptible at Manawatu, and not to be seen at all at Ohau; and hardly any shock was felt at New Plymouth or Wellington. The cracks all pointed towards Tonga Riro.

I armed myself for the journey with a rifle, pistols, and cutlass; and we reached Rangitikei the first night. Here I found E Ahu, Billy Watanui, two or three other young chiefs, and about 12 other armed men, awaiting our arrival. The old man was much pleased when he found that I had kept my word, and that his son was safe.

We slept one night at Manawatu, and the next afternoon we reached Watanui's settlement at Horowenua lake. The patriarch showed me the most delicate kindness. He spoke repeatedly of the care which I had taken of his grandchild, and said he would never doubt my protection again. "His heart had been sore ever since my departure in anger." He then spoke of the Wairau affair, and said Rauperaha and Rangihaeata had acted very badly. "But," continued he, "we have a Queen; for she is my Queen as well as yours. And when her soldiers come to take the bad men, I shall sit still and let them go by. I will not rise up, for the two treacherous chiefs were in the wrong. Go, keep your soreness and your anger in your heart till you have reached Poneke."

At Ohau the scene was most affecting. The tangi was held over me as well as over the boy. His relations seemed to appreciate the feeling which had led me to run some risk in order to bring Wahine iti in person to his home. I had never seen a tangi before among the natives which seemed to come so truly from the heart; and tears rushed involuntarily to my own eyes. E Wahi tried all he could to brave it out like a

pakeha, but it was in vain; and at last he fell sobbing on his mother's breast, with his arms round her neck.

The next day I went on to Otaki, E Ahu still escorting me with all his train. As I passed between Mr. Hadfield's house and the chapel, on my way to the house of Taylor my agent inland, two or three women recognized me. They jumped from their seats and ran down to the pa Kakutu, at the mouth of the river, shouting "Here is Tiraweke; he has come to shoot Rauperaha: alas! alas!"

He was living at that pa; but I remained about two days at Taylor's house, near the large pa, about half a mile further inland, without seeing him.

I gathered from White people and natives here that Rangihaeata was living about six miles up the Waikawa river, where he was fortifying a strong pa on a lake; and it was understood that the two chiefs intended to make a stand there, should the authorities attempt to take them by force. Rauperaha was living, as I have said, at the smaller Otaki pa, and was busying himself with the formation of a large party of adherents in case of a struggle. He had become a "missionary" the very day he arrived here from the Wairau massacre, and was allowed to attend the chapel regularly. I could not reconcile this with the custom, generally prevalent, of excluding natives from the congregation who had only been inattentive to their lessons, or hunted the pigs of one of the teachers, or spoken lightly, or committed any other trifling offence. This kind of excommunication I had observed to be in general practice at all the missionary villages. This man, however, lying under the accusation of murder, had been at once allowed to join the congregation, although he had for years before denounced the Christian faith.

RAUPERAHA'S STRATAGEMS.

Every one who knew Rauperaha at once understood, that he had taken this line in order to secure the alliance of the missionary natives, who were now a very large and influential party among the inhabitants of Otaki and the neighbouring country.

To the other natives he was constantly showing a pair of handcuffs taken from one of the constables who was slain, and exciting them to resistance by saying that these were meant to take the young and strong men first, and not weak old men like himself! His wife and his slave-women wore the rings of the murdered men. His houses were full of their clothes, their arms, and their watches; a tent belonging to them was pitched ostentatiously in the pa, and various other articles were hung about as though in triumph after a victory. And yet he went to chapel every morning and evening! Mr. Spain, who had been deputed hither by the Wellington Magistrates to assure the natives that the White people would not attempt to revenge Wairau, but would leave it to the Governor, had reported on his return that all was pacific and quiet; and Mr. Hadfield, who had accompanied Mr. Spain on that mission, and whom I met on my way to Waikanae, made me turn away from him much hurt, when he told me that these poor men had only acted in self-defence against people who did very wrong; and that it would be not only unjust and illegal, but most imprudent, to attempt to take them or try them for their deed.

I would not give up my flax operations at Otaki, as I thought it better to continue the same friendly intercourse as before with my Ngatiraukawa friends, as a convincing proof that no hostility between the two races generally would follow from the deeds done by two of their number. And I trusted to the friends whom I had thus made for protection in such dangerous vicinity

to the two criminals. In passing Ohau, I had been shown the house built by the natives for a Mr. White, whom E Ahu had invited to come and squat with cattle near his settlement. He had shown him over the country which he called his; and Mr. White had fixed upon a spot at the edge of the wood and the pasture. He had had two cows running there for some time, and was now on his way from Wellington with 20 or 30 more.

E Ahu, with Matiu, E Puki, Keharoa, and two or three other important chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa, were anxiously expecting him at the main pa, Rangi Uru, which is between Mr. Hadfield's house and chapel, and Taylor's house where I was living.

Early one morning, Mr. White came to Taylor's, and said that Rauperaha had set his men to drive the cattle back to Waikanae the moment they arrived at the little pa near the mouth where he lived, declaring that not only no cattle should go to Ohau, but that he would have no White people at all there or at Otaki. He would have a clear ground in case it came to fighting. The Ngatiraukawa chiefs were much surprised at this declaration, as they imagined they had a right to do what they liked with their own land. E Ahu especially appeared to be quite amused, and to think that he could talk this fancy away; for he begged me and the other White people to go down to Rauperaha's pa and hear the korero. So we went down in a party, natives and White people. It was the first time I had been to that pa since my arrival; for Rauperaha and Rangihaeata had upon first coming from Wairau seized upon a flax-store which had been built for me there; much to the indignation of the builders, to whom I had promised a cask of tobacco for the house. These were the permanent inhabitants of the pa, who

DISPUTE WITH OTHER CHIEFS.

had reckoned upon having my trade close to them. I was told that one young man had even lifted his spear on the occasion against Rauperaha, but was seized and carried up the river to cool, by his more submissive friends. I had therefore engaged to have another store built, by Watanui's relations, at the larger pa.

When we first got to the pa Kakutu, some little time elapsed before the korero began.

I went with Taylor to one of the huts, to assist in dressing the leg of a chief who had wounded himself in cutting up a whale that had drifted on shore. Hauturu, as he was named, was a great favourite of mine, from his gentle and dignified manners. He was a fine young man, and had been chosen as her second husband by Rangihaeata's mother Topeora, who was the principal resident in the pa. While I was talking to him of his wound, Rauperaha crept up doubtingly to greet me, and held out his hand.

I refused this offer in a marked manner, and merely answered his greeting by a distant nod.

He acknowledged the propriety of my refusal, said "It is good," and returned to his seat.

He then rose to speak. He began with a long history of himself and of his conquest of Cook's Strait; all as proving that he was a great chieftain and the head of the natives. He displayed, as usual, great eloquence; and he was going on to relate all the circumstances of the Wairau affair, but I checked him. I cared little to prejudge a serious question, which I still supposed would some day be investigated before a competent tribunal, from the narrative of the accused man; and I knew that he had already given two or three White people different versions from that which he gave the man who brought his message to me at Wanganui.

The narrative could but be painful to me without doing any good. Besides, it seemed to me as indelicate to listen to his confession or denial of guilt before the inquiry, as it would be to that of any one standing committed for trial in an English gaol. So I told him I should leave the pa if he talked about Wairau; that I was come only to hear about his right and his will to turn White people out of Otaki, as that concerned me. He immediately promised to abstain from the obnoxious subject, but was not long before he got round to it again, anxious, I suppose, to exculpate himself before me. Upon this I rose, and stepped over the stile in the outer fence on my way homewards. All shouted to me to come back, and joined with Rauperaha in promises that Wairau should not be mentioned again.

He then went on to repeat the prohibition which we had heard this morning, saying that all the land was his alone. He said Manawatu was fairly sold; so was Wanganui; so was Taranaki; the White people might go there. But to Ohau they should not go; and those at Otaki must go away to Kapiti or to Port Nicholson. Some of the whalers present laughed at this, having too many friends and relations by their wives to fear being turned out. Taylor, among the number, laughed outright, for he had lived with the tribe for many years, and was a general favourite among them. Rauperaha turned to him and said, "You must go too, Sammy."

He concluded by calling himself "the king of the Maori." He asked "What right had they to want to tie his hands? As for Wikitoria" he said, "never mind that – woman," was what he said; but with an accent, intonation, and sneer, which gave the word its most insulting meaning. I have already

RAUPERAHA INSULTS THE QUEEN.

said that the language is not rich, and the word wahine, "woman," is one of those whose sense is qualified by the manner of uttering it. I have no hesitation in saying, that he then expressed the most infamous term that can be applied to a woman. "Who is she," continued he, "that she should send her books and her constables after me? What have I to do with her? She may be Queen over the White people; I am the king of the Maori! If she chooses to have war, let her send me word, and I will stand up against her soldiers. But I must have room; I must have no White people so near."

I asked him, whether he had not signed a paper to say the Queen was his chief, when Mr. Williams brought it to him, and also on board the man-of-war? He turned round sharply and said, "Yes! what of that? They gave me a blanket for it. I am still a chief just the same. I am Rauperaha! Give me another blanket to-morrow, and I will sign it again. What is there in writing?"

Thus one of the most powerful of the 512 chiefs spoke of the much vaunted Treaty of Waitangi, which he had signed twice according to all accounts.

I now turned to E Ahu and the other chiefs, and asked them if it were true that all the land belonged to Rauperaha alone. I reproached them with dishonesty in selling the Manawatu and parts of the Otaki district as though it were their own. I reminded E Ahu, too, that he had often shown me how much land he possessed about Ohau, and that he had invited Mr. White to settle there; and that no one had ever said before that it belonged to Rauperaha. E Ahu answered me, that when the chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa came down from Taupo, they had chosen a district out of Rauperaha's conquest in order to sit

upon; and that, while peace lasted, nobody had thought of Rauperaha's supreme control. They had learned to consider the land their own; they had even laughed at the remonstrances of Rangihaeata about selling the Manawatu; and they had wished to get White men amongst them. He even said, that while there was no anger, Rauperaha's claim would not have been acknowledged. But the riri, or "anger," he said, had made a great difference; and the land was gone back again to him who had first taken it. It was true; the Ngatiraukawa had no land but Taupo and Maunga Tautari (a district between Waikato and the Bay of Plenty).

And then he rose to endeavour to persuade Rauperaha to change his determination. He reminded him of "the war-parties which he had brought him on his back, to assist him against his enemies, through dangers and troubles more than he could count." He related how "he had burned the villages of the tribe at Taupo to make them come with him to be by the side of Rauperaha on the sea-coast." He counted "how many times they had adhered to him in his feuds with the Ngatiawa" and described "how much blood of the Ngatiraukawa had been spilt for his name." E Ahu had now warmed with his subject, and was running up and down, bounding and yelling at each turn, and beginning to foam at the mouth, as the natives do when they mean to speak impressively. "Let the cows go!" he cried; "let them go to my place!"

Rauperaha seemed to consider that E Ahu's eloquence was becoming too powerful, and he jumped up too. They both continued to run up and down in short parallel lines, yelling at each other, grimacing and foaming, and quivering their hands and smacking

E AHU'S, SONG.

them on their thighs, with staring eyes and excited features. As they both spoke together, it became difficult to hear what they said, but I caught a sentence here and there which gave me the sense of their argument. "No!" cried Rauperaha; "no cows; I will not have them." "Let them go!" yelled E Ahu! "Yield me my cows and my White man; the cows will not kill you." "No cows, no White men! I am the king! Never mind your war-parties! No cows!" answered Rauperaha. The cows cannot take you," persisted E Ahu; when the soldiers come we will fight for you, but let my cows go!" "No! no! no indeed!" firmly replied the chief, and he sat down.

E Ahu remained standing. He took breath for a minute; then he drew himself up to his full height, and addressed his own people in a solemn kind of recitative. "Ngatiraukawa" he sang, "Arise! arise, my sons and my daughters, my elder brothers and my younger brothers, my sisters, my grandchildren, arise! Stand up, the families of the Ngatiraukawa! To Taupo! To Taupo! To Maunga Tautari! To our old homes which we had burned and deserted; arise and let us go! Carry the little children on your backs as I carried you when I came to fight for this old man, who has called us to fight for him and given us land to sit on, but grudges us White people to be our friends and to give us trade. We have no White people or ships at Maunga Tautari, but the land is our own there. We need not beg to have a White man or cows yielded to us, if they should want to come. To Maunga Tautari! Arise my sons, make up your packs, take your guns and your blankets, and let us go! It is enough! I have spoken!" As he sat down, a mournful silence pre-

vailed. An important migration had been proposed by the chief, which no doubt would be agreed to by the greater part of the Otaki, Ohau, and Manawatu natives, on whom was Rauperaha's chief dependence for his defence.

I noticed that he winced when he first heard the purport of E Ahu's song; but while E Ahu continued, his countenance gradually resumed its confidence. Much as I abhorred his character, I could not but yield my unbounded admiration to the imperious manner in which he overthrew the whole effect of E Ahu's beautiful summons to the tribe.

Instead of his usual doubting and suspicious manner, his every gesture became that of a noble chief. He rose with all the majesty of a monarch; and he spoke in the clearest and firmest tones, so that the change from his customary shuffling, cautious, and snarling diction, was of itself sufficient to command the earnest attention of his audience.

"Go!" said he; "go, all of you! – go, Ngatiraukawa, to Maunga Tautari! Take your children on your backs and go, and leave my land without men. When you are gone, I will stay and fight the soldiers with my own hands. I do not beg you to stop. Rauperaha is not afraid!

"I began to fight when I was as high as my hip. All my days have been spent in fighting, and by fighting I have got my name. Since I seized by war all this land, from Taranaki to Port Nicholson, and from Blind Bay to Cloudy Bay beyond the water, I have been spoken of as a king. I am the king of all this land. I have lived a king, and I will die a king, with my meri in my hand. Go! I am no beggar! Rauperaha will fight the soldiers of the Queen when they come, with his own hands and his own

RAUPERAHA'S POWERFUL ELOQUENCE.

name. Go to Maunga Tautari!" Then suddenly changing his strain, he looked on the assemblage of chiefs, bending down towards them with a paternal smile, and softening his voice to kindness and emotion. "But what do I say?" said he; "what is my talk about? You are children. It is not for you to talk. You talk of going here, and doing this and doing that. Can one of you talk when I am here? No! I shall rise and speak for you all, and you shall sit dumb; for you are all my children, and Rauperaha is your head chief and your patriarch." He completely won his point by this fearless rejection of their assistance, ending in an arrogant assumption of absolute authority over their movements. One of the highest chiefs said to me, "It is true, Tiraweke! he is our father and our Ariki" (superior chief.) "Rauperaha is the king of the Maori, like your Queen over the White people;" and the others bowed a silent assent, and each seemed to swell with conscious dignity as the follower of such a leader. The cattle were not allowed to pass; but Rauperaha agreed quietly to the request of the chiefs in the course of the day, that the White people already established here should not be sent away.

Notwithstanding the doubts as to whether there would be any fighting, E Ahu anxiously begged that his son might still accompany me; fully trusting that I would send him back in the case of war.

We arrived at Wellington on the evening of the 23rd of July.

I now had an opportunity of perusing the depositions taken, and of learning from Colonel Wakefield the particulars of what had been done since.

Rauperaha and Rangihaeata had crossed the Strait to Nelson about two months before on a begging expedition. They received presents and kind treatment

from Captain Wakefield; but at a conference held there they said he should not have the plain of Wairau. After Captain Wakefield left the conference, Rangihaeata had as usual gone to excite himself with liquor, and was heard to say by several of the settlers that "he would pung-a-pung, or kill, Wide-awake if he took Wairau." But Captain Wakefield, to whom this was reported, said Rangihaeata was a mere bully, and that his threats were only noisy vapouring. And he directed the preliminary survey of the Wairau plain to be proceeded with, in order that it might be ready for selection as soon as Mr. Spain should have decided upon the claim. The depositions extend over the space of time between the 25th of April, when the surveying expedition landed at the mouth of the Wairau, and the 17th of June, the day of the fatal massacre.

The following account has been carefully compiled from the examination of witnesses before the Wellington Magistrates, on board the Government brig at Cloudy Bay, and afterwards at Wellington; from depositions taken at Nelson and at Otaki by Magistrates'; and from accounts published by survivors in the newspapers of Wellington and Nelson.

The lands in the Wairau district were advertised for survey by contract, by Captain Wakefield, in March 1843. The contracting Surveyors, Messrs. Barnicoat, Parkinson, and Cotterell, with their men, forming in all a party of about forty, started by sea from Nelson on the 15th April, and landed on the Wairau beach on Tuesday the 25th. There they found Puaha 27 with two or three of his followers, who expressed no dissatisfaction at their arrival. There were till then no other natives in the valley; but in the course of two or three days a considerable number arrived from dif-

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

ferent parts of the Strait, who manifested their intention of opposing the survey in various ways. They pulled up the Surveyors' ranging-rods, destroyed a saw-pit, and on one occasion seven of them, armed with muskets, passed through the station, and "talked threateningly" to the man left in charge. But they abstained from personal violence, and towards the White men themselves appeared to entertain no unfriendly feelings. They had all along talked of Rauperaha's approaching visit, who, they said, would send the White men away. Their interruptions to the survey were complained of to Captain Wakefield.

Meanwhile, Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, being at Porirua in attendance on the Court of Land Claims, made known their determination to prevent the survey from proceeding; and Mr. Joseph Toms, mentioned as "Geordie Bolts" in a former part of this narrative, repeatedly stated that he understood from them that they would make a stand at Wairau, and lose their lives rather than allow the White men to take possession of that place. Mr. Spain used his influence to pacify them; agreed to meet them at Port Underwood, to investigate the land claims, as soon as possible after the adjournment of his Court at the end of June; and obtained from them a promise not to enter the Wairau within the time appointed, nor do anything before his arrival. Mr. Toms offered to take Rauperaha and Rangihaeata in his schooner to his own place in Cloudy Bay, and keep them there until he received a communication from Mr. Spain.

On the 28th May, Mr. Toms received Rauperaha and his party on board the schooner Three Brothers, of which he is captain and owner, at Porirua; and having crossed to Mana, where he took in Rangihaeata and about ten more natives, making about

twenty-five in all, proceeded to Cloudy Bay. It was generally understood on board that the natives were going to fight for their land at Wairau. They were armed with muskets and tomahawks. Toms himself gave them two muskets in exchange for a slave. They were landed at Port Underwood, in Cloudy Bay, on the 1st of June. They then started with other natives in eight canoes and a whale-boat for the Wairau, where they arrived on the same day. They appear to have been about a hundred in number. The first visit they paid was to a Mr. Cave at Port Underwood. The following account of their behaviour on this occasion was taken from Mr. Cave, and communicated to the editor of the New Zealand Gazette, by Dr. Dorset, who accompanied the Magistrates after the massacre.

"From the information I gathered from the whalers and the depositions taken at Cloudy Bay, it appeared to me that the natives came fully prepared for mischief. The person on whose testimony I placed most reliance was a Mr. Cave, who had been resident there for the last seven or eight years, and who had been always up to that time on the most friendly terms with the chiefs Rauperaha and Rangihaeata; a knife and fork being always placed at his table for them on their visits to Cloudy Bay. But this time he noticed a peculiar ferocity about their bearing. They asked for things in a way that brooked no denial; and seeing Mr. Cave sharpening an axe, Rangihaeata forcibly took it from him and struck him. Mr. Cave tried to find out what they were after, but could not succeed, and his impression was they were bound over to secrecy on the evening before they landed; on which occasion, they had a feast on board Mr. Toms' vessel, where they all got drunk; Mr. Toms being the only European present, so far as I could learn."

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

On the same evening, they went up the river to Mr. Cotterell's station, in number amounting to upwards of 100. Next morning, Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, with about 30 followers, after ordering Mr. Cotterell and his men to leave the place, stripped and burned his hut and that of his men, together with the timber intended for survey-stakes. They then assisted the White men to carry the contents of their huts to their boats, and despatched them to Ocean Bay. Next day, Mr. Tuckett, the Company's Chief Surveyor, arrived, met Mr. Cotterell at the mouth of the Wairau, and sent him to Nelson with a note to Captain Wakefield. Mr. Cotterell laid an information before the Police Magistrate, Mr. Thompson, on the 12th June. Three other Justices of the Peace were on the bench, – Captain Wakefield, Captain England, and Alexander M'Donald, Esq. After much, deliberation, a warrant was granted against Rauperaha and Rangihaeata on a charge of arson.

The natives, meanwhile, from Mr. Cotterell's proceeded to Mr. Barnicoat's, and carried him with his men and goods in their canoes to an uninhabited pa at the mouth of the Wairau, built by Rauperaha as a sort of stronghold many years before, when he depopulated the country. Another party, armed with axes and muskets, went to Mr. Parkinson's station; while a third set out in search of Mr. Tuckett, who was absent at another part of the survey. They compelled both these gentlemen to come to the pa. Rangihaeata, in the conference with Mr. Tuckett, told him, "if he was so fond of the ground, he would kill him and bury him there." A few instances of theft occurred during these proceedings, but no personal injury was actually inflicted on any one. Having now collected all the White men together, they sent them

off by their own boats, with the exception of Mr. Barnicoat and one man, whom Rauperaha allowed to remain in charge of some provisions they had not room for. The whole body of natives then ascended the river in their canoes. In number at this time they amounted to 98. Subsequent arrivals swelled this number to 125, of whom about 40 were women and children.

The Police Magistrate at Nelson having issued his warrant, and being informed of the numbers of the natives, and of their being armed, resolved to attend the execution of the warrant himself, accompanied by an armed force. He expressed his opinion that such a demonstration would prevent bloodshed, and impress upon the natives a sense of the authority of the law. It is certain that actual resistance was not anticipated, and that the moral effect of the presence of the force was wholly relied on. The men chosen were of the labouring class, and intended as a reinforcement to those employed in surveying; many of them had never handled a firelock in their lives. The Government brig Victoria was then in the harbour; and, at the request of Mr. Thompson, Captain Richards consented to carry the party to Wairau. It then consisted of the following persons: – Mr. Thompson, Judge of the County Court and Police Magistrate; Captain Wakefield, and Captain Richard England, both Justices of the Peace; Mr. George Ryecroft Richardson, Crown Prosecutor for Nelson; Mr. James Howard, a Warrant Officer in the Navy and New Zealand Company's Storekeeper; Mr. Cotterell, Surveyor; four constables and twelve special constables. John Brooks went as interpreter, having often been similarly employed. The brig sailed on Tuesday, June 13th. In the Gulf, the same day, she met the Company's boat on her return from the Wairau, with Mr. Tuckett, Mr. Patchett, a Merchant and

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

large Land-Agent, and Mr. Bellairs, Surveyor. These gentlemen, at the request of Captain Wakefield, joined his party with the boat's crew. 28

On the evening of Thursday, June 15, and the following morning, the party landed at Wairau, where Mr. Barnicoat and his men joined them. Muskets, and a cartouche-box of ball-cartridges with each, were served out to the men, and cutlasses to as many as chose to avail themselves of them. On Friday afternoon, they ascended the right bank of the river about five miles. On the way they met Puaha. He was accompanied by a small party of natives. They had been engaged in clearing land, but had been stopped, they said, by Rauperaha, who had gone higher up the river. They appeared alarmed at the sight of the armed force; but their fears were allayed by Mr. Thompson's informing Puaha that the object of his journey had no reference to him or his party, but that he had a warrant against Rauperaha and Rangihaeata on a charge of arson. Mr. Thomp-

son also explained to him that no force would be used towards them; but that they would be required to go with him on board the brig, where the case would be investigated by himself and the other Magistrates. Puaha replied, that those chiefs would not but believe that he came to make war upon them; but agreed to carry them a message to the above effect. He then went off in his whale-boat. Higher up, another party of natives was met with, and a similar explanation given. It being now too late to proceed, the Magistrates and their followers then encamped for the night at a pine-wood called Tua Mautine, and set a watch. Their movements, it appears, had been all along watched and reported by scouts; and Mr. Cave informed Dr. Dorset, that "one of the spies they left behind at the pa went up with and among the English party, counted every man, and a short time before the fight crossed over the brook to his own party, gave the required information, and joined in the fight one of the foremost."

On the morning of Saturday, June 17, two boats having been brought up, the Europeans embarked in them and ascended the river a few miles further. "They now amounted to 49, 33 of whom were armed with muskets. One or two carried fowling-pieces. Mr. Howard had a cutlass. The remainder were apparently unarmed, but in general were furnished with pocket-pistols."

When mustered, before setting out, Captain Wakefield having called "Order!" said to them, "Men, whatever you do, do not fire unless you get orders." "A caution," says Mr. Barnicoat, "which was several times repeated to them in the course of the journey."

Having ascended the river about four miles, the

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

party perceived some smoke issuing from a wood, and soon heard the voices of the natives, that of Rangihaeata being plainly distinguishable. On advancing, they found them posted in the wood, which is about 50 acres in extent, on the right bank of a deep unfordable rivulet, called Tua Marino, which flows into the Wairau on its left bank, and is at this place about 30 feet wide. They were squatting in groups in front of the dense wood, on about a quarter of an acre of cleared ground, with their canoes drawn up on the bank of the stream. The White men halted on the left bank, with a hill behind them covered with fern and manuka, and sloping upwards with several brows or terraces. "All bearing arms were now bidden not to cross the stream, or even show themselves until ordered."

All accounts agree in estimating the number of the natives at about 120 or 125, including women and children. The men amounted to 80 or 90, about half of whom were armed with muskets, the rest with native weapons.

At the request of the Magistrates, a canoe was placed across the stream to serve as a bridge by a native named "Big Fellow," whom I once had occasion to mention before; and Mr. Thompson, Captain Wakefield, Messrs. Tuckett, Cotterell, and Patchett, Brooks the Interpreter, and Maling the Chief Constable, crossed over.

The Police Magistrate then called on Rauperaha and Rangihaeata. The former alone came forward; and Mr. Thompson told him that he was the Queen's representative, that he had warrants against him and Rangihaeata for the destruction of the property of Mr. Cotterell, and that he must go on board the brig, with such of his followers as he chose, where the matter

should be investigated. Rauperaha said that Mr. Spain would inquire into and settle the business in a little while. Mr. Thompson explained, that Mr. Spain's business lay in deciding as to land-claims; that this was a question about destruction of property, and had nothing to do with the ownership of the Wairau. Rauperaha requested to have the matter decided on the spot; and professed his readiness to make the compensation to Mr. Cotterell required by the Magistrates, provided their decision pleased him. Mr. Thompson replied, that the case must be heard on board the Government, brig, whither Rauperaha must accompany him. On Rauperaha's, reiterated refusal to comply with this proposal, put in direct terms to him, Mr. Thompson declared he would compel him. Rauperaha said he did not want to fight; but that if the White people fought he would fight too. Mr. Thompson, pointing to the armed men, threatened that he and his party should be fired upon. Sixteen natives immediately sprang to their feet and presented fire-arms. Rangihaeata now came forward, and vehemently defied the Magistrates and their power; exclaiming, that "they did not go to England to interfere with the White people, and demanding why the latter came there to interfere with them." The conversation now became very rapid and violent; and Puaha, who by frequently attempting to intercede seems only to have rendered matters worse, stepped forward with his Bible in his hand, and prayed that there might be no strife. At last, Mr. Thompson called out, "Captain England, let the men advance."

The conference with the chiefs lasted about twenty minutes or half an hour. Great trouble was taken to explain to them the non-connexion of these proceedings with the land-claims; and every assurance was given

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

them of a fair hearing of what they might have to say in their defence. It was, besides, abundantly explained, that they were not now to be taken to punishment, but to trial; that Mr. Cotterell had complained against them, and that the complaint must be examined into. Mr. Thompson addressed them through the interpreter, Brooks; and a native of the Bay of Islands was present, who explained to them every word that was said.

In the meantime, the men left on the other side of the stream had been divided into two bodies, consisting of 16 and 17 respectively; one under the command of Captain England, the other under that of Mr. Howard. When the dispute was at the highest, Captain Wakefield, perceiving the danger of being separated from the men should a collision arise, proceeded to the creek with the intention of bringing them over on a canoe, which, with the consent of the natives, was laid across it. Mr. Thompson, it seems, just then called to Mr. Howard for his men, with some allusion to the number of the natives. "I don't care if there are 5000 of them," was that gallant fellow's reply, as he led his party to the stream. In the canoe they met Captain Wakefield, whom the rest of the gentlemen were apparently following. "Keep your eyes on them, my men; they have their guns pointed at us," said Captain Wakefield to the advancing men. At this moment (observing some movement among the natives towards Mr. Thompson or the gentlemen), he exclaimed in a loud voice, with great energy, "Men, forward! Englishmen, forward!" and a shot was fired, according to the explicit and consistent evidence of Joseph Morgan, by one of the natives, which laid his comrade Tyrrell dead at his feet. These two men, with Northam, also killed at

almost the same time and spot, were in advance of their party, and on the opposite bank of the stream when this occurred.

It was then, apparently, that Mr. Thompson gave orders to fire, if any were given at all. Before he could be obeyed, however, the natives had fired a volley, which was instantly returned. The gentlemen were crossing while this went on; Captain England, the last of them, wading through the water, into which he had fallen, holding on by the side of the canoe. Those of Mr. Howard's party who had reached the other bank returned at the same time. The firing was kept up briskly on both sides for a few minutes; but in this skirmishing the natives had greatly the advantage, the bushes on their side being much closer and affording far better concealment. This, and their previous confusion from meeting in the canoe, may account for the greater loss of life among the Englishmen.

Immediately after crossing, Mr. Patchett received a shot in his left side. He leapt up, then fell, mortally wounded, on the spot where he had been standing. Mr. Richardson came to his assistance, and bent over him to receive his last commands. He said, "I am mortally wounded; you can do me no good – make your escape." Northam and Smith fell at this time near the same place. Captain Wakefield, observing his men already retreating, as well, probably, as the disadvantage at which they were fighting, their enemies being almost invisible and themselves exposed, ordered them to retire to form on the hill. At this moment, "it is ascertained that the natives were on the point of taking to flight, when Rauperaha, seeing the retreat – for there is no doubt that they retreated immediately – excited his men, who, raising a war-cry, darted across the stream in pursuit of the Europeans." These latter

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

retreated, without order, in the direction of the hill; Mr. Thompson, Captain Wakefield, Captain England, and Mr. Howard, urging them "for God's sake to keep together," but in vain. On the first brow, the most strenuous efforts were made by these gentlemen to induce the men to stand and form. Mr. Howard called to them to fix their bayonets and come to the charge. They, however, kept retreating up the hill, firing as they went. Captain Wakefield, therefore, in order to prevent a further sacrifice of life, ordered the firing to cease; and Captain England and Mr. Howard advanced towards the natives with a white handkerchief, in token of peace. Those in advance of the retreating party, however, still kept up a running fire as they pushed up the hill; which was returned by the natives on the whole party indiscriminately. Mr. Thompson was seen about this time by Mr. Tuckett, who escaped, stamping on the ground and clutching his hair, as he exclaimed, "Oh, men! men!" in bitter regret and disgust at their conduct. "Here," says Mr. Barnicoat, "when we were assembled on the hill, like so many targets which the natives were shooting at, Mr. Cotterell stood out from the rest, and said (I suppose in allusion to his principles as a Friend), 'I have nothing to do with business of this kind. If there are any of my men here, they had better follow me.' Captain Wakefield then turned round, and in the most earnest manner addressed him: 'For God's sake, Mr. Cotterell, don't attempt to run away; you are sure to be shot if you do.'" The retreating party and the natives continuing to fire, Captain Wakefield and the gentlemen about him were compelled to proceed further up the hill, in order, if possible, to put an end to the conflict. Mr. Cotterell, after accompanying them a short distance.

sat down, intending to deliver himself up. "This is poor work, Dick!" said he to one of the men passing him. As the natives came up, he recognised among them one to whom he had frequently shown acts of kindness; to him he advanced with open arms. The native thereupon discharged his musket in the air; but two others immediately seized him, and dragged him by the hair down the hill into a manuka bush. There, as was afterwards found, they despatched him with their tomahawks. On the second brow of the hill, Captain Wakefield said, "Your only chance of life is to throw away your arms and lie down." He and Mr. Thompson and Brooks again shouted Kati! "peace," and waved a white handkerchief. Besides the last-mentioned persons, there were present Captain England, Mr. Richardson, Mr. Howard, some of the constables, and a few others. Messrs. Tuckett, Barnicoat, and others, went off a little before. The rest fled up the hill in different directions, and were pursued a little way by some of the natives, who "had with them a dog, which they shouted to and encouraged in the same manner as when they hunt pigs." The natives now ceased firing; and as they came up, the White men delivered up their arms, at Captain Wakefield's order. He himself gave up a pistol to one of them. The whole party seem to have gone a little further down the hill; where most of the natives, with Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, immediately joined them. The natives having shaken hands with the prisoners, who were standing in a group, loaded their guns, and seated themselves in a half-circle before them, the two chiefs occupying the extremities. Mr. Richardson, who had received a shot in the hip from which the blood flowed freely, requested Mr. Thompson to examine it; which he did. The natives brandished their tomahawks

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

over the heads of some of the defenceless men. Mr. Thompson observing this, said to Rauperaha, "Kati;" which he repeated, and the others then desisted. Rangihaeata had wounded his foot by treading on a sharp-pointed stump; and Captain England, seeing the nature of the wound, took a penknife from his pocket, which Bampton handed to him to cut out the splinter with. Having succeeded in doing so, he offered to return the knife; but Captain England signified that he would make him a present of it. Gold was offered as a ransom, but ineffectually. Two natives then approached Captain Wakefield, and, seizing him, attempted to strip off his coat. Colouring highly, it seems he endeavoured to draw another pistol, as Mr. Howard was heard to say, "For God's sake, sir, do nothing rash!" or words to that effect. Other natives laid hold of Mr. Thompson, and were taking his coat and watch.

Up to this point there is the evidence of White men and eye-witnesses for all that I have stated. The only man that escaped of all who surrendered themselves to the natives, and from whose deposition I have gathered the incidents I have related as occurring after the surrender, was George Bampton; who, at this moment observing the attention of the natives drawn off him, slipped into the bush on a natural pretence, and succeeded in concealing himself. While lying there he heard some persons passing near him, one of whom (he believes Mr. Howard) said to the other, "For God's sake, if we are to die, let us die together." To whom this was said he could not tell. After having lain there near ten minutes in all, he heard about five guns fired; and immediately after a heavy dull sound, as it appeared to him, of a beating or chopping on the ground. He heard no cries or screams. Another of the party who escaped before the actual surrender, and lay hid at a greater dis-

tance, heard guns fired at intervals of about five minutes between each, and much shouting and hallooing by the natives. And this is all we learn of the fate of our unfortunate friends from any of their own party.

A native who took part in the affray gave the following evidence before the Magistrates as to what followed: –

"The natives pursued them to another rise of the hill, and followed them until they caught them all; and Rauperaha was talking to them, and had secured all the chiefs, when Rangihaeata came up and said, 'Rauperaha, remember your daughter,' [one of Rangihaeata's wives, shot by a chance-shot during the action]. Puaha's wife was down at the settlement, and called out to him, 'Puaha, Puaha, save some of the chiefs, so that you may have to say you saved some:' but when she cried they were all killed. Rangihaeata killed them all with his own hand, with a tomahawk. I saw him do it. I saw Rangihaeata kill Captain Wakefield, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Richardson. I saw him kill John Brooks, near the bunch of trees up the hill. I saw him kill Mr. Cotterell. I saw Rangihaeata snatch away Captain Wakefield's watch after he had knocked him down. He afterwards offered it to the missionary natives; but they refused to take it, but said, 'Let it lie with the dead, and all that belongs to them.' I heard that the slaves had stripped off Captain Wakefield's coat and waistcoat. They paid no attention to what the missionaries said, but robbed the bodies in all directions."

The deputation from the Wellington Magistrates, with Dr. Dorset, sailed for Cloudy Bay on Wednesday the 21st. On arriving at Cloudy Bay, they found that Mr. Ironside, the Wesleyan missionary stationed at Cloudy Bay, had been to Wairau with two boats'

EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MASSACRE.

companies of whalers, had discovered 17 of the dead bodies, and having no alternative, had already commenced their interment on the spot, according to the rites of the Church of England.

The bodies of Captain Wakefield, Mr. Thompson, Captain England, Mr. Richardson, Mr. Howard, Bumforth, Cropper, Gardiner, and Coster, were found near the spot where the last of those who escaped left them alive, lying within 20 yards of each other, in their clothes as they fell. Captain Wakefield's coat and waistcoat alone had been stripped off. Under his head the murderers had placed a piece of bread, and a pistol across his throat. Mr. Ironside thus explained this in his evidence: – "When you found the body of Captain Wakefield, did you see a bit of bread or damper placed under his head?" – "Yes; I did." – "Are you aware of any native custom which would account for this being done?" – "The head of a chief is held sacred, and nothing common should come near it; and therefore bread, being common, and being placed there, it was intended as an insult." The skulls of all had been cleft with tomahawks, and generally disfigured with repeated blows, struck with such ferocity that every one must have been more than sufficient to have produced instantaneous death. No gun-shot wounds were perceived in any of the bodies which were not in other respects mutilated. One body lay a little to the right lower down; another about 100 yards up the hill; and near it Brooks's, dreadfully mangled; Mr. Cotterell's in the manuka bush lower down, where he surrendered himself. All these were placed side by side in one grave. Tyrrell's and Northam's were brought across the stream, and laid with Smith's in a second; and two bodies found in the water, in a third near the last. Mr. Patchett's was buried alone where

he fell. The bodies of Maling, the chief constable, who was known to have been severely wounded, and of Stokes another constable, have never been found. It is most probable that they crept away into the bush, and there expired. As soon as the news reached Nelson, persons were sent round by land with provisions, and orders to keep up large fires. Some of the fugitives returned by land, having subsisted on wild turnips for several days. Others, who had remained hid in the fern or bush till after the departure of the natives, were taken up by the brig on her return.

The following is a list of all the White men present at the affray: –
Police Magistrate and County Judge, Mr. Thompson, massacred.
Magistrates – Captain Wakefield and Captain England,massacred.
Principal Surveyor, Mr. Tuckett, escaped.
Crown Prosecutor, Mr. Richardson, massacred.
Land Agent, Mr. Patchett, killed.
Company's Storekeeper, Mr. Howard, massacred.
Surveyors – Mr. Cotterell, massacred; Mr. Barnicoat and Mr. Bellairs escaped.
Passenger of brig, Mr. Ferguson, escaped.
Interpreter, John Brooks, massacred.
Chief Constable, – Maling, died of wounds, body not found.
Constables, – Gapper, wounded, lost the use of his hand; – Coster and William Gardiner, killed or massacred.
Special Constables – Edward Stokes, died of wounds; James M'Gregor, killed; Richard Burnet, wounded; John Gay, Wm. Maunsell, and John Noden, escaped; John Bumforth, lost an arm; Eli Cropper, Wm. Northam, Henry Bumforth, Thomas Tyrrell,

LORD STANLEY'S EPISODE.

and Isaac Smith, killed or massacred; Richard Warner, escaped.
Boatmen – Thomas Pay, killed or massacred; Samuel Goddard, Abraham Vollard, John Kidson, George Bampton, and Wm. Burt, escaped.
Men engaged on the Surveys – H. Richardson, Thomas Hannam, W. Chamberlain, James Grant, Richard Peanter, Wm. Morrison, Joseph Morgan, and John Miller, escaped; Robert Crawford and John Smith, wounded; Wm. Clanzey, John Burton, and Thomas Ratcliffe, killed or massacred; Henry Wray, escaped.

Lord Stanley, in his letter to Governor Fitzroy after the reception of this evidence in England, thus follows the example of Police Magistrate Macdonogh in stating what does not appear in the depositions. He says: –

"Most calamitously, the commencement of the conflict was signalized by the death by a gunshot wound of a woman who was the wife of one of the chiefs, and the daughter of the other; she fell a victim to conjugal affection, in the attempt to shelter her husband's life, at the imminent peril of her own. Her death was avenged by him and her father, in the slaughter of the prisoners they had made."

From what authority the noble Secretary of State for the Colonies derived this pathetic episode I know not; but I will follow his example in relating some facts connected with the same occurrence, which are not in the depositions.

Dr. Dorset, who accompanied the Magistrates to Cloudy Bay for the purpose of attending any wounded that might be found, took some pains to inquire who this wife was. He was informed by the whalers, that it was "Te Rongo," a woman who had been in the practice of cohabiting with them to get goods for her chief;

but who used to share the chief's couch whenever he took her from one whaler in order to enhance her price to another, who would pay him better for a temporary wife. They said it was only on his visit to Cloudy Bay before going to Wairau, that he had thus taken her away from one of their number, and that he had not yet found a bargain to suit him.

I know to a certainty, that the permanent and tapued wife of Rangihaeata, whom I have often seen at his residence in Mana and at Kapiti, was not killed at Wairau; because I saw her at Otaki many months afterwards. How many temporary wives this chief may have had, wherewith to supply the whaling stations, I will not pretend to count.

It is also certain that Te Rongo was not the daughter of Rauperaha. She may have been some relation; as I have already explained, the terms "father" and "child" are used very loosely by the natives to indicate members of an older or younger generation.

I must also mention, that E Ahu and various other natives told me that Rangihaeata had used another and less excusable argument to persuade Rauperaha that the White chiefs should be killed. When he saw the nine or ten dead bodies of the labourers who had been shot in fair fight, he said to Rauperaha, "We shall be sure to be killed for this, some day; the White people will take utu; let us then have some better blood than that of these tutua (common men). We are chiefs; let us kill the chiefs and take utu beforehand for ourselves." And the insult to the remains of the one whom they considered the greatest chief among the White party seems to confirm this report.

Had a Coroner's inquest been held on the bodies, many of these qualifying circumstances would probably

ENROLMENT OF VOLUNTEERS.

have appeared. But Nelson, although it had been founded 2l months, and numbered a larger population than the Capital, had not yet a Coroner or the means of summoning a Coroner's Jury.

While the Magistrates went to examine witnesses, the people of Wellington became alarmed at their totally defenceless state, in case of the outrages of Rauperaha and his followers being continued in this direction, now that he had managed to get to Otaki in safety. What E Ahu had told me of his intentions, when supposing that I should have killed his son, plainly showed that the people of Wellington were not wrong. The most sudden whim, the most false and absurd report, might lead to these consequences in the present excited state of the natives, warm as it were with the smell of blood, and kept up to the mark by Rauperaha and his handcuff.

So the settlers had enrolled themselves as volunteers, under the express sanction and superintendence of the Mayor, the Justices of the Peace, and Mr. Macdonogh the Police Magistrate, who swore them in as special constables. A Committee of Public Safety had been appointed; a battery built and mounted with two 18-pounders on the flag-staff hill; officers chosen to command and drill the volunteers; and the necessary measures taken to place all the powder in the settlement under the control of the authorities. Curiously enough, a large quantity of gunpowder was found in the house of the Rev. Mr. Smales, the Wesleyan missionary who had replaced Mr. Aldred on his departure for the Chatham Islands. Mr. Smales wrote a very ungentlemanly letter in answer to the account given of this discovery in the paper; and caught the name of "Gunpowder Smales" among the lower class of settlers in consequence.

Colonel Wakefield told me that he had passed the volunteers under review on the Sunday morning previous to my arrival, and that they seemed to have profited very well by their drilling, except a troop of some 20 cavalry composed of gentry, whose horses were not yet accustomed to the drums or to the banging of the sabres about their ribs. There were about 400 bayonets mustered; but Colonel Wakefield spoke in special praise of the appearance and evolutions of a rifle corps of about 100, composed of the higher class. They had been well drilled by Major Durie, the Chief Commandant of the Volunteers, and their courage and dependence on each other in case of sudden emergency was looked upon as certain.

Early in June, news had been received at Wellington of a battle between two native tribes in the North, which had terminated in great loss of life.

Mr. Shortland, almost immediately that he became Colonial Secretary, had purchased for the Government a large district of land at Manganui, north of the Bay of Islands. But he bought it of a chief named Panakareao, or Noble, whose fathers had been driven from the territory in question to Kaitaia about thirty years before. And the conquerors, who had been in peaceable possession ever since, had sold the same tract to different private individuals about eight years before the Government contract. The most bitter disputes had arisen between the two native parties, fomented on the one hand by the private land-claimants, and on the other by the officers and supporters of Government, who, from Governor Hobson downwards, concurred in describing Noble as "a fine intelligent missionary native."

At length, the Land Commissioner, Colonel Godfrey, had gone to investigate the claims to land in that

BATTLE OF MANGANUI.

district. The White settlers, and the chiefs and the natives from whom they bought, appeared and claimed the lands. Noble and his tribe also appeared, and claimed the same lands for himself and for the Government.

Like many other natives, however, he had repented of his bargain in the two years which had elapsed since it was made, so far as to deny that he had sold more than a few small portions to the Government.

The Commissioner was perplexed and refused to act, on the plea that he could not decide between the Government of Her Majesty and Her Majesty's subjects; indeed, it appears that he was afraid of an outbreak among the natives, who were highly excited: at all events, he consulted his own safety and left the scene of strife. The natives also dispersed, without coming to any amicable arrangement; but, on the contrary, with the full understanding that war alone could terminate the dispute. Each party summoned their followers and allies to the number of 5000 or 6000 on both sides. And notwithstanding the fact that most of the chiefs in command had signed the Treaty of Waitangi, and that most of the assembled natives were professed Christians, the earnest entreaties and remonstrances of the Bishop, and of the Missionaries headed by the Rev. Henry Williams, had been unavailing to prevent a pitched battle, which ended in the slaughter of upwards of 50 natives, including 15 great chiefs, and the total defeat and fight of Noble and the rest of his party.

27 The same chief whose mild disposition we had admired at Cloudy Bay in October 1839. See Vol. I, Chap. V, p. 106.

28 Before leaving Nelson, Captain Wakefield addressed the following private letter to his brother Colonel. Wakefield: –
"Nelson, 13th June, 1843."
My dear William,
We heard on Sunday that Te Rauperaha and Rangi had commenced operations on the Wairau, and have burned one of the Surveyor's houses.
The Magistrates have granted a warrant on the information; and Thompson, accompanied by myself, England, and a lot of constables, are off immediately in the Government brig to execute it. We shall muster about 60; so I think we shall overcome these travelling bullies. I never felt more convinced of being about to act right for the benefit of all, and not less especially so for the native race.
I shall, probably, be able to communicate with you from Cloudy Bay.
Yours affectionately,
Arthur Wakefield."

CHAPTER XVI

CHAPTER XVI.

Arrival of Major Richmond and fifty-three soldiers – The volunteer drilling proclaimed illegal – by inadvertence – Meetings of the local Magistrates – Deputation to reconnoitre – Visits to the Hutt and Porirua – Proceedings of the Magistrates – Petition – Lord Ripon's remarks on it – Mr. Clarke's Maori Proclamation – Lieutenant Shortland's Proclamation – Mr. Clarke's Official Report – Heartless population of Auckland – Effects of the Acting-Governor's Proclamation – Judge Martin's rule of Court – Honourable conduct of Mr. Fox – Public remonstrance to the Judge – Mr. Spain's proceedings – Negotiations respecting the arbitration – Outrage committed by a native – Arrival of H. M. S. North Star – Sir Everard Home's letter to Rauperaha – Taupo Bay at Porirua – Taiaroa – Farm near Otako – Disturbances at Nelson – Indifference of the Government officers.

THE Government brig had been despatched to Auckland on the 30th of June, and Dr. Evans had taken a passage in her, deputed to represent the whole circumstances to the Acting Governor. The brig made a very quick voyage, and returned just before daylight on the morning of the 24th July.

Soon after she anchored, the reveillee sounded from the bugle of the detachment of troops on board, and was answered by those of the different divisions of volunteers on the shore. The morning was quite calm; and to Wahine iti and my other natives who were looking on the scene, these sounds and their clear echoes among the hills appeared like magic. They were much surprised when I told them that each of these sounds conveyed an order to the soldiers. The roll of the drums from the ship and the shore succeeded.

MAJOR RICHMOND AND THE SOLDIERS.

The passengers in the brig were – Major Richmond, one of the Land Commissioners, now appointed Police Magistrate for Port Nicholson, as he had reported on all the claims in the Northern part of the island; Colonel Godfrey, the other Land Commissioner, who was going to prosecute his inquiries at Akaroa; and Mr. Edward Shortland, the Sub-Protector of Aborigines who had been left to explain the passive enforcement of British laws at Tauranga, and was also on his way to Akaroa. Dr. Evans also returned; and Captain Bennet of the Engineers had come to see about barracks for the troops, which consisted of 53 men of the 96th regiment, under the command of Captain Eyton and Ensign Servantes.

The wooden immigration barracks of the Company were at once placed at their disposal by Colonel Wakefield, as a temporary location; and there they remained until February of the next year, when I left the country. I believe they are there still.

Major Richmond had hardly eaten his breakfast when he landed, and, accompanied by Mr. Hanson and Mr. Spain, in what character was not ascertained, went straight to the house of Major Durie, to request in very peremptory terms that he would take immediate steps for the disbanding of the corps of volunteers under his command.

And the following proclamation was stuck about all over the town, when it was found that the Rifle Corps still prepared to go through their daily drill: –

"Whereas divers persons in the borough of Wellington have unlawfully assembled together for the purpose of being trained and drilled to arms, and of practising military exercises: Now, I have it in command from his Excellency the Officer administering I the Government, to give notice, that if any person

whatever shall henceforth so unlawfully assemble for the purposes aforesaid, or any of them, in the borough of Wellington, or elsewhere in the southern district of New Ulster, the assemblage of such persons will be dispersed, and the persons so unlawfully assembling will be proceeded against according to law. Dated this 26th July, 1843.
M. RICHMOND, Chief Police Magistrate."

The volunteers had been most lawfully organized and drilled, under the express sanction and in answer to the invitation of the Assistant Police Magistrate, the Mayor, and some nine or ten other Justices of the Peace.

This was the third time during three years and a half that the settlers had been compelled by an emergency to meet in arms. Twice out of these three times these meetings were authorized by the Magistrates; and twice out of three times they were dispersed as illegal by proclamation. In 1840, the settlers hastily assembled in arms on hearing that the life of one of their number had been threatened; and the assembly was proclaimed illegal by Lieutenant Shortland. In 1841 the settlers responded to the call of Mr. Murphy the Police Magistrate, met in arms as special constables, and dispersed quietly when their services were no longer required. And now, in 1843, they had been summoned together as volunteers by one Police Magistrate, and proclaimed guilty of illegality by another. Yet, in 1840, in answer to Governor Hobson's statement that an increase of military force was necessary, Lord John Russell, then Colonial Minister, had told him that "that the establishment of a local militia would be a beneficial measure."

It may be imagined that this notice produced no less indignation than surprise. It was thought at least a

VOLUNTEER DRILLING PROCLAIMED ILLEGAL.

want of courtesy not to take any notice of the Committee of Public Safety, consisting of the first men in the settlement, who had organized all the arrangements. But when the loyal manner in which the settlers of all classes had responded to the call of the authorities, working from daylight till dark at the batteries, drilling in the rain, and sacrificing a great part of their day's work both in the morning and evening, was described as a seditious riot, something more than want of courtesy was perceived.

Two days afterwards, the following amendment, for it could not be called a retractation, of the offensive term, appeared in the newspaper: –

"SIR, – In the proclamation issued by the Chief Police Magistrate, giving notice that any future assemblies for the purpose of drilling will be put a stop to, the former assemblies for that purpose are characterised as unlawful. As my attention has been called to this expression, I feel bound, in justice to Major Richmond, to state that its use is solely attributable to myself, and that it was used inadvertently. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
R. DAVIES HANSON, Crown Prosecutor."

A whole community stigmatised as rebels by inadvertence on the part of one of the Government officers!

Meetings were again held, and resolutions passed, expressive of the disgust of the settlers at these tyrannical proceedings. But a brief account of the treatment of the local Magistrates by the new Stipendiary will best explain what allowance was made for the feelings of the settlers.

Major Richmond went away to Nelson, after leaving his decree and the troops at Wellington; and Colonel Wakefield also took a passage in the brig to set the Company's affairs straight at that crippled settlement.

On the 6th of August, Major Richmond returned. The local Magistrates not in the pay of Government then at Wellington, immediately requested him to call a meeting of the Bench; and met among themselves to concert their measures. We were six, namely – Mr. Charles Clifford, Mr. Henry Petre, Mr. William Fitzherbert, Dr. Evans, Captain Daniell, and myself. The Government officers in the Magistracy were four – Mr. Hanson, Mr. Spain, Mr. Macdonogh, and Major Richmond.

The Mayor, Mr. Hunter, had died a day or two before the arrival of the Government brig. Mr. Guyton was ill in bed; Mr. Swainson was busy enough protecting the abode of his family against the encroachments and annoyances of "Dog's Ear" and the other natives on the Hutt; and Colonel Wakefield and Mr. St. Hill, who made up the number of Magistrates, had remained at Nelson for a time.

At the first meeting, we only established the right of the Justices of the Peace to meet as a body, to elect a Chairman at each meeting, to pass resolutions, and to have minutes of their proceedings taken by the Clerk of the Bench.

When we first entered the Police Court (one of the Company's emigrants-houses, lent to the houseless Government), Major Richmond tried to treat us in the same way as we always had been treated till then, as mere puppets. He began making a soft speech, congratulating us on the quiet state of the natives, and the promptitude of the Government in sending down the troops as protection. He was going on in this strain, when it was moved and seconded that he should take the Chair. Only through courtesy we placed him there, though we did not acknowledge the right of the Chief Police Magistrate. till then assumed, to be permanent Chairman of the Bench.

VISITS TO THE HUTT AND PORIRUA.

No resolutions were passed at this meeting; principally through the weakness of Dr. Evans, who had been intrusted with the principal one, but who allowed himself to be won over by the smoothing manner of the Stipendiary, and kept the resolution in his pocket.

It was represented to Major Richmond that reports had come in from all quarters of the danger to be feared from the natives. On the Hutt, scarcely two miles from the village of Aglionby, a constable had tried to apprehend a native who had been clearly guilty of theft in a White man's house; but he had been surrounded by friends of the culprit flourishing spears and tomahawks, very roughly handled, and forced to desist from his attempt. Rauperaha and Rangihaeata were said to be forming a new pa at the entrance of Porirua harbour; and to have assembled there some 200 men, including the whole population of Cloudy Bay. Puaha, the missionary chief who had held up the Testament before the fighting at Wairau, was said to have come over in command of the Company's boat, which formed part of their spoil.

It was agreed that Mr. Petre, Mr. Macdonogh, and I, should go and inquire into the truth of these reports, accompanied by Mr. Meurant the Interpreter.

Up the Hutt, we found a very large increase in the number of native inhabitants. Two strong pas were being built in the potato-grounds. I recognised a great many of Rangihaeata's especial attendants. Two of the men did not conceal that they had been at Wairau; and, in fact, boasted of it to the sawyers and other White persons who were living by their sufferance in this neighbourhood.

We had a long conference with the principal man there, Hapimane, or "Chapman," a nephew of Rauperaha. The culprit was a mere slave; but as his father

objected to his being taken to Wellington before a White Kai Wakawa, or "man to decide," the chief said he should not go. The assault on the constable was not denied, but asserted to be quite right. The thief was produced before us, and most of the stolen things were returned; but Chapman positively refused to acknowledge our authority or let the thief go to be punished. And so we three Magistrates went away as we had come.

The next day we rode to Porirua. We found neither pa, boat, nor a large assemblage of natives. But a small party of natives who were there told us that Puaha was at Pukerua with the boat, and that a pa was about to be built between the whaling-station at Parramatta and the ascent towards Pukerua, in a sandy bay called Taupo. They laughed at the idea of giving the boat back without utu; and treated the whole affair as one of their own wars, where the victorious party keeps the plunder. And they told us plainly that they looked upon these visits merely as the reconnoitering of spies. They combined Mr. Spain's visit to Otaki with this one of ours in this light; and taunted us with our cowardly way of conducting war. They would not believe "that we had come merely to ask for a boat taken in fair fighting; that was too absurd! No! we were come to spy, and we were keeping our feud quiet till we saw the right moment to send the soldiers!"

With this perfect evidence that they had not the least idea of considering themselves in any way subject to our laws, we returned to Wellington.

Our observations reported to the next meeting had only confirmed the local Magistrates in their opinion, that the continuance of the drilling was absolutely necessary, not only as a means of restoring confidence

PROCEEDINGS OF THE MAGISTRATES.

to the settlers, but in order to prevent the natives from presuming on our defenceless state.

And we asked the Police Magistrate to rescind his prohibitory proclamation, as the 53 grenadiers could be considered hardly capable of defending their own barracks, in case of a sudden and well-concerted attack by the natives.

But the Police Magistrate refused, saying it would be quite contrary to his instructions. He said a frigate with troops was now daily expected from Sydney: he would call the settlers out should any emergency make that course requisite.

We represented to him the absurdity of calling out untrained men on an emergency to harass and encumber rather than to support the few regulars; and we instanced the fatal result of Wairau as caused by the superiority of savages, who are very perfectly trained and drilled by the chiefs in their skirmishing warfare, over men who did not know which end of the cartridge to bite. And we made him acknowledge that he had neither the authority nor the will to cause the additional troops to be landed when the frigate should come, or the knowledge as to how soon the frigate and all the troops might be called upon to act upon the coast, and the settlement be again left totally undefended. But he smiled, and shuffled, and still pleaded his convenient instructions.

So we determined to act for ourselves. After adjourning to learn the law of the case, we found that the only law against drilling (even if applicable to New Zealand, which point remained in doubt), provided that persons might lawfully drill and be drilled, if authorized so to do by any two Justices of the Peace. We came prepared with two resolutions, one asserting the expediency of the drilling, and the other intimating

to the public that we were ready thus to authorize them.

But Major Richmond, who had been again courteously placed in the chair, refused to put the resolution when he had heard it read, again pleading his instructions; and, after a long space of courteous remonstrance on our part, one of our members moved that he should leave the chair, and that Captain Daniell should take it. Major Richmond took his hat, and bowed and smiled himself out of the room. Throughout the proceedings, his total nonchalance and want of sympathy for the settlers had been most apparent. We then passed our resolutions, and were preparing to publish them, when we received an official remonstrance from Major Richmond against our doings. He not only pleaded his instructions, as though they had anything to do with our conduct, but strongly asserted that the proposed course was calculated to arouse "alarm and excitement among the natives." This had been his main argument at our meetings also.

We, however, considered that a knowledge by the natives of our perfect ability to protect ourselves would tend in the very opposite direction; and that no course could so effectually allay excitement in all quarters. E Ahu and the other Otaki natives had expressed some curiosity to see the drilling, and only considered it as rather a new toy. Wahine iti was much disappointed when he found that there was to be no more.

But two of our number having waited upon Major Richmond to discuss the matter, we became convinced that that officer would persist in dispersing the volunteers, even if drilled under our authority. He refused to answer the question made to him, as to whether he would feel justified in ordering the troops to disperse

PETITION – LORD RIPON'S REMARKS.

them at the point of the bayonet; and as such a result would have been of the most injurious effect, whether upon the natives or upon the settlers, we forbore from proceeding any further in the matter. And the whole community, smarting under the insults heaped upon them and the marked distrust of their too enduring loyalty, forbore from any course beyond the old one of meeting, embodying their feelings in resolutions, and sending a manly petition, praying for the establishment of a permanent armed force for their protection.

But the petition was, as usual, sneered at in Auckland and neglected in England.

When it was presented to the House of Lords, by the Earl of Malmesbury, in April 1844, Lord Ripon said (according to the report in the Times), that "it would be right to ascertain what the inhabitants could do for their own protection, and how far their claims for the establishment of a permanent force were well-founded. There certainly were means within the reach of the colonists, which they might I adopt for their own safety. The Governor was authorized to levy a militia, and to establish a constabulary force, as in Ireland, for their safety; and when there were 10,000 inhabitants, he could not I see why such a course might not readily be adopted."

Between these events and the arrival of Captain Fitzroy the new Governor, it was clear that the local Government had only sent the troops to keep the settlers in order, and because they considered such a protection necessary for the natives.

Major Richmond's despotic proclamation was not the only public document which had come in the brig from Auckland.

First and foremost was a proclamation from Mr.

Clarke, the Chief Protector of Aborigines, to the natives. It began by metaphors and figures about the horizon being dark; and conveyed the information already received by the Government as to a "conflict between the natives and the Europeans."

He went on to say, "with us both parties are wrong, according to the laws both of God and man." And directly afterwards, "let us wait to hear the correctness and truth of this matter; until which do not let us prejudge."

Then he professed to analyze the evidence of both parties; and, in so doing, stated that the fact of Rangihaeata having slaughtered the prisoners rested upon the evidence of the White people!

And his whole analysis was tainted with the same colour as Mr. Macdonogh's retracted invention and Lord Stanley's pathetic episode.

A proclamation from the Acting Governor to the White people forbade them from exercising rights of ownership upon any land of which the title was disputed by any native.

And the answer of his Excellency to the address of the Committee of Public Safety was in the same spirit; treating the dead and the survivors of the "contest" as the real criminals in the affair.

The resistance to the Queen's warrant, and the accompanying massacre of a Police Magistrate, two Justices of the Peace, a Crown Prosecutor, and several constables, seemed to call for an active exercise of authority in apprehending the murderers and investigating the whole affair.

We were met by the assertion that it was a dispute about land, in which the White people were the aggressors and in the wrong.

We were accused of prejudging the case as regards

MR. CLARKE'S OFFICIAL REPORT.

the natives; and our dead fellow-countrymen were prejudged to have been the only criminals.

We were suspected of a wish to revenge ourselves, and of blood-thirstiness against the whole native race; therefore, 50 grenadiers were sent only to prevent us from overawing the natives by preparing ourselves for the worst.

It was foreseen that the natives, presuming on the impunity of their first murderous resistance to authority, would bring on a repetition of the "conflict;" therefore, the Whites were forbidden from seeking to maintain their footing wherever the natives should forbid.

But the whole policy of Mr. Acting Governor Shortland is best accounted for by Mr. Clarke's letter to him, on the first receipt of the depositions at Auckland. Dating from the Protectors Office (for these officers had early taken upon themselves to assume the sounding title of "Protector" by itself), he thus writes, in words that prejudge, that falsify the depositions and the effect of the affair on the natives, that vilify the memory of the dead, that thirst for revenge and for more blood of his own fellow-countrymen.

"Protector's Office, Auckland,
8th July, 1843.
Sir,
"It is my painful duty to enclose for the information of his Excellency the Officer administering the Government, a copy of the Protector of the Southern District's report of a serious affray which took place between Her Majesty's European and aboriginal subjects at Wairau, New Munster, occasioned by the New Zealand Company's officers taking forcible possession of native lands; and while I feel the deepest sympathy for the unfortunate sufferers and their surviving relations, I cannot help regretting and deprecat-

ing, in the strongest terms, the unconstitutional and murderous proceeding of the Police Magistrate and his colleagues, in attacking an inoffensive people, killing three, and obliging the remainder, in self-defence, to attack in turn their assailants; which terminated, as you will perceive by reference to the enclosed report, in the destruction of 19 Europeans, and which moreover threatens to bring about a general collision with the aborigines of this colony.

"The desire manifested by the natives to await the decision of the Land Commissioner, as expressed to the Company's Agent and Surveyors, and reiterated to the Police Magistrate on his arrival with an armed force to arrest two of their principal chiefs, shows that they had no wish to quarrel with the Europeans; and their subsequent conduct, in passing through unprotected European settlements without molesting the residents, fully substantiates the same fact.

"I cannot say I am surprised at what has taken place; I rather wonder at the long forbearance of the natives in the vicinity of the Company's settlements, receiving as they have such deep provocation in the forcible occupancy of lands which they never alienated; and I can only account for this forbearance upon the principle of the pledge given them by the late Governor, Captain Hobson, that they should not be forced off land they had not alienated, nor be disturbed in their pas and cultivations.

"I am satisfied that such an unhappy affair as that of Te Wairau could never have occurred had not the natives been urged to it by extreme provocation. It is a principle with the natives, in all cases of extremity between themselves and the Europeans, to act only on the defensive. 'We will not.' say they, 'fire a gun at a European, until we see our people first murdered.'

MR. CLARKE'S OFFICIAL REPORT.

"The parties engaged in this rash and inhuman affray have inflicted a deadly wound on the interests of the colony, by means of the unfortunate impression with regard to native character which this circumstance, even after the fullest explanation, will create. They have also occasioned a breach of that confidence hitherto existing, which must prove alike injurious to both parties, and which time only will repair; and while I entertain the fullest confidence in the integrity of the natives, and am under no apprehension of any undue advantage being taken by them of their late success, I at the same time experience the greatest apprehension of danger from a number of our own countrymen, who, I fear, are using every possible means to widen the breach for the unworthy purpose of taking possession of the coveted lands, and throwing the onus of the aggression on Her Majesty's Government.

"I am borne out in these remarks, I conceive, by the general tenor of the proceedings of the disappointed settlers in all the Company's settlements, as exhibited in the police reports, and other occasional matter contained in the Southern papers, but more especially by the sentiments of the resident Protector, 29 expressed to me in his private communication; an extract of which is herewith enclosed for the perusal of his Excellency, as fully in accordance with my own views upon this subject.

"The only step which I could suggest to Her Majesty's Government in the present painful dilemma in which they are placed by this disastrous occurrence, is to avow, in the strongest terms, their disapproval of the conduct adopted by the Nelson settlers, and the deep horror entertained by Her Majesty's Govern-

ment at the very severe measures pursued by the aborigines.

"I think this concession, humiliating as it may appear, more honourable and worthy the dignity of the Crown, than any other line of policy that could be devised, and that most calculated to heal the breach and re-establish confidence.

"Whatever may be the intentions of Her Majesty's Government relative to this unhappy affair, I need scarcely suggest to his Excellency the necessity of rigorous measures to prevent an indiscriminate revenge being inflicted by Europeans on natives, or point out to them the pains that will be taken to circulate injurious reports of the aborigines residing in the vicinity of the Company's settlements; and I would submit to his Excellency the propriety of a gentleman connected with this department proceeding immediately to Port Nicholson to act for a time under the directions of the district Protector, enabling him to leave that settlement with confidence; as present circumstances will render it necessary that he should be in a position to facilitate his visiting the various settlements in the neighbourhood for the purpose of allaying the excited feelings of the natives, and using his influence to restore harmony and peace. I would also submit to his Excellency, that an inquiry should be instituted into the conduct of the survivors who took an active part in the affray, and, if found guilty, punished according to law; that the equitable manner, in which Her Majesty's Government view these proceedings may be apparent to all, and especially to the natives.
I have, &c.
(signed) GEORGE CLARKE,
Chief Protector of Aborigines.
The Honourable Colonial Secretary, &c."

HEARTLESS POPULATION OF AUCKLAND.

Mr. Clarke displayed less forbearance, perhaps, and: took greater pains to circulate injurious reports, than even the "disappointed settlers."

There can be but little doubt that, as I said before, Mr. Clarke was the more influential of the two officers who had worked on Governor Hobson's paralysed mind.

From the Auckland public we had at least expected some condolence for our sorrows, if not sympathy for our wrongs. But the report of Dr. Evans and the tone of the Auckland newspapers combined to show that they united with the Government to condemn our lost friends, and openly exulted over the measures taken by the authorities to irritate our wounds and to repress an imagined desire for indiscriminate revenge. - So heartless and unmanly was the character of the population which had been gathered together merely to scramble for the spoils of a land-jobbing experiment, and to share the booty drawn from our hard-working community.

The natives, of course, soon heard of the "rights-of-ownership" proclamation; and threatened to eject persons from lands which had been occupied for years, making them disputed lands by the very act. Mr. Halswell, who had been distinguished for his fatherly, though perhaps too indulgent, conduct to natives of all classes, was one of the first to receive "notice to quit" from the very men to whom his house had afforded so much hospitality and kindness. Several settlers in the Hutt were warned to leave within a few weeks. When the news got to New Plymouth, the natives intimated to the Police Magistrate, who had a really nice house and farm, that he must make room for them within a given time. E Tako expressed his intention of receiving the rents from a number of houses

in Wellington, including Barrett's hotel and the residences of Colonel Wakefield and of the Crown Prosecutor.

The settlers, though they forbore from drilling, began to practise rifle-shooting in their own gardens, and kept stands of arms and ammunition always ready in their houses. For no one could say, from hour to hour, when he might hear the news that some settler's forbearance had been exhausted by the increasing licence and insolence of the natives, and that every man was required to do his best in defence of the women and children. No one believed that the 53 soldiers alone would be able to defend the broad line occupied by the town for an hour, should a general attack be made.

On the 22nd of August, Colonel Wakefield returned from Nelson, in a Hamburgh ship which had carried a ship-load of German immigrants to that settlement. On his arrival at Wellington, he appointed Mr. William Fox to be Company's Agent at Nelson; and this gentleman went there soon afterwards.

Mr. Fox had come out in the "Fyfe," and was one of the sterling colonists whom I have described as arriving about that time. He was a member of the English bar, and had come with the intention of practising in the Courts at Wellington. But Judge Martin had made a rule of Court, that no barrister could be enrolled as a barrister of the Supreme Court in New Zealand without making a declaration in the following words: – "I have not since my leaving England done any act whereby I should be precluded from practising as a Barrister-at-Law." At the sitting of the Supreme Court in April, Mr. Fox had very properly refused to make that declaration, even under protest, on the ground that it was derogatory to the honour of the

HONOURABLE CONDUCT OF MR. FOX.

English Bar. To this course he had been induced by a manly sense of honour; for those whom the declaration seemed intended to preclude from the Court were just the only persons who would willingly answer it falsely. Only to a gentleman, fit in every way to practise in the Court, such a declaration became most odious.

A remonstrance on the subject was sent to his Honour the Chief Justice, signed by Colonel Wakefield and eight other Justices of the Peace, the Mayor and nine of the Aldermen, two of the barristers already practising in the Court, and 40 more of the leading settlers.

They respectfully remonstrated against the Judge's proceeding, on the grounds above mentioned; and approved the course pursued by Mr. Fox, although they felt surprise and deep regret that the exercise of such honourable feelings should be the means of depriving them of so valuable a settler.

They observed that there was no precedent for this course either in England or in the other colonies; and urged upon his Honour "the justice and expediency of adopting some other course more consonant to the feelings of honourable men, and, as such, better calculated to insure the respectability of his Honour's bar, an object of paramount importance to the colonists of New Zealand."

But Justice Martin answered, that two barristers had already made the declaration, and that the leader of the bar had approved of it; and he concluded by saying, "When the authorities at home, to whom in I this and in every other matter connected with the I administration of justice here I am responsible, shall I tell me that I have acted erroneously, the regulation in question will cease to be enforced."

Mr. Fox had at first proposed going to Hobart Town. But he had made several trips to Wairarapa and other parts of the surrounding country: he very early appreciated the good qualities of the little society to the confidence of which his honourable conduct gave him at once the highest title; and he was soon considered one of themselves.

Since Mr. Fox's appointment under the Company, Wellington and Nelson have been placed under the jurisdiction of a separate Judge, Mr. H. S. Chapman; who at once did away with the degrading declaration in his Courts.

During Colonel Wakefield's absence at Nelson, Mr. Spain took very active measures to induce the settlers to call upon him to re-open the suspended arbitration for the compensation of the disputed claims. He gave lunches and had meetings in his house, day after day, of people who had hardly spoken to him before; and it was plainly observable that a strong feeling was arising that Colonel Wakefield had been negligent of his duty in the matter. It was said that he had no right to go back from his agreement, first proposed by himself, to accelerate the settlement of the land question by compensating the unpaid natives according to a fair award; and that it had nothing to do with the case, that the Directors were carrying on a negotiation at home, the result of which might be the settlement of that question without the necessity of any such course. I remember that for a time many persons appeared to be persuaded that the Government authorities had done all their duty in the matter, and that the blame of the delay now rested on the Company's Agent.

A deputation of settlers waited upon him on his return, with a memorial urging him to take the speediest measures for the final adjustment of these everlasting

NEGOTIATIONS RESPECTING ARBITRATION.

claims; and he found a letter from Mr. Spain, dated 17 days before, offering him an opportunity, before he should depart for Auckland, of resuming the negotiation at the precise point where it had left off in May.

Colonel Wakefield immediately laid his whole correspondence relating to the matter, whether with the Directors or with the Commissioner and the other local authorities, before the settlers.

And although the intelligence as yet arrived from England was anything but satisfactory, – the Company, on the contrary, being engaged in an angry dispute with the Colonial Office, and their operations being still suspended, – he agreed to re-open the negotiation exactly where it had left off, and wrote to Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke junior to that effect. Referring to the latter's letter of the 23rd of May, claiming 1500l., he thus concluded his announcement to the referee on the part of the natives: –

"I am now ready to proceed upon the basis proposed in that letter, viz., 'that we should include all claims of the natives resident within the limits described in the New Zealand Company's Port Nicholson deed;' from which I infer that you have waived your objection to a cessation of the pas and cultivated grounds, with a view to inspire confidence in the minds of the settlers, and re-establish a good understanding with the natives. I must repeat what I have stated in a former letter, that I cannot hold the Company responsible for any settlement that shall not be final and conclusive."

On the same day, two letters passed, one from Mr. Spain demanding, and one from Colonel Wakefield, giving an assurance that the amount of compensation should be paid when Mr. Spain's final award as umpire should be made, at the conclusion of each case.

In the afternoon Mr. Spain answered the letter to himself, and also that to Mr. Clarke junior; which, curiously enough, the referee had handed to the umpire. Mr. Spain first told Colonel Wakefield, he had no right to write at all to Mr. Clarke, until he, as umpire, had finally decided that the arbitration was to be resumed; accused him of seeking to impose new conditions upon the umpire, through Mr. Clarke, inconsistent with the original terms of the arbitration; and then requested to know whether he were willing to resume the negotiation upon the terms proposed in his first letter, without reference to Colonel Wakefield's letter to Mr. Clarke; with which, although he had answered it, he said he could have nothing to do as umpire.

But Colonel Wakefield was now supported in his course by the settlers, who fully concurred in the letters which he had written to both Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke junior; and he answered, that nothing short of the "final and conclusive settlement," before demanded, would satisfy their feelings and expectations. While he repudiated the charge of imposing new conditions, he expressed himself "ready, willing, and anxious" to proceed in the affair.

Mr. Spain, however, replied shortly, that these terms were such as to interdict the resumption of the negotiation; went on board the brig, and sailed the next day for Auckland, declaring that he went to obtain from the Acting Governor the means of satisfying the natives whose expectations had been raised. He was accompanied by several of them.

Ever since the failure of Colonel Wakefield to meet Mr. Spain at Wanganui, the Commissioner's conduct had displayed very manifest symptoms of personal pique. This is amply confirmed by his "private and confidential" letters to Mr. Shortland, which have been

OUTRAGE BY A NATIVE.

since published in the Appendix to the Report of the House of Commons' Committee of last year.

On the 28th of August, the following scene occurred within fifty yards of the Police Office and Barracks.

A native residing at Pipitea Pa entered the house of a Scotchman, named Allan Cameron, when Mrs. Cameron was the only one of the family at home. The intruder opened a box, and without assigning any reason took from it a large piece of printed cotton. Mrs. Cameron remonstrated, and attempted to take the print from him; when the native insulted her, and struck her under the ear and in other places. Several neighbours., alarmed by her screams, entered the house, and observed among other effects of the violence with which she had been assaulted, that one of her hands was covered with blood. A neighbour, Mr. Bee, a baker, having sent for a constable, strove to quiet the native, and advised him in vain, if he thought himself injured, to represent the case to the Police Magistrate; and then recommended Mrs. Cameron to give up the print, and wait till the constable arrived. The native proceeded to the pa, and the constable followed him and compelled him to restore the print. A number of natives were in chapel at the time, but, on hearing the disturbance, they rushed into the pa, and casting off their blankets, maltreated the constable, by throwing him down and jumping upon him. On his calling out for assistance, another constable, accompanied by some of the neighbours, came to the spot and attempted to protect him; but the natives were too numerous, and drove them from the pa. Before he could be rescued, he was seriously injured.

I was present, though not on the bench, in the Police Court on the day following. The prisoner having first refused to go before Major Richmond, was, after

much entreaty, persuaded by Mr. Clarke junior to accompany him, and the other natives were prevailed upon to suffer him to go to the Police Court. Three witnesses proved the identity of the prisoner, and he himself confessed having struck the woman several times, and that he stole the print and ill-treated the constable.

Mr. Clarke junior treated the offence as of a very light character, and told the Chief Police Magistrate "that it was a very trifling affair;" but the constable who had suffered, surprised at his remarks, stated that "he had been nearly killed in the affray."

Major Richmond, after hearing the case, told the aggressor he might go, but if ever he did anything of the kind again, he would be punished for it. The decision excited considerable surprise in the minds of those present; many of whom loudly vented their feelings against Mr. Clarke junior as he quitted the office. Mrs. Cameron had sustained considerable injury in her head from the effect of the blows she received on the above occasion. But, wonderful to relate, the settlers still forbore.

About this time, numerous cases occurred of increasing insolence and outrageous conduct on the part of the natives. Up the Hutt, and in other quarters, many instances occurred; but they did not appear in the Police Court, as it had become a bye-word that there was law against the Whites and none against the Maori. It is painful to think, that although the settlers still respected an authority so inadequately administered, many feelings of private revenge and animosity have been treasured up at this time, through the total inaction of the public institution which should overcome such feelings by awarding its impartial penalties to all wrong deeds.

ARRIVAL OF H. M. S, NORTH STAR.

On the 30th, Dr. Monro and Mr. Domett, two settlers who had been deputed from Nelson for the same purpose as Dr. Evans from Wellington, returned with a similar answer. His Excellency dwelt on the fact that he had issued "a proclamation," as though that would set all to rights. This was the very proclamation about "rights of ownership," which had induced the natives to disturb settlers undisturbed before, to seize upon land which the exertions of settlers had just cleared, and even in one or two cases to despoil and trample on growing crops. His Excellency concluded, however, with the assurance, "that the case should not be prejudged; that impartial justice should be done; and that the penalties of the law should certainly overtake those whom its verdict should pronounce to be guilty."

On the 31st, H. M. S. North Star arrived from Auckland, whither she had gone from Sydney to obtain orders. Captain, formerly Lieutenant Best, was in command of a detachment of the 80th Foot, acting as supernumerary marines on board. As we had expected, there were particular instructions that the troops should not land, except if actually needed for active operation.

The frigate was received with a salute from the volunteer battery, and flags flying everywhere.

An accident disabled the Captain, Sir Everard Home from communicating with Major Richmond for four days.

Sir Everard, in his report to the Acting Governor of his proceedings on the coast, says Major Richmond "had received various reports of attacks meditated by the natives under Te Rauperaha on that place; that the chief was at a pa not more than 14 miles from Wellington, with between 500 and 1000 of his tribe,

fighting men; that the chief Taiaroa, from the Middle Island, had joined Te Rauperaha, and having been an ancient enemy to him, had made peace; that the pa at Porirua was fortified, and every preparation made for an attack on the town of Wellington.

"I told him in answer, that I could do nothing; and that all that was in my opinion necessary, was for the ship to remain where she was. I however wrote a letter to Te Rauperaha."

Here follows the letter from the Captain of an English man-of-war to a man who lay under the accusation of having murdered his countrymen, and among them two brother-officers of the writer: –

"Friend Rauperaha,
"It has come to my knowledge that you are collecting the tribes round you, because you expect that I am going to attack you. Those who told you so said that which is not true.
"It was to keep peace, and not to make war, that I came here. You know, that where many men meet together, and continue without employment, they will find something to do. They had best go home."

A day or two after the arrival of the North Star I went to Otaki on horseback, in company with a gentleman named Carter, a settler in New South Wales, and a relation of one of the officers of the frigate, who had come to see what inducements the country held out for removing hither with cattle and sheep.

At Taupo Bay in Porirua, where the natives had told us, when deputed by the Magistrates, that a pa was to be built, we found about 200 natives in a new village, 12 or 15 large canoes, and the Company's boat hauled up among them.

Hiko came out on the beach, and beckoned to me

TAIAROA.

to stop. Accordingly we pulled up our horses; and he introduced me to Taiaroa, the chief from Otako in the Middle Island, who had made a friendly alliance with Rauperaha, as reported to Major Richmond. Taiaroa talked to me for some time about land, in a disgusting jargon composed of whaling slang, broken French, and bad English; so that I was obliged to beg him to talk Maori, which I could better understand. I then made out that he was angry with Wide-awake and the other White people for taking so much land; and he said he should turn the White people off to the southward, if he did not get plenty of utu.

Among others, he mentioned a Mr. John Jones, who had a large farming and whaling establishment at a place called Waikawaiki, between Banks's Peninsula and Otako. Mr. Jones was a merchant in Sydney when we first arrived in the country; and though we knew that he was connected with the whaling stations on this coast, and he had been one of the largest consigners of cattle to Port Nicholson, we had not been aware till within a few months before that he had 100 acres of land under grain crop, nearly 100 head of horses besides cattle, and several families of cottagers employed as farm-labourers at Waikawaiki, besides a whaling-station. At this time, however, having failed in Sydney, he had retired to his New Zealand estate with all his family, and had visited Wellington on his way, to close accounts with his agents there, people sent from Sydney, who had pilfered his property to a large extent.

I asked Taiaroa why "Bloody Jack," or Tuawaike, the great chief of his tribe, had not come; and he told me that there was a riri, or "quarrel," between them, and that he would not trust himself in Rauperaha's power.

Although his manner was insolent and overbearing, I asked him to go and see Wide-awake and the White people at Wellington. He seemed to me another sample of the naturally ferocious savage, confirmed in brutality by association with the worst class of White men, like Rauperaha, Rangihaeata, or the other Kawia chiefs, whose arrogant and coarse demeanour we had observed on first seeing them at Cloudy Bay and Kapiti in 1839.

I now asked Hiko about the boat; but he said he had no command over it, and that those who had would require large utu for restoring it.

While I was speaking to him, I pulled out my pocket-handkerchief. He immediately retreated as fast as he could, hiding his head under his blanket. He told me, when re-assured, that he thought I was pulling a pistol out of my pocket to shoot him. I immediately answered, that I scorned to carry hidden arms amongst them; and showed him that I had none but my cutlass and the dagger in my belt, both plainly visible.

We arrived without further occurrence at Otaki, and remained there two days; during which we went to Topeora's pa, and saw both Rauperaha and Rangihaeata. The latter had recovered of the wound in his foot, which was but a slight injury received by treading on the sharp stump of a tree during the fight. They both professed to be very friendly to me, and inquired what the ship was come for – whether it was to take them or not? I told them I did not know; she might be, she might not; I had nothing to do with it. Rauperaha then repeated that he would fight the soldiers if they came: Rangihaeata said he would eat the ship, soldiers and all.

We were a week away from Wellington. On my

DISTURBANCES AT NELSON.

return, I found that serious news had come in from Nelson by a whale-boat sent on purpose.

The natives were making active use of Mr. Shortland's proclamation at various places. At Motueka, Mr. Tuckett described himself as having been protected by the resident natives from threats against his life by some strangers of the Kawia tribe.

Several settlers had received distinct warnings at about the same time from different natives, that an attack was very likely to be made upon the settlement.

The White labourers, whom I have already described as being in excess at Nelson, and employed in large numbers by the Company on the roads, had acquired the habit of very slack work. Upon a gager and inspector being appointed to report upon how much less they did than they ought, they assaulted these officers and their time-keepers with stones, put one of them into a ditch, and seemed likely to proceed to further extremities.

Upon the first receipt of these reports, Sir Everard says, "I was requested to detach a portion of the troops under my command to Nelson, not to repel any attack expected from the native population, but to restrain and bring to order about 300 English labourers, which the New Zealand Company had employed on their works. Such a request, I considered required no answer. Having now recovered, and from all I could learn from the most sound authorities that there was nothing to be apprehended, I had made up my mind to return to Sydney.

"Major Richmond had requested me to wait the I arrival of Mr. Clarke, the Sub-Protector of Aborigines, who could give me the last and best account, as he was to visit all the pas. He, on his

return, confirmed all that I had been led to believe to be true; but Mr. Clarke is a very young man."

And he was confirmed in this idea by Mr. Macdonogh, who had gone up to Taranaki in the brig soon after Major Richmond's arrival, and had returned on horseback.

"He came," continues the nonchalant Captain, "having visited all the pas, and confirmed the statements of Mr. Clarke: of this gentleman I had opportunities afterwards of seeing a great deal, and was much struck with his zeal and good feeling for those for whom he is employed, and the sound judgment by which he regulates his conduct."

Mr. Macdonogh, even when he returned, could speak but few words of the language; much less could he understand the feelings and customs of the natives, or the plausible behaviour which they can put on for occasions.

Judging from these pacific reports, the Captain had fixed a day for sailing to Sydney. But Colonel Wakefield eagerly remonstrated with Major Richmond on the absolute necessity of making a demonstration, at least, in the Strait. He also repeatedly applied for the recovery of the Company's boat.

I was in my uncle's room while this conversation occurred. In the course of it, Major Richmond made an observation that, in a question of land, he had no doubt that Rauperaha could assemble all the natives on the island. I answered him, that it was a matter not of land, but of protection of life and property. I mentioned, as an instance of this, that I had to go to Otaki the next day on business, and that I felt bound to carry arms, as there was no protection for British subjects beyond the immediate beach of the town. Major Richmond entreated me to carry concealed arms, if I

INDIFFERENCE OF GOVERNMENT OFFICERS.

carried any, as the sight of them was calculated to produce much excitement among the natives. He begged me not to carry any. I assured him that I would; because the very display of arms was enough, on the contrary, to be the safeguard against presumption and outrage.

29 His own son, who had acted and written in the same spirit as himself.

CHAPTER XVII

CHAPTER XVII.

Review of the condition of the natives – Their intercourse with the whalers – Church Mission – Samuel Marsden – His object and plans – His doings in New Zealand – Purchase of a site – Deed of conveyance – Wise benevolence of Marsden – Progress – Increasing influence – Captain Laplace – Failure of Marsden's project, how caused – The independence of New Zealand – How concocted – Details of coincident missionary land-sharking – Progress of labours – Wesleyan Mission – Struggles and perils – Revival – New Zealand Association opposed by both missionary societies – Income of the societies – Their expenditure in New Zealand – Hostility delegated to local missionaries – Results of missionary labours – The Government and the natives – Want of system – Treaty of Waitangi – Official and literal translations – Disregarded by both parties – Incongruities of Government – Conflicting systems for the good of the natives – Confusion produced in their minds – Results to be dreaded – Hopes for the appointment of an able Governor – Crown colonies and Chartered colonies – Captain Grey on aborigines – Known prejudices of Captain Fitzroy.

SINCE the fatal catastrophe at Wairau, the thoughts of the reasoning men among the settlers had been directed more seriously than ever to the apparently inevitable overthrow of the noble experiment in which they had come to take a part; namely, that of civilizing and Christianizing the aborigines on a comprehensive and statesmanlike system. At the Club, at each other's houses, while looking over the operations on a farm, or at any other place where they met and discussed their little politics, a sincere regret for this result was generally manifested, and its causes were traced with a view to a remedy if possible.

That the rough whalers and sealers were first the

NATIVES AND WHALERS.

oppressors and brutalizers of the New Zealanders, is not to be denied. But they were also their first civilizers. They taught them many of the wants and luxuries of civilized life, and supplied those wants as they arose. They taught them to appreciate the comforts of cleanliness, of good houses, food, and clothing; they held out to their emulation the industry, the perseverance, and the energy, of the White man. They shadowed forth, with a rough and harsh pencil to be sure, the blessings of peace and commerce; and they first obtained the respect of the savage for the invincible courage and hardihood of our race. The frank hospitality and the elevation of the man of strong body and will above his fellows, characteristics common to the New Zealanders and the whalers, assisted much in their rapid amalgamation. Nearly the same qualities were necessary to a chief in either class; and it was thus easier for the less civilized and less artificial race to acquire the physical improvements introduced by the other, even while the vices of the refuse of civilization were insidiously destroying many of the moral virtues which the savages before possessed. The irregular colonizers were thus, without any intention on their part, except their own selfish enjoyment, becoming an instrument of change for some good and more evil upon the native race; and the very respect which the outcasts bore to a wild chieftainship similar to that which they themselves had established when retrograding from the refinements of civilized communities, secured the working of this instrument by a process analogous to the customs and prejudices of the natives, and therefore easy and gradual.

So a father, who had been exiled for some offence the most polished society, might, while careless

and indifferent to the prospects of his growing son, teach him by mere example some of the knowledge and manners of the world and the outward appearance of a gentleman, while he also allowed him to acquire the immoral habits which had been his own ruin.

In 1815, the excellent Samuel Marsden introduced the blessings of missionary teaching, with a view to rescue the New Zealanders from the ruin which was impending over them, into the northern part of the island.

We are fortunate in possessing an authentic record of the first foundation of the Church Mission in the Bay of Islands. Mr. John Liddiard Nicholas, who volunteered to accompany the venerable founder in his expedition, wrote a very interesting work, which contains an account of all the proceedings, and must ever be placed among the most valuable archives of New Zealand. 30 Mr. Nicholas also gave evidence before the Committee of the House of Lords in April 1838. To him, then, I am indebted for the earlier part of this history.

The Reverend Samuel Marsden, Principal Chaplain of New South Wales, was already famous for the success of missions planted by him in Tahiti, when he formed the benevolent project of founding a mission in New Zealand. This project was then discouraged by almost all who heard of its formation. The captains and crews of whaling-ships and trading-vessels, who had been accustomed for twenty years to carry on a desultory warfare, as well as commerce, with the

CHURCH MISSION – SAMUEL MARSDEN.

native inhabitants, gave the latter a character for treachery and savage ferocity, to which they themselves, perhaps, had a more legitimate claim. Their knowledge of the natives was bounded by an intercourse into which they never entered without the desire to revenge some signal and treacherous defeat, or the dread of retribution for some equally disgraceful victory. "His plan," says Mr. Nicholas, "was by most persons deemed wild and chimerical; and a sacrifice of the life of every one was foreboded who should venture to carry it into execution. The New Zealanders were represented at the colony (New South Wales) in the blackest colours; and any attempt to impress their mind with religion and morality was judged not only hopeless and impracticable, but rash, absurd, and extravagant."

Samuel Marsden, however, combined great firmness of purpose with the most extended benevolence. He first made himself thoroughly acquainted with the general character of the Maori, by carrying home with him from time to time, and taking under his roof, such individuals as were occasionally brought to Port Jackson by the different whalers; and when he had maturely formed his estimate of the disposition and capabilities of the race, he deliberately persevered in his intention.

In 1810, he proposed to the Church Missionary Society in England, that they should send out to New Zealand certain proper persons to form a mission. To this they readily assented, and engaged three persons with their families, Messrs. Hall, King, and Kendall; some of whom embarked with Mr. Marsden, while the others followed in the same ship which took Mr. Nicholas to New South Wales. Marsden, on his arrival in that colony, purchased a vessel for the ser-

vice of the mission; and as soon as the newly-engaged missionaries had all arrived, sent two of them in the vessel, well armed, to the Bay of Islands, to make a trial of the disposition of the natives, and to bring any of the chiefs to New South Wales who might seem inclined to visit it and to forward their views.

On their return with an encouraging report of their reception, and three native chiefs who expressed themselves willing to concur in their projects, Marsden determined to accompany them on their final expedition, in order to superintend their labours and assist in the great work.

It is important to observe what were the objects aimed at by this model of a Christian missionary, and by what means he proposed to attain those objects. Mr. Nicholas seems to have been intimately acquainted with the character and thoughts of his companion, since he thoroughly appreciated his great talents, and claimed for his virtues that tribute which they undoubtedly deserved. He tells us that Marsden was desirous, "as an Englishman, of showing to this bold, highspirited, and inquisitive people, the proper character of his country; and as a Christian, of calling them from their gross idolatries to a knowledge of revealed religion, enlightening their minds, and humanizing their pursuits." His plan of operation is no less striking; and I therefore copy it from the words of Mr. Nicholas: – "Contrasting the genius and habits of this people with those of the other islanders in this immense ocean, he found them much more prepared for cultivation than the generality of savage tribes, and less tenacious of their own barbarous institutions. But he rightly conjectured that moral lectures and abstruse religious discourses, however proper at a subsequent period, when the mind became

HIS OBJECT AND PLAN.

susceptible of their importance, could do but little at first towards reclaiming a people so totally immersed in ignorance; therefore he resolved on a better plan, and paved the way for introducing the mechanic arts, by creating artificial wants to which they had never before been accustomed, and which he knew must act as the strongest excitement of their ingenuity. Accordingly, he did not apply to the Society for men only of scriptural attainments, but for experienced and useful mechanics, who could" instruct the natives in cultivating their ground, building their houses, and regulating the whole system of their internal and external economy. The choice made by the Society of the persons sent out for this purpose was judicious and correct. The two mechanics who had been selected by them were men of regular and religious habits, and indefatigable industry; the one an excellent carpenter, and the other a shoemaker, who had been previously instructed, at the expense of the Society, in the mode of dressing flax; a species of which plant abounds in the island, and is much valued by the inhabitants, but whose mode of preparing it is of course much inferior to that practised in Europe. Mr. Kendall, who acted as schoolmaster, an employment of much consequence to the success of the mission in this island, was a man every way qualified for his situation. He joined to mild and persuasive manners a stock of useful knowledge, which he had the happy art to impart without appearing rigorous or severe; and above all, was impressed with a strong sense of the importance of religion, the duties of which he strenuously endeavoured to inculcate in others, while, punctually observant, he always took care to discharge them himself. Such were the men whom

the Society provided as the guides and instructors of this people. Mr. Marsden, rightly judging that supplying the wants of the natives gratuitously would be attended with an exorbitant expense to the Society, and rather retard than promote the grand object of civilization, purchased the vessel to excite a spirit of trade among them, and afford them continual opportunities of exchanging the valuable productions of their island for some of our commodities."

After much earnest importunity, Marsden obtained leave of absence from the Governor; who told him he did not think himself justified in granting him permission to venture his life in so dangerous an enterprise. At his instance, Governor Macquarie made Mr. Kendall a Magistrate in New Zealand, and conferred an authority of a like nature upon the two chiefs who were to accompany him.

On the 28th of November 1814, the brig Active, of 110 tons, left the heads of Sydney harbour, having on board, besides the ship's crew, Marsden, the three missionaries and their families, Mr. Nicholas, and eight New Zealanders. Strange to say, they were accompanied by three male convict servants; security for whose return to New South Wales in three years was given by Messrs. Marsden and Kendal. Two escaped convicts, who did not creep from their hiding-place until far from land, were also among the passengers, and escaped to the shore before the departure of the brig from New Zealand. Horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, goats, cats, and dogs, gave the small ship an ark-like appearance.

On the morning of the 16th of December, they sailed past the Three Kings and Cape Maria Van Diemen, and anchored on the coast some days after. Between this time and the latter end of February

PURCHASE OF A SITE.

1815, they visited the coast in different places, and "explained to the chiefs the objects of the mission, and that the arts of civilization would be introduced among them, and their Condition bettered by being taught the culture of wheat and other grain;" 31 on which they expressed a great willingness to see such a state of things. A spot near the Bay of Islands was then selected, and bought of the natives to whom it belonged. Two parchment deeds, which had been prepared in Sydney, were filled up with the boundaries of the land in question, which consisted of about 200 acres, and for which twelve axes were given as payment. The moko, or fac-simile of the tattooing on the face of the vendors, was drawn upon the deeds, and, with the addition of the vendor's mark, served as the ratifying symbol of the agreement. The deeds were witnessed by Messrs. Kendall and Nicholas on the part of the purchasers, and by a native carpenter, who drew the moko of one of his cheeks, on the part of the natives. The native who had ratified the deed and his brother, to whom the land belonged, now declared the ground to be tapu to all but the White people; and the natives were not allowed to enter it without the concurrence of the missionaries. This most curious document, probably the first written contract of any kind that was ever made between a White man and a New Zealander, and certainly the first conveyance of land in New Zealand ever executed, is supposed to exist in the Missionary House in London. An exact copy is given by Mr. Nicholas, from whose pages I have transcribed it: –

"Know all men to whom these presents shall come, that I, Ahoodee O Gunna, King of Rangee Hoo, in

the Island of New Zealand, have, in consideration of twelve axes to me in hand now paid and delivered by the Reverend Samuel Marsden, of Parramatta, in the territory of New South Wales, given, granted, bargained, and sold, and by this present instrument do give, grant, bargain, and sell unto the Committee of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, instituted in London, in the kingdom of Great Britain, and to their heirs and successors, all that piece and parcel of land situate in the district of Hoshee, in the Island of New Zealand, bounded on the south side by the Bay of Tippoona and the town of Ranghee Hoo, on the north side by a creek of fresh water, and on the west by a public road into the interior; together with all the rights, members, privileges, and appurtenances thereunto belonging: To have and to hold, to the aforesaid Committee of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, instituted in London, in the kingdom of Great Britain, their heirs, successors, and assigns for ever, clear and freed from all taxes, charges, impositions, and contributions whatsoever, as and for their own absolute and proper estate for ever:

"In testimony whereof, I have, to these presents thus done and given, set my hand, at Hoshee, in the Island of New Zealand, this twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of Christ One thousand eight hundred and fifteen.
Signatures to the grant,
THOMAS KENDALL.
J. L. NICHOLAS."

It is worthy of remark, that during this preliminary expedition, Marsden had to restrain the agricultural ardour of his subordinates. Nicholas says, "We walked over a large extent of level ground directly opposite

WISE BENEVOLENCE OF MARSDEN.

the entrance of the harbour, and offering one of the most inviting situations of any that we had yet seen for building a town upon; and will, I doubt not, should the mission succeed, be eventually its principal settlement. The missionaries evinced a strong desire to fix themselves here in preference to Rangehoo, where the ground being so hilly and steep, the extent of their agricultural labours must necessarily be circumscribed, and confined to a few interjacent spots. But Mr. Marsden was averse to this measure; judging very properly, that they should rather consult their sphere of usefulness to others, than that circle which would be most advantageous to themselves."

On the 28th of February 1815, Marsden returned to New South Wales, having left the missionaries busy at their work.

Wise as he was good, his plans were not confined to the sole teaching of the Gospel, unaided by humanizing civilization or institutions compatible with the subordination of ranks, which tradition and long association had robed with respect in the simple mind of the New Zealander. We have seen that he procured the appointment of two high chiefs of the tribe among which the missionaries were to begin their labours, as Magistrates, together with the person who was to head the mission; and thus introduced the great change under provisions the most favourable for its continuance, and the most agreeable for its manner of operation. He combined great moral improvement with a preservation of political institutions. Moreover, he provided that persons skilful in agriculture and the mechanical arts should be attached to the mission: thus combining spiritual with social advancement. He foresaw that, without coincident civilization, Christianity would become to the savage but an empty mockery and form, a toy to te taken up and thrown away at leisure. This was the

wise and comprehensive benevolence of a man who extends his charity to a starved pauper with the greatest care and circumspection; and who lays him in a warm bed, and brings cleanliness, repose, and comfort to his aid, rather than a too abundant supply of mere food, lest the sudden change should destroy instead of saving the object of his compassion. Under the constant superintendence of a Marsden, how beautiful must have been the results of such a system! how healthy, how contented, how grateful would have been the revived patient at the end of his well-fostered convalescence!

Marsden revisited the mission in later times; and some of his letters, dated in August 1819, are produced by Mr. Coates before the House of Lords' Committee of 1838. These letters speak but little of the spiritual improvement of the natives up to that time. He says, "Their misery is extreme. The Prince of Darkness, god of this world, has full dominion over their bodies and souls. Under the influence of darkness and superstition many devote themselves to death; and the chiefs sacrifice their slaves as a satisfaction for the death of any of their friends; so great is the tyranny which Satan exercises over this people, a tyranny from which nothing but the Gospel can set them free." He adds, "We cannot hope for the Gospel having its full effect, according to the ordinary course of the Divine proceedings, without the united aid of the Christian world. Suitable means must be provided for the civilization and evangelization of the inhabitants of New Zealand; and if this be done, there can be little doubt that the important object will be attained."

The civilizing department of the mission had made considerable progress. Marsden says: "17th September 1819. I believe that there is ten times more land in cultivation at the present time, in the districts

PROGRESS – – INCREASING INFLUENCE.

round the Bay of Islands, than there was in 1814, when the settlement was first formed. This improvement in cultivation is wholly owing to the tools of agriculture which have been sent out from time to time by the Society."

Even two years later, on the 10th October 1821, the Rev. R. Butler writes, that "the natives are a proud, savage, obstinate, and cruel race of cannibals; and therefore every missionary has a great deal of heavy labour to perform, and many privations to undergo, before he does anything according to the ideas of the religious world."

The worthy missionaries, however, persevered in their laudable efforts; and soon enlisted the great engine of civilization, printing, in their favour. In 1820, Mr. Kendall returned to England, taking with him the two chiefs Hongi and Waikato. They went together to Cambridge; where Professor Lee, from their pronunciation, reduced the Maori language into a written one, and composed a Grammar and Dictionary. This afforded the means of translating the Catechism, Prayer-book, and Bible, into the native language. The demand for these books gradually increased; and some years later, presses were introduced into the island.

In the meanwhile, the missionaries were steadily gaining a considerable influence over the minds of the natives; and this influence received some support against the lawless White adventurers who attempted to overthrow it, by the occasional appointment of a Magistrate among their body.

The following is an extract from the officially published voyage of the French ship "La Favorite," commanded by Captain Laplace, who touched at the Bay of Islands in 1830. I am sorry to remark, that while

it proves that the influence of the missionaries was great, they would seem on this occasion to have exerted it to a somewhat uncharitable end: –

"The English missionaries at the Bay of Islands exhibit neither the charity which all the ministers of religion profess, nor the generosity for which their countrymen are remarkable towards strangers. My offers and my solicitudes to obtain from them refreshment for our sick were alike in vain; and I am convinced myself, that these preachers of the Gospel, suspecting me of political purposes, endeavoured to disturb the harmony that existed between me and the natives, by insinuating to them I meant to take possession of the bay, and revenge the massacre of Marion." 32 (A French Captain, massacred with many of his crew some years before.)

Various causes combined to nullify, to a considerable degree, the good effects of the venerable Marsden's plans. He was himself restricted by his duties in New South Wales to an occasional supervision only of the manner in which his principles were carried out. Some fearful instances occurred in which the most baneful examples were set to the natives by backsliders among the missionaries themselves. What an impression must have been produced among the pupils by the sight of drunkenness, in one of their head teachers, as great as in the ruffians whose conduct they came to discourage! How strong must be our disgust when we know that another head of the mission had to be expelled by the Society for still more dreadful crimes, which even those ruffians would have condemned! The selection of men to carry on the great work had evidently not been made with sufficient care.

The very provision, too, of men of mechanical and

INDEPENDENCE OF NEW ZEALAND.

agricultural tastes as missionaries at length defeated its own object, when they were no longer under the careful supervision of a wise and disinterested director. These men, calculated to be excellent colonists, became enraptured with the fertile soil and productive climate; and selfishness of a pardonable nature began to mingle with their actions when they became private owners of land, in order to provide a maintenance for their large families of children. As these carpenters, shoemakers, and schoolmasters, too, were left alone without a man of superior intelligence to guide the working of their efforts on the social as well as the spiritual state of a nation, they gradually learned to neglect the respect due to the institution of chieftainship, and to rejoice, to an unchristian degree, in the influence and power which they had themselves acquired.

At length they proposed to found an independent state, of which they themselves should be the prime rulers and legislators. And their teaching, while it equalized all beneath the Book, gradually abandoned the coincident lessons of civilization. On the 16th of November 1831, the letter from thirteen chiefs of the Bay of Islands to King William the Fourth, to which I have before adverted, was transmitted by the Rev. W. Yate, then Chairman of the Mission, to Lord Goderich. It prayed for the protection of the British Crown against the neighbouring tribes, and against lawless British subjects. In answer to this letter, Mr. Busby was appointed as British Resident, and despatched to the Bay of Islands in 1833, by Sir Richard Bourke, then Governor of New South Wales. It appears, both from his own letters and from his instructions, that he was accredited to the missionaries; and he writes his opinion, that "unless a defined and specific share in the government of the country be allotted to the missionaries, the British Government

have no right to expect that that influential body will give a hearty support to its representative."

The letter of the thirteen chiefs had doubtless been suggested by the missionaries; for the natives were incapable of conceiving its purport, and it was the missionaries who proceeded to bring about much stronger measures in November 1835. At that period, a formal declaration of independence was drawn out by Mr. Busby, apparently in consequence of the designs of Baron de Thierry, who had some wild notions of assuming the sovereignty of New Zealand to himself. A circular had been issued from the printing-press of the Church Mission, inviting the natives not to allow de Thierry to land; and the missionaries, as well as the Agent accredited by Great Britain to them, took an active share in procuring the execution of this declaration of independence. It was finally signed by 35 natives, calling themselves the hereditary chiefs and heads of tribes of the northern parts of New Zealand. The document was witnessed by Messrs. Williams and Clarke, of the Church Mission, and two resident traders, 33 and the copy and translation were certified by Mr. Busby, as British Resident. A petition was also brought round to various parties by Mr. Williams, praying for protection against irregular British settlers and Charles Baron de Thierry. This last paper, although signed by many of the Church Missionary body, was signed by them as individuals; and the Secretary of the Church Missionary Society protests, in his evidence before the House of Lords, against their signatures being considered of the same force when unaccompanied by the letters C. M. S.

Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South

MISSIONARY LAND-SHARKING.

Wales, in his Legislative Council, described this so-called declaration of independence, the recognition of the flag, and the other attendant measures, as a "concocted manoeuvre" of the missionaries and their accredited agent. I have elsewhere described it; but have recurred to it here because it forms so important a part of the history of the Church Mission in New Zealand.

Marsden writes with evident gratification of the progress made by the great institution which he had founded 23 years before, and which he enjoyed an opportunity of beholding in a last visit which he paid to the missions in 1837.

It was about this time that the missionaries, seeing the constant influx of settlers from New South Wales, and the probability of a British colony being founded ere long in the country, began to acquire large tracts of land in their private capacity, distinct from those farms which were purchased and cultivated for the purpose of maintaining the mission stations, and instructing the natives in agricultural operations. With scarcely any exception, they made use of their knowledge of the language and spiritual influence among the natives to make these purchases. We have ample testimony, which has been often before the public, both of the large extent of the possessions which they thus acquired, and of the fact that, by means of their thorough knowledge of the language and experience of the native customs, they succeeded in obtaining a more secure title to their land than could be obtained by the greater part of their secular competitors in this early land-market. 34 Mr. Flatt, one of themselves, says that they had begun to purchase about 1832, just after the

letter of the thirteen chiefs to William the Fourth; and he was present at a monster land-purchase, 30 or 40 miles long, made by Mr. Fairburn, one of the catechists. He also tells us of land bought by Davis, Kemp, Baker, Clarke, King, and Henry Williams the Chairman of the Mission. The latter alone had purchased one tract of seven square miles.

Twenty-six members of the Church Mission actually claimed before the Land Claims Commissioners, in 1840, 185,233 35 acres of land, which were alleged to have been bought from the natives between 1832 and 1840. They received an award, in May 1843, of 45,179 acres. But the disallowance of one Land Claims Bill and the revival of the other rendered a revisal of the award necessary. Twenty out of the twenty-six cases were revised, and the twenty claimants received a final grant of 27,280 acres. The six not yet revised contained some of the largest claims, such as that of Mr. Fairburn for 40,000 acres, and that of the Rev. Richard Taylor (now of Wanganui), for 50,000 acres. Among these twenty-six claimants, the Rev. Henry Williams, the Chairman of the Church Mission, appears for nearly 11,000 acres, and Mr. George Clarke, now Chief Protector of the Aborigines, and lay Agent of the Society in New Zealand for 5500 acres. 36

With but few honourable exceptions, such as that of Mr. Hadfield, who does not, I believe, claim a

PROGRESS OF LABOURS.

square foot of land, scarcely one of the servants of the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand has been free from this blemish of self-interest. It seems difficult to imagine whence the funds were procured to pay adequately for these tracts, if the buyers acknowledged in the natives a complete right of property over their whole extent.

The progress of the Church of England missions up to this time may be seen from a table furnished by Mr. Coates to the House of Lords' Committee in 1838. From this it appears that the mission stations were 10, extending over that part of the North Island which lies between the North Cape and Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty; that they instructed 1431 scholars (of whom 94 were adults); gathered 2476 in congregations; and counted 178 communicants. The Wesleyan mission in New Zealand arose from a visit made to that country, in the year 1819, by Mr. Leigh, a missionary of the Society then stationed in New South Wales. He made the visit with a view to the benefit of his health, on the recommendation of Mr. Marsden. In consequence of the observations then made by him, on his return he recommended the formation of a mission in New Zealand; and the Society having adopted his views, he finally embarked at Sydney with his wife, on the 1st of January 1822, for that country. He remained at the Church Mission station in the Bay of Islands until the next year, when Messrs. Turner and White having arrived to assist him in his labours, they removed to Wangaroa, the place where the massacre of the Boyd had occurred, and formed a station there. From this date until the early part of 1827, these gentlemen, with their families, underwent very severe privations, hardships, and dangers. Their life, just like that of the first whaling settlers,

was a continued struggle against the grasping disposition of the many turbulent characters belonging to the tribes of that neighbourhood. They were constantly threatened with the annihilation of themselves and families, by chiefs who said they wanted to receive presents of guns and powder and not to hear books read. On one or two occasions they were very roughly used; and they had made but little progress among these barbarians, when, early in 1827, the famous Hongi invaded the district, and brought with him all the attendant scenes of plunder and bloodshed. The mission-house was sacked by a foraging-party; and the missionaries' lives were only just saved by a providential rencontre with a well-disposed and powerful chieftain named Patuone, who escorted them in safety to the care of the Church missionaries at the Bay of Islands.

In October of the same year, Mr. Stack prepared to restore the Wesleyan mission at Hokianga; and in 1828, Mangungu, on that river, its present head-quarters, was fixed upon for an establishment. Up to 1830, so little progress was made, that the missionaries were under great fears lest the Society in England should determine to break up the mission.

Better days, however, were now near at hand. During the next seven years great success attended the continued efforts of these worthy men; who seem to have kept entirely aloof from the political affairs entered into by the Church Missionaries, and also to have refrained from any private purchases of land. One of their number, Mr. White, was, I believe, the only exception. But he was dismissed from the Society's employment on account of this and other infringements of their rules; and he made or completed the greater number of his purchases and

OPPOSITION TO NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION.

speculations at a period subsequent to his dismissal. It should be borne in mind, however, that the success of his very extensive land-sharking was much promoted by the spiritual influence which he had attained as chairman of the Wesleyan mission.

A printing-press was also introduced, in 1836, into New Zealand by the Wesleyan mission. The Secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society reported to the House of Lords' Committee, in April 1838, that the number of communicants might be stated in round numbers at about 1000, exclusive of catechumens who only attend public worship, and also of children in the schools.

It was at this time that the New Zealand Association commenced its operations, and encountered the inveterate opposition of both the Missionary Societies. Although clergymen high in the Church were among the most active members of the Association; although their plan of colonization combined, on a scale grander than any yet attempted, "the civilization and evangelization of the New Zealanders" which the venerable Marsden had also looked forward to as the joint result of his system, the Secretaries of both the Missionary Societies had been implacable in their enmity to any art of colonization. The principles on which the Association proposed to save the people of New Zealand, a system of Native Reserves which should preserve the chief in his high station among his people, and those on which the intending colonists proposed to further this end by the institution of social alliances with the chiefs, and an amalgamation rendered sacred by the code of honour, were perhaps the wisest and most charitable devices for the gradual amelioration of a barbarous race by kindly and cherishing degrees, that have been known in the history of the world.

The Secretaries of the Missionary Societies were probably unable to conceive or appreciate so provident and truly great a philanthropy. For they refused to accept the assistance in their holy task of a complete Christian and civilized community, with its ministers, its colleges, its churches, its benevolent and highly educated fathers of families, its settlers of high honour and warm heart, its humanizing institutions of all sorts; and, above all, its very minute and anxious provisions for the smooth gliding of these benefits into the very nature and disposition of the savages, so that no harsh innovation or rude shock of change should shatter the rough marble while it was being moulded by a delicate hand into the perfect forms of life and beauty.

The unaided efforts of the missionaries were acknowledged on all hands to be insufficient for the salvation of the New Zealanders, while irregular colonization could go on under the so-called independent government of the chiefs, the missionaries, and their powerless Resident; which, indeed, extended little further south, even by reputation, than the present site of Auckland. Colonization, under the truly great and humane system of the Association, promised all the benefits of Marsden's plans on a larger scale, joined to a power of restraining the lawless obstructors of Christianizing improvement by a powerful and acknowledged Government. Accordingly the Association unfolded all its views to the Missionary Societies, with a perfect right to hope for their cordial concurrence.

In June 1837, a deputation from the New Zealand Association, consisting of Captain Wellesley, R. N., my late uncle Captain Arthur Wakefield, and Dr. Evans, waited upon Mr, Dandeson Coates, the Secretary, on the subject of co-operating with the Church of England Missionary Society. They received the

OPPOSITION TO NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION.

following concise and memorable reply: "That he had no doubt of the respectability of the gentlemen composing the Association, or the purity of their intentions; but that he was opposed to the colonization of New Zealand upon any plan, and would thwart them by all the means in his power."

And most truly did Mr. Coates fulfil his threat. He immediately wrote a pamphlet, charging the members of the Association, notwithstanding the above words, with motives the furthest removed from respectability and purity; and, though defeated in his literary endeavours by the published replies of the Rev. Samuel Hinds, D. D., and of my father, Mr. E. G. Wakefield, both members of the Association, and by that of Mr. F. Baring in Parliament, he set actively to work in other ways.

Mr. Beecham, the Secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, concurred most cordially in Mr. Coates's views. He adduced similar reasons, before the Select Committee of the House of Lords in 1838, for opposing the Colonization of New Zealand. He followed the example of Mr. Dandeson Coates in writing pamphlets against the Association and its objects, and proved himself to be similarly determined "to thwart them by every means in his power."

The Committees of the two Societies passed strong resolutions, declaratory of their enmity to the promoters and supporters of the proposal to send many thousand missionaries of civilization and Christianity among the heathen.

I will view this violent opposition in none but the most charitable light, though many more selfish motives might have conduced to its origin.

It partook much of the paltry vanity with which a comparatively weak horseman, manifestly unable to persuade a young and half-broken steed, poorly fed

and worse groomed, to pass quietly over a yawning and dangerous chasm in the road, should refuse the assistance of a more skilful and able rider, who had carefully studied the progressive means necessary for profiting by the docile temper of the animal, in order to render him as steady and willing as other horses, and as complete in all his paces. The more intelligent man proposes to break the colt in, and to lunge him gently through his paces before even placing a rider on his back; to keep him in good health and generous condition; and points out the means for filling up the chasm so that the road may be smooth. The other would wish to see the chasm filled up, he hardly knows how; but he obstinately rejects the offer of having the colt broken in and cared for before he is ridden, and determines rather to ride him at it, although ignorant of the right way to lift his legs, with a light bit and a weak rein which he can break from at his pleasure. To so much amounts the objection to civilized colonization, as a means of overcoming its irregular predecessor and as a necessary step to Christianity.

The New Zealand Company persevered in the intentions of the Association, from whose ashes they had sprung. The two Missionary Societies, with their extensive ramifications and their joint income of 200,000l. a-year, persevered in the fulfilment of their declarations of hostility.

The expenditure of the two Missionary Societies in New Zealand alone amounted, in the year 1840-41, to 18,118l. 5s. 6d., of which the Wesleyan mission expended nearly 4000l.

From the first period of our arrival in Cook's Strait, we had met with but too many instances of this hostility, apparently delegated with care to the greater

RESULTS OF MISSIONARY LABOURS.

number of the local missionaries, and by them carried out with earnestness during four years, in that part of the country where they only began to preach when we began to colonize. Its prevalence threw a repulsive shade over the whole course of missionary proceedings; for some of the arguments used against the colonists were as unprincipled as they were uncharitable, and as devoid of Christian spirit as they were wanting in manly honour. Apart from this dark stain, the results of the purely missionary system were by no means satisfactory. Besides that the very extensive instruction for which the missionaries really deserve credit was merely religious and in the native language, the chieftainship was destroyed among the missionary tribes, and the political as well as the physical condition of their scholars had clearly retrograded.

I must, of course, except the labours of Mr. Hadfield from these remarks; but even he had steadily objected to their instruction in the English language. And even he was not free from another grave omission made by the missionaries, the Government officers, and the Protectors of Aborigines. Although they professed such warm philanthropy towards the natives, they carried this philanthropy into their social relations with them to a far less degree than the unassuming colonists. The principal teachers under the missionaries are generally their house-servants at the same time; black their shoes, clean their windows, make their beds, groom their horses, and cook their dinner. The missionaries do not admit their most industrious pupils, or the proteges to whom they are most attached, to dine with them at the same table, or to walk when they like into their sitting-room, and hold converse on terms of equality and mutual familiarity. I never saw a missionary or a Go-

vernment officer who treated a native as his brother so entirely as I did E Kuru or Wahine iti, as Colonel Wakefield did E Puni, or as many other "devils" did the chief to whom they had become especially attached.

The uncharitable and intolerant rivalry between the two sects, almost threatening a religious war between actual brothers, was an equally repulsive feature in the view.

Generally, the missionary converts might be likened to a family of poor labourers, to whom their landlords should have extended the routine charity of tracts, encouraging the children to scorn the authority of their parents if they could more quickly learn the contents by rote. To crown all, the miserable paupers, in this state of domestic anarchy, with their memories full of texts from the Bible while their stomachs are craving for food, and their limbs shivering, undefended by filthy rags from the weather which penetrates through their ruinous hut, are then only admitted to the companionship of their scanty benefactor as menials.

Such was the narrow benevolence which the missionaries maintained against one which provided more amply for the whole necessities of the case.

Next to be considered is the system adopted by the local Government towards the natives. Although it could hardly be called a system at all, it leaned rather towards the missionary principles than towards a more enlarged philanthropy.

In order to obtain a government at all, the first Governor threw himself unreservedly into the hands of the Reverend Henry Williams and the other missionaries at the Bay of Islands. They were, without a doubt, the authors and interpreters of the Treaty of Waitangi, on which are founded all the relations between the Government and the natives, and which

TREATY OF WAITANGI.

distinctly follows out the same views as the string of measures described as a "concocted manoeuvre" by Sir George Gipps. It treads closely on the heels of the letter of the 13 chiefs, the so-called Declaration of Independence by 35 chiefs, and the recognition of the national flag. It still seems to consider the small peninsula north of the isthmus between Auckland and Manukau as New Zealand to the world, just as it had been New Zealand to the missionaries for 26 years.

The translation of this famous Treaty, which is given officially to the world, is as follows: –

"Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, regarding with her royal favour the native chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, and anxious to protect their just rights and property, and to secure to them the enjoyment of peace and good order, has deemed it necessary, in consequence of the great number of her Majesty's subjects who have already settled in New Zealand, and the rapid extension of emigration both from Europe and Australia which is still in progress, to constitute and appoint a functionary properly authorized to treat with the aborigines of New Zealand for the recognition of her Majesty's sovereign authority over the whole or any part of those islands. Her Majesty, therefore, being desirous to establish a settled form of civil government, with a view to avert the evil consequences which must result from the absence of the necessary laws and institutions, alike to the native population and to her subjects, has been graciously pleased to empower and authorize me, William Hobson, a Captain in her Majesty's Royal Navy, Consul and Lieutenant-Governor of such parts of New Zealand as may be, or hereafter shall be, ceded to her Majesty, to invite the confede-

rated and independent chiefs of New Zealand to concur in the following articles and conditions.

"Article 1. The chiefs of the confederation of the united tribes of New Zealand, and the separate and independent chiefs who have not become members of the confederation, cede to her Majesty the Queen of England, absolutely and without reservation, all the rights and powers of sovereignty which the said confederation or individual chiefs respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or to possess over their respective territories as the sole sovereigns thereof.

"Article 2. Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, and to the respective families and individuals thereof, the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess, so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession; but the chiefs of the united tribes and the individual chiefs yield to her Majesty the exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as the proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate, at such prices as may be agreed upon between the respective proprietors and persons appointed by her Majesty to treat with them on that behalf.

"Article 3. In consideration thereof, her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the natives of New Zealand her royal protection, and imparts to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects." "(Signed) W. HOBSON, Lieutenant-Governor.

"Now, therefore, we, the chiefs of the confederation of the united tribes of New Zealand, being assembled in congress at Victoria in Waitangi, and

TREATY OF WAITANGI.

we, the separate and independent chiefs of New Zealand, claiming authority over the tribes and territories which are specified after our respective names, having been made fully to understand the provisions of the foregoing Treaty, accept and enter into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof. In witness of which we have attached our signatures or marks at the places and dates respectively specified.

"Done at Waitangi this 6th day of February in the year of our Lord 1840."
(512 signatures.)

The greater part of these complicated and formal expressions could not be translated into Maori, which had no words to express them. Here follows an exact and literal translation of the Maori version which is also published officially: –

"Here's Victoria the Queen of England, in her gracious remembrance towards the Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand, and in her desire that their Chieftainships and their lands should be secured to them, and that obedience also should be held by them, and the peaceful state also, has considered it as a just thing to send here some Chief to be a person to arrange with the native men of New Zealand, that the Governorship of the Queen may be assented to I by the native Chiefs in all places of the land and of I the islands. Because, too, many together are the men of her tribe who have sat down in this land and are coming hither.

"Now, it is the Queen who desires that the Governorship may be arranged that evils may not I come to the native man, to the White who dwells lawless.

"There! Now the Queen has been good that I

should be sent, William Hobson, a Captain in the Royal Navy, a Governor for all the places in New Zealand that are yielded now or hereafter to the Queen; she says to the Chiefs of the Assemblage of the Tribes of New Zealand and other Chiefs besides, these laws which shall be spoken now.

"Here's the first. – Here's the Chiefs of the Assemblage and all the Chiefs also who have not joined the Assemblage mentioned cede to the utmost to the Queen of England for ever continually to the utmost the whole Governorship of their lands.

"Here's the second. – Here's the Queen of England arranges and confirms to the Chiefs, to all the men of New Zealand, the entire Chieftainship of their lands, their villages, and all their property. But here's the Chiefs of the Assemblage, and all the Chiefs besides, yield to the Queen the buying of those places of land, where the man whose the land is shall be good to the arrangement of the payment which the buyer shall arrange to them who is told by the Queen to buy for her.

"Here's the third. – This, too, is an arrangement in return for the assent to the Governorship of the Queen. The Queen of England will protect all the native men of New Zealand. She yields to them all the rights one and the same as her doings to the men of England.

"(Signed) W. HOBSON, Lieutenant-Governor.

"Now, here's we, here's the Chiefs of the Assemblage of the Tribes of New Zealand, who are congregated at Waitangi; here's we, too, here's the Chiefs of New Zealand who see the meaning of these words, we accept, we entirely agree to all. Truly, we do mark our names and marks.

"This is done at Waitangi, on the six of the days

TREATY OF WAITANGI.

of February, in the year One thousand eight hundred and four-tens of our Lord."

Even to express this more simple agreement in the simple tongue of the savages, the writer of the Maori version had to coin several words, such as have been coined by the missionaries in the translation of the Bible. They are words which were before unknown to the native, and therefore not existing in his language. A native, in reading them, would, as nearly as is possible to him, approach to an English pronunciation of the English words; but his appreciation of their meaning would depend entirely upon the explanation made to him at the time of the English word which he had thus attempted to pronounce. Thus,
Wikitoria stands in the treaty for Victoria;
Kuini " " " " Queen;
Ingarani,, " " England;
Nu Tirani " " " " New Zealand;
Wiremu Hopihona " " " " William Hobson;
Kapitana " " " " Captain;
Roiara Nawi " " " " Royal Navy;
Kawana " " " " Governor; and
Pepuere " " " " February.

Two important words, Rangatiratanga and Kawanatanga, also require some explanation. The termination tanga and some variations of it are used in the Maori language to produce the abstract notion of any noun or verb to which they are added; thus answering to our ing, ness, ship, hood, &c. For example, hoko is Maori for "to buy" – hokonga, for "buying; " toa, "brave" – toanga, "bravery;" haere, "to go" – haerenga, "going" or "journey;" tamariki, "child" – tamarikitanga, "childhood;" mate, "sick" – matenga, "sickness." Rangatira is Maori for "Chief," and Rangatiratanga is therefore truly rendered 'Chief-

tainship." Kawanatanga is an adaptation of the same rule to the word Kawana, which had itself been coined from the English "Governor;" and therefore it is truly rendered by "Governorship." But the natives could have had, at the time of the Treaty, only very vague ideas as to the meaning of the English word "Governor" which they nearly pronounced. In the Treaty itself, they were told that Hopihona was a Kawana. Without very full explanation, Kawanatanga must therefore have represented to their ideas neither more nor less than "Hobsonness." Even to this day, in Cook's Strait, where the Governor has rarely been seen, the natives invariably call every Police Magistrate and the Land Commissioner, Kawana; and the Protectors of Aborigines, Kawanas for the Maori.

Fully to understand the value of this contract, the circumstances under which it was procured must be kept in view. Captain Hobson's commission was read at Kororareka, in the Bay of Islands, on the 30th of January, the day of his arrival. On the 5th of February, he presented the Treaty to an assembly of the natives of the Bay of Islands; and on the 6th it was signed by 46 chiefs. On the 12th, he met the natives of the Hokianga; and 56 more chiefs signed the treaty. In March, Mr. Shortland, Captain Symonds, and four missionaries, were appointed to secure the adherence of the chiefs of the northern islands to the treaty. One of the missionaries deputed his colleague, Mr. Chapman, and the master of a coasting trader, named Fedarb, to obtain signatures. Copies of the Treaty were thus dispersed about the Northern Island. Some of the chiefs refused to sign it; but at last, between the 6th of February and the 3rd of September, 512 signatures

TREATY OF WAITANGI.

were obtained. Of these signatures, upwards of 200 were those of the chiefs inhabiting the peninsula north of the harbour of Manukau and the estuary of the Thames; leaving only 300 to represent the inhabitants of more than three-fourths of the North Island. There is no evidence whatever that the assent of the powerful and warlike tribes of the interior, in the upper valleys of the Waipa and Waikato, around Lake Taupo and the Rotorua lakes, was ever asked; certainly it was never obtained. The greater part of the signatures were obtained at flying visits, and after one or at most two interviews. Presents of blankets and tobacco were made to the chiefs who signed; and there cannot exist a doubt that to obtain these presents was with many the motive for signing.

Having not even the name of Governor or Government in their language, it may be supposed that the natives had no very precise or definite ideas of government; a thing unknown in fact to their institutions. Having no collective name for their own country, it may be supposed that they had no distinct idea of different countries, of national distinctions, and therefore none of foreign relations. There is no evidence that adequate means were taken to explain those large and novel ideas to them, so necessary to the proper understanding, not only of any treaty, but even of what a treaty is. Captain Symonds had been only a few months in New Zealand, knew but little of the language, and had not the benefit of the assistance as interpreter of the missionary at Manukau, who was absent; and it may be doubted whether Mr. Fedarb, the master of the trading-vessel (who from his name appears not to have been an Englishman), was capable of understanding the treaty,

much less of explaining it to the natives. It was obvious, from these considerations, that the framers of the Treaty purposed to bind the natives to conditions which there were not even the words to convey. And, on the other hand, they accepted of signatures from those who could not know to what they were putting their hands, and professed to the White settlers to have procured a valid adhesion to the compact.

The Treaty, thus obtained, was overridden by the Governor and his deputy before it was completed. On the 25th of April, Captain Hobson despatched Major Bunbury, in the Queen's ship Herald, "to such places as you may deem most desirable for establishing her Majesty's authority throughout these islands – namely, that which is called Stewart's Island, Middle Island, (marked on the charts Tavai Poenamoo,) and such part of the Northern Islands as may not already have been ceded to the Queen." Major Bunbury soon dispensed with the preliminary form of obtaining signatures to the treaty. He landed in a harbour of the Southern Island, on the 4th of June; and not meeting with any inhabitants there, he on the 5th, "in the probability of not meeting any natives, deemed it advisable the same day to proclaim the Queen's authority over the islands; for which purpose, a party of marines were landed from the ship, and the usual forms complied with." The declaration of sovereignty attributes the title of the Crown to Captain Cook's discovery. Subsequently, Major Bunbury obtained the signatures of a very few chiefs, not head chiefs, on the Middle Island; and on the 17th of June he proclaimed the British sovereignty. It is true, the official declaration bears the words "having been ceded in sovereignty by the

CONFLICTING SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT.

several independent chiefs:" but this being a simple untruth, it has passed for nothing; and in fact it is admitted on all hands that the Treaty of Waitangi has no application to the Middle Island. But that is not all. Governor Hobson did not wait till he had obtained his 512 signatures, to proclaim the Queen's sovereignty over New Zealand. On the 21st of May, when Governor Hobson had only obtained the signatures of the chiefs of the Bay of Islands, Hokianga, Kaitaia, and Manukau, (if indeed he had then received the signatures from the last-named,) he proclaimed the Queen's sovereignty over the North Island.

The Treaty of Waitangi has been truly described by the House of Commons' Committee of last year as "little more than a legal fiction."

The succeeding acts of the Government towards the native population were akin to this first step in imbecility. Still guided by the all-powerful missionaries in the person of Mr. Clarke, they had insisted upon the interpretation of that part of the Treaty which related to the lands of the natives, according to the complicated and intricate rights of property which prevail in the oldest and most civilized state, although these were surely more incomprehensible to the natives than are even their vague ideas on the subject to ourselves. But they had constantly remained in doubt as to the bearing and effect of that clause which related to the subjection of the natives to the sovereign dominion of Great Britain. Vacillating, feeble, and uncertain, guided by no sound or consistent principle, and unassisted by a single man of really enlarged and unshackled mind, the Government had now enforced the Treaty with the utmost rigour in one or two instances; in others had only vainly threatened to do so; and in some had even

denied its own right to take any such course. Without making exceptional laws in favour of the natives, according to a wise suggestion of the New Zealand Association, contained in Mr. Baring's Bill of 1838, the Government, had preferred to allow individuals among them to become, as it suited their own pleasure, exceptions to the laws actually in existence, to which they were falsely supposed to be yielding obedience. And from the first riots in the Bay of Islands in 1840 to the Wairau massacre, and to the recent stamping on the constables in Pipitea pa, there had been numerous proofs of the nonentity of the Treaty in this respect, whether by the connivance, the timidity, or the sheer incapacity of the Government by whom it had been originated.

Of course, this tangled web of imbecility clashed violently with the efforts of the Company and of the colonists to adopt a more extended philanthropy. As the Colonial Office was prompted by the influential Missionary Societies at home in its unreasonable war upon the Company, so the missionaries and the Government officers in the colony were leagued against the Agents of the Company and the settlers who had come out under its auspices. The noble system of Reserves was smothered in its birth, and a schoolboy son of Mr. Clarke sent to protect the natives from the wild projects of their would-be benefactors. And then the effects were laughed at, and held up to scorn as the results of the system of the Company and their settlers. This was but a poor apology for the total want of such provisions in the settlements of the Government.

If a chieftain was favourable to the plans of the colonists, like Warepori or E Puni, he was degraded by the neglect of the authorities, and his claim to land or chieftainship was considered little or none. But if,

CONFUSION PRODUCED IN NATIVE MINDS.

like Wero Wero or Rauperaha, he seemed likely to become a thorn in the side of the young colony, and shone forth as one of those turbulent spirits whom, under the proposed institutions, the united races would have branded with shame and dishonour, and excluded ignominiously from the homage due to worth and excellence, he was straightway exalted as a king, and let loose from all law or subordination upon the "disappointed settlers" of Cook's Strait.

Disappointed they were, indeed, when all their bright visions of sharing a happy home with the grateful objects of an overflowing benevolence faded into one fearful nightmare, in which the unhappy native, taught to believe that he was robbed, cheated, and oppressed, proposed to dispute every inch of a soil which he had only just learned to consider as of inordinate value, against what rankled in his poisoned mind as the intrusion of a ruthless invader.

It was matter of notoriety, that every one of the agents in thus corrupting the gratitude of the natives into jealousy and suspicion towards the honest colonists, had a personal interest in the success of the experimental metropolis in the north, and therefore a corresponding leaning to injure and deteriorate the settlements of Cook's Strait.

The unfortunate native appeared at his last gasp, and as though it would be almost impossible to save him from utter disorganization of body and mind, as attendant on the conflicting effects of these contradictory and rival systems and caprices. He became like a child of ten years old, who should be tormented by the canvassing of three or four candidates of different shades of political opinion, all completely above his understanding, to vote for them at a Parliamentary election. One might recommend the Thirty-nine Articles, and

the Latin protest of Mr. Ward against the decision of the Convocation, to his undivided attention; a second should talk to him of currency and railway legislation; a third of the agricultural and commercial interests, reciprocity duties and the sliding-scale; another of Poor-law Bastilles, vote by ballot, annual Parliaments, and universal suffrage; and some preposterous preserver of pheasants should preach of the promotion of the national weal by the prosecution of poachers! Would not the poor child take them all for madmen or knaves; and rush from the squabbling candidates with a determination not even to learn his ABC, but to stick to his old rocking-horse and humming-top?

It was clear that the Saxon blood of the settlers would not forbear many years longer under the grievances endured by them through this misnamed protection of the aborigines. Under such a system of acrimonious and cankering jealousy fostered between the races, it was certain that at least the sturdy White children, who were daily taunted on the outskirts of the pas by their dark playmates with the weakness and cowardice of their fathers, would grow up with a confirmed hatred of their puny tormentors, instead of a generous eagerness to befriend and cherish them as feeble brothers. And the leading settlers, who had fondly hoped to afford real protection to the inferior race, shuddered lest even in their day the law respecting forbearance of the Englishmen should be exhausted, and the mutual distrust of the races should break forth into a general warfare; which could only end in the more or less speedy extermination of the natives, crushed like a wasp in the iron gauntlet of armed civilization.

Sanguine as ever, they based their hopes in the appointment of some master-mind as the new Governor.

CROWN AND CHARTERED COLONIES.

A truly great man, with unusual moral courage, and extraordinary powers of reasoning, with a wide-spreading benevolence and a resolution too firm to be shackled or controlled by any sinister influence, could alone cope with the difficulties which had accumulated under his predecessor, and during an interregnum which only increased them by its more childish tampering with the question.

Some faint conjectures were thrown out that a man of note as a statesman might be intrusted with the responsible task. But the small amount of the salary and the inferior grade of the office were pointed out as obstacles to such an arrangement. The infant colonies of Great Britain, in whose commencement more talent is required than in their management as more established communities, are placed under the charge of a petty officer with low salary. Yet it would seem a very reasonable proposal that the task of drawing the plans and laying the foundations of the building should be intrusted to a well-paid and experienced architect, while the subsequent filling up of the frame might be confided to a master-bricklayer, who should require less salary and have less onerous duties of calculation to perform.

In former times, great men, such as Lord Baltimore and Penn, were found willing to undertake the charge of infant colonies. Those chartered colonies carried out all the elements of self-government, and the Governor, although poorly paid in money, retained his place by the respect and affection of his subjects; so that a noble ambition was called forth, and those who excelled among the colonists were proud to be, as it were, their patriarchs. But under the present system of Crown Colonies, it is hardly to be expected that men of mark should aspire to an ill-paid office,

which they are to hold not on the good will of those governed but on the caprice of an irresponsible bureau at a distance of 16,000 miles.

The list of likely men for the appointment was eagerly discussed. It was hoped that some man like Captain Grey, the Governor of South Australia, who had published to the world an admirable Essay on the true humanity to be observed in bringing savage nations under British law, might be selected. Although the details of Captain Grey's proposed system are adapted only to the less-nurtured savage of Australia, in its leading principles the Essay is a most statesmanlike view of the necessary course to be pursued with any variety of savage tribe. 37

With a Governor mildly yet firmly gathering the whole native population under the undoubted pale of British law by such a system; with a well-regulated church of high-minded missionaries like Mr. Hadfield, whose main object should be to unite the two races in one flock as under one law; and with a full, vigorous, and unimpeded revival of the system of Native Reserves and honour to the fading chieftainship; it seemed just possible that the union of all classes of White men in a wisely organized and strenuous effort might yet save the aboriginal population.

Captain Fitzroy's name was sometimes mentioned. But that officer was known to be so thoroughly prejudiced in favour of the narrow philanthropy of the

PREJUDICES OF CAPTAIN FITZROY.

pure missionary system, unmingled with the concurrent benefits of civilization, that such an appointment was looked upon as probably subversive of the last hope for the natives. I remember one morning hearing several of the best and bravest settlers, collected in Colonel Wakefield's house, agree, "that when they heard Fitzroy was Governor, it would be time to pack up their things and go."

30 Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand, performed in the years 1814 and 1815, in company with the Rev. Samuel Marsden, Principal Chaplain of New South Wales, by John Liddiard Nicholas, Esq., in 2 vols., London, 1817.

31 Nicholas's Evidence before the House of Lords' Committee, on the 3rd of April, 1838, p. 4.

32 Voyage de la Favorite, tome iv. page 35.

33 Mr. Clendon, the fortunate vendor of the site for Russell to the New Zealand Government in 1840; and Mr. Gilbert Muir, another large land-shark.

34 Evidence of Mr. Flatt before the House of Lords' Committee of 1838, on New Zealand. Also that of Mr. John Blackett, before the House of Commons' Committee of 1840, on New Zealand.

35 This is over and above 11,607 acres claimed for the Church Missionary Society.

36 By some further change in the laws relating to land-claims, made by the present Governor Captain Fitzroy, nearly all these large claims have been acceded to in full; and the most recent New Zealand Government Gazettes contain official announcements that the Crown grants for the full amount lie at the Land Office. Among the new grants thus announced, are those of Mr. Clarke, Mr. Fairburn, the Rev. Henry Williams, and the Rev. Richard Taylor, to the aggregate amount of more than 100,000 acres.

37 Report upon the best Means of promoting the Civilization of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Australia, by G. Grey, Captain 83rd Regiment, commanding Australian Expedition. This paper was recommended by Lord John Russell to the attention of Governor Hobson, in December 1840; and was printed at page 43 of Correspondence relative to New Zealand, in pursuance of an Order of the House of Commons, on the 11th of May 1841.

CHAPTER XVIII

CHAPTER XVIII

News of the appointment of Governor Fitzroy – Modified agreement between the Company and Lord Stanley – Expedition of H. M. S. North Star – Negotiations for the recovery of a stolen boat – Letter of Rauperaha – Major Richmond at Nelson – Warrant against Rauperaha and Rangihaeata – Ridiculed by Sir Everard Home – Dismissal of the frigate as unnecessary – Effect of impunity on the natives – Disallowance of Ordinances – Land Claims Bill – Corporation Bill – The Company's offer to build a lighthouse – Obstructed by Government delays – Proceedings of the Wellington Corporation – E Waho rescued by natives from the Police – Letter of Major Richmond – Conduct of Mr. Clarke junior – Rauperaha's son – False rumours at Otaki – Threatening behaviour of Rangihaeata – Conversation with Rauperaha – His statements – Correspondence – Trial of E Waho – Menacing movements of natives – The Hutt road – Haunts of lawless natives.

THE next day, the 13th of September, the Ursula arrived from England. Among other passengers was Mr. F. Dillon Bell, who had been for some time Assistant Secretary to the Company, but had now emigrated as an agent for many of the absentee owners of land in the settlement of Nelson. He came into the room where nearly the same party as on the previous day were congregated. After the first greetings were over, he said, "By-the-bye, I suppose you know that Fitzroy is Governor!" Some turned pale, others became flushed or bit their lips, and a chill silence ensued; till one, not the least persevering and energetic of the group, said, "Well! five years more of troubles and difficulties! I believe that is the time that a Governor's reign lasts." And he took his hat, mounted his horse, and rode at an angry gallop towards his farm, without

COMPANY'S MODIFIED AGREEMENT.

waiting to hear more news from the country of his birth.

It appeared that the Company had at length been forced to terminate their ineffectual efforts to obtain a fair fulfilment of the original agreement, by accepting a compromise from Lord Stanley. This was, that they should receive a conditional prima facie grant of the lands to which they were entitled immediately on the arrival of the new Governor; reserving always the rights of the natives, which the Governor was, however, bound to define without delay, in a final and conclusive manner. A separate Judge of the Supreme Court was to be appointed for Cook's Strait; and Mr. Chapman, who had received the appointment, was to accompany the Governor. His Excellency was also to have the power of appointing a Resident at Wellington, with somewhat extended powers, for the Cook's Strait settlements. Another provision was, that the Company should exchange their claim to land in the Strait, to the extent of 50,000 acres, for 50,000l. worth of land at Auckland and the neighbourhood; which they were to buy, hold, and colonise, under certain conditions.

Captain Fitzroy had been selected to carry out this modification of the original agreement, which had so long been treated as waste paper both in England and in the colony. The new Governor had been engaged in long and intimate communication with the Directors of the Company; and they expressed a high sense of his honourable character and intentions, and their conviction that he would carry out the modified agreement most beneficially for the settlers, and in the frank spirit of instructions from the Colonial Office, of which the contents were made known to the Directors, and of which they perfectly approved. The Company, under the faith of this mutual reconciliation, had re-

sumed their operations of selling land and despatching emigrants to the colony.

But the new Governor was expected to touch at Bahia, at the Cape of Good Hope, and even at Sydney, before reaching his Government.

Fears were not wanting that the crisis of affairs brought on by the Wairau massacre, unknown before his departure from England, might require too immediate a declaration of policy in one decided course or the other, for the prudent commencement of the reign of any but a very superior man. It was clear that the question would have to be at once settled beyond a doubt, as to whether Rauperaha and Rangihaeata were British subjects or not; and that, if they should be considered amenable to British law as having been parties to the Treaty of Waitangi, their apprehension and trial in the most formal way would be the only course left open. Some even of those who had the most acknowledged right to cherish a lingering wish for retribution, were so far softened as to dwell on a hope that justice might be benignly tempered with mercy, after the dignity of the law should have been duly asserted, even in the case in which its impartial verdict should return the two chiefs as murderers.

A meeting was held for the purpose of forwarding a memorial on this and other important subjects to Captain Fitzroy at Sydney; in the hope that he might come from thence direct to Cook's Strait in order to rectify the critical state of affairs.

Mr. White, who had been appointed Police Magistrate at Nelson, had now written to Major Richmond in confirmation of the former accounts from that place; and Sir Everard, on the sight of the letters, "determined," he says, "to go to Nelson: as I could be of little use there alone, Major Richmond said that he would

EXPEDITION OF H. M. S. NORTH STAR.

accompany me. I then proposed going first to Mana, near to which island is the pa of Porirua; there to see Te Rauperaha, to tell him all that was said of him, and to require him to explain himself the circumstances, and to see how things were; how far fortifications had been carried, the number of people assembled, and the number of canoes collected. The Major then proposed, that the boat taken after the unfortunate affair at Wairau, and hauled on the beach near Porirua, should be recovered. He sent Mr. Clarke on foot to let the tribe know that a ship was coming, and to prevent, if possible, the departure of the chiefs Te Rauperaha and Rangihaeata.

"We sailed next morning, the 5th October, and anchored the same afternoon under Mana. Shortly after rounding the point and opening the island, a canoe passed from Mana to Porirua with three persons in her; one of them we heard afterwards was Rangihaeata. As soon as the ship anchored, I landed, attended by Major Richmond, and Captain Best in command of the detachment on board the North Star. We first went to the whaling-station, or great pa, where we found Mr. Chetham, who had been sent on to join us. We also soon after met Mr. Clarke. He informed us that Te Rauperaha had left that morning at daylight for Waikanae; which must have been a voluntary movement, as no person knew our intentions till the Strait was entered. We immediately went round to the pa at which the tribe was established. Here we found no one on the beach to receive us; and having landed, walked to the huts, where we found a few persons sitting together. Rangihaeata, they said, had fled to the bush. Te Rauperaha was at Waikanae; and, finding nothing could be done, we returned on board."

That same afternoon I reached Porirua, just as the man-of-war's boat was pulling out, and after Mr. Clarke and Mr. Chetham (the Clerk of the Bench) had gone on to the northward. As I rode through the steep potato-grounds leading off the beach into the woods towards Pukerua, I saw on either side of the path about 200 natives, who had run from the village, sitting on the skirts of the bush, ready to disappear in case of any offensive operations. Rangihaeata was sitting in the midst of one of the groups. Some of them called to me; but I rode steadily on, as I had no knowledge of the intentions of the expedition.

I slept at Pukerua; and soon after starting in the morning, saw the frigate come under all sail round the point, making for Kapiti. Having a message to deliver to Mr. Hadfield, I rode up to his house at Waikanae, just as she was coming to an anchor off Evans's Island. But a crowd of natives sitting round the gate told me that Rauperaha was with Mr. Hadfield, and he came and received the letter outside the door. I went on to Otaki.

Sir Everard Home says: –

"We were received by the Rev. Mr. Hadfield, a missionary, a gentleman of high character and great intelligence, who living in the pa amongst them, knows every movement, for none could take place without his knowledge. He at once declared all the reports to be without foundation. Having walked to his house, which is in the pa, we proceeded to his school-yard, and the chiefs, Te Rauperaha, and Rere, chief of the tribe inhabiting the pa of Waikanae, came accompanied by about 50 men. I then stated to the chief all that was reported of him, and asked him what he had to say to contradict it. He replied, that far from wishing to continue the quarrel with the Europeans, which had been commenced by them and not

SIR E. HOME'S NARRATIVE.

by him, his whole time was occupied in travelling up and down the coast endeavouring to allay the irritation of the natives, and to prevent any ill consequence arising from the provoking language and threats with which they were continually annoyed by the Europeans passing backwards and forwards. That for himself, he believed them to be lies invented by the White men; having been assured by the Police Magistrate that no steps would be taken until the arrival of the new Governor, or the pleasure of the Queen was known. This account I have received from Captain Best, who was present and understands the language.

"He also declared that they all stood in fear of the White men; and asked why I had come, if it was not to fight with and destroy them, for they had been told that was my intention. I told them, that the Queen's ships went to all parts of the world, and that my object was to preserve peace rather than make war; and he was advised to believe no reports which he might hear, but to inquire into the truth of them of Major Richmond, through Mr. Clarke or Mr. Hadfield. The affair of the Wairau was in no way touched upon. After this, the assembly broke up; and Te Rauperaha being sent for to Mr. Hadfield's house, he was asked to write a letter to the principal person at Porirua, desiring him to give up the Company's boat, which had been taken at the Wairau, when called for. He said, that he had little influence there, but that he had all along wished the boat to be returned; for as long as it remained in their hands, it would be a bone of contention and must cause trouble."

Nothing appears to have been said about the arms, clothes, watches, rings, handcuffs, or tent; although Messrs. Clarke and Macdonogh, who "had visited all

the pas," must have seen them. But these were probably not a "bone of contention," as Rauperaha had them all to himself.

But, to go on with the Captain's narrative: – "Rauperaha asked, if the boat were given up, whether the quarrel would be considered as terminated. Major Richmond replied, that was a question he could not answer; but that, however he behaved about it, he would have the credit of it; he was the chief, and that the Government looked to him. He accordingly wrote the letter, which here follows: –

"Go thou my book to Puaha, Hohepa, and Watarauehe. Give that boat to the chief of the ship; give it to the chief for nothing. These are the words of Te Rauperaha. Your avarice in keeping back the boat from us, from me, Mr. Hadfield, and Mr. Ironside, was great. This is not an angry visit, it is to ask peaceably for the boat. There are only Mr. Clarke, Mr. Richmond, and the chief of the ship; they three who are going peaceably back to you, that you may give up the boat.
"This is my book,
(signed) "Te Rauperaha.
Clarke."

Furnished with this document, they returned to Porirua; lay at anchor all the next day, being Sunday; and on the Monday morning went ashore, and were assisted in launching the boat by "40 natives, all in the greatest good humour."

Mr. Hadfield afterwards told me, that Rangihaeata and the other natives at Porirua had at first been inclined to refuse obedience to Rauperaha in the matter; but that a private message sent by the chief, by land, to say that he understood the ship would

MAJOR RICHMOND AT NELSON.

fight if it were not given up, had brought them to their "greatest good humour."

The North Star now proceeded to Nelson, arriving there the same evening.

The first thing done there was to warn Mr. Parkinson, who had contracted to survey the Wairau plain for the Company, to recall his men, whom he had again sent thither.

The pas of Motueka and Wakapoaka were visited during the two next days by the Captain, Major Richmond, Captain Best, and Mr. White. "Having now seen for ourselves," pursues Sir Everard, "all the points from which any attack was to be expected, and having found all the reports of preparations making by the natives to be entirely false in every respect, the next morning, the 13th, Major Richmond and myself attended a meeting of a portion of the settlers at their request."

And there a scene occurred, precisely similar to that between the Government functionary and the Magistrates at Wellington; except that the Magistrates at Nelson were accompanied by a large assemblage of the settlers, and that their feelings, more nearly wounded, felt all the more acutely the galling treatment of the Police Magistrate and of the Captain of the man-of-war. The landing of any of the troops was absolutely refused; although Major Richmond allows in his report to the Acting Governor that a small military force is "most essential to keep the unruly workmen in awe, to enforce obedience to the law, and insure the preservation of the peace, which certainly cannot at present be effectually maintained."

He also refused to sanction the payments made by the Company towards the erection of a fort; or those which the Agent had made for the absolutely neces-

sary increase of the police force, which was kept by the Government at so small a number, that Major Richmond reports to Auckland in favour of the continuance of those who had been added.

But his whole demeanour bore the colour of believing in a dastardly spirit of revenge in the Nelson settlers, merely because they wished to see the law put in force; and he wished to show a determination to keep such a spirit down.

At length, pushed to exasperation, some one asked Major Richmond, "whether on the departure of the North Star, he would feel himself justified in requesting the Commander of the French frigate to move from Akaroa to their protection?" He replied, "Certainly not; and he considered it would be derogatory to any British subject making such an application."

The Magistrates at Nelson, having heard some more evidence, especially that of Morgan, who relates that he saw the first shot from a Maori kill a man by his side, had issued a warrant against Rauperaha and Rangihaeata for murder; and they applied to have it enforced, now that the authorities possessed the necessary means.

But this was refused, with no small manifestations of ridicule at the idea. The Captain says, in his report, "It appeared that, mistaking my functions as a captain of a man-of-war, they imagined that I was bound by law to enforce any act authorized by warrant from two Magistrates; and accordingly, on the arrival of the ship, having 50 soldiers on board, a warrant was made out for the apprehension of Te Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, and it was supposed that I should have been honoured with the execution of it. Understanding this, I commenced by explaining

DEPARTURE OF THE FRIGATE.

to them how far my authority really did extend; that troops were put on board on the express condition that they were on no account to be landed except for the preservation of the lives and properties of the British subjects; and that I should on no account do anything which was contrary to what my own judgment told me was right. I left them; being requested to state my opinions in writing."

Which he did, as roughly and plainly as he had spoken.

He concludes with some strong symptoms of having caught the "Government fever" during his short stay: –

"On the following morning, I sailed for Port Nicholson, where I arrived on the 16th of October; and I left that place on the 21st of the same month, arriving at Auckland on the 10th instant.

"From all that I have been able to see, I am of opinion that none of the settlements, in the parts of New Zealand which I have lately visited, have anything to fear from the natives, so long as they are fairly dealt with. At Nelson, a force is wanted, not to repel the attacks of natives, but to restrain and keep in subjection the English labourers brought over by the New Zealand Company, who have, I believe, been in open rebellion against their employers more than once.

"At that place, also, the general feeling appears to be more inclined to revenge the death of their friends, than to wish impartial justice to be done; and vengeance and revenge are words that I have heard used when speaking of that affair."

While at Wellington, the officers of the frigate gave a picnic to the ladies at the inn at Aglionby. A ball was given to them in return at Barrett's hotel; and

so ended the expedition of the North Star to recover a boat.

Mr. Clarke junior gave, of course, the same account as Sir Everard Home. In answer to a request for his opinion from Major Richmond, he says: –

"I have the honour to inform you, that I did not observe an unusually large assemblage of natives at any of the above-mentioned places {Porirua, Waikanae, and Otaki), nor have I the slightest suspicion of their meeting with hostile intentions. On the contrary, Te Rauperaha and the principal chiefs repeatedly and pointedly assured me that no effort should be wanting on their part to preserve peace, and prevent the occurrence of anything that might lead to a collision between the two races.

"Under these circumstances, I cannot perceive that there is any necessity for the further detention of Her Majesty's ship North Star in Port Nicholson, as far as the aborigines are concerned."

A short time afterwards, a vessel from Hobart Town, with 100 soldiers, called at Nelson; but the commanding officer refused to land them, having been forbidden to do so unless in case of being actually required to defend the lives and properties of the settlers. The detachment was on its way to Sydney; but Sir Eardley Wilmot, the new Governor of Van Diemen's Land, to whom an application had been sent direct for assistance, instructed the officer to diverge so far out of his way. The vessel stopped two days at anchor in the outer roads, and then proceeded to her destination.

Thus the whole Wairau affair was disposed of, for the present; not as though a successful resistance had been made to the execution of the Queen's warrant, followed by the cruel murder of her Magistrates and their assistants, and the plunder and insult of their

EFFECT OF IMPUNITY ON NATIVES.

remains, but as though a battle had been fought between the two nations, in which King Rauperaha had been victorious, and had followed the customs attendant on a New Zealand victory; and as though Great Britain were glad to end the campaign on receiving from the conquerors a small portion of the booty taken in the battle, and an assurance that peace should be maintained for the future.

So, at least, it appeared to the natives. They became daily convinced that they could affront, harass, or even kill the settlers, and each other, with impunity.

They readily mistook the destructive humanity of the Government for pusillanimity, and the admirable forbearance and generosity of the settlers for cowardice and weakness. They had Wairau and its authorized impunity, with many lesser, only because not deadly, instances, constantly before their eyes. E Ahu, and many other of the chiefs at Otaki, who were most friendly to me and the White people generally, did not disguise their utter contempt for the unwarlike habits of the pakeha, and their total disbelief of the extraordinary powers of the soldiers. With such children, seeing is believing. Some of them would often say to me, "You White people are very good for building ships and houses, for buying and selling, for making cattle fat, and for growing bread and cabbages; you are like the rats, always at work. But as to fighting, you are like them too, you only know how to run. Our children learn to handle a spear or a tomahawk when they are quite young; and all natives know how to fire a gun. As to your people, very few of them know how to load one properly. As for your soldiers, have they got four arms or four legs, that they should be better than other men? If I have got a gun like a soldier, I am as good a man as he,

though I have only a blanket instead of a red coat. And the ships can do us no harm, if we get away from the coast when we see them coming. Thus it began to be their firm belief, that the pakeha was not only timid but powerless. E Puni and many other of the Port Nicholson natives who still remained our friends, often remarked to us, that we were no longer, as they had hoped, a protection to them against the possible attacks of Rauperaha and his followers. They candidly confessed that they did not think us strong enough to resist him. And some among them spoke seriously of removing to Taranaki, or some other part of the country less subject to a sudden attack from their old enemy.

If such were the impressions produced upon the well-disposed natives by the puling indulgence shown to them by a Government spiritless except against its own people, what could be those produced upon such among them as were naturally disposed to support and exemplify the supremacy of brute force over law and order? For, however much may have been said of innocent, harmless, well-disposed, intelligent savages, and their remarkable capacity for civilization, it must not be denied that many among the inhabitants of New Zealand, as among the inhabitants of Great Britain, are ruffians by nature. Under the most complete and humane system of civilization, such savages as were naturally ferocious and depraved, or corrupted by the irregular colonization which had taken place previous to the arrival of the quiet and orderly settlers from England, would have required a firm and unflinching coercion from those most eager to benefit the whole race. Even with a view to the protection of their fellow-savages from the pernicious example as well as the immediate consequences of their barbarian ca-

DISALLOWANCE OF ORDINANCES.

price and revengeful disposition, it would have been the duty of a really humane and humanizing Government to deter such men as Rauperaha and Rangihaeata from the indulgence of their unbridled passions by the most iron-like justice and the most severe penalties.

It was in the end of September that we got the Government Gazette from Auckland, announcing the disallowance by Lord Stanley of the last Land Claims Bill and the Corporation Bill, and also detailing the reasons for disallowance.

The Land Claims Bill had been passed in 1842 to amend the one passed in 1841. The principal reason adduced by the Colonial Office for disallowing the Bill of 1842 was, that it did not provide against an admitted evil, the accumulation of land in new colonies in the hands of persons without capital or the means of introducing labour. The Ordinance of June 1841, like the New South Wales Land Claims Bill of 1840, limited grants of land to 2560 acres, beyond which no grant could be claimed. This restriction was abandoned in the Ordinance passed in 1842, now disallowed. The next ground taken for its disallowance was, that a large body of settlers (the northern land-sharks) had represented that it would be injurious to their interests. The principle of the Ordinance of 1841 was to value the land, to those who had obtained it in times of insecurity, and had expended labour and capital upon it, at a low rate, which was considered just. That principle the Ordinance of 1842 abandoned, and placing all parties upon an equality, fixed a uniform price of 5s. wherever and under whatever circumstances it had been obtained. To the justice of this Lord Stanley could not assent. The Governor was then instructed to be guided in future by the provisions of the enactment of the 9th June 1841; which was of

course revived by the disallowance of the Act which had repealed it.

The legislative wisdom of the Colonial Office appears from the fact that the restoration of the old rates of valuing the compensation and expenditure placed much more land in the hands of the claimants to the north than they held under the disallowed Ordinance, notwithstanding the fixing of a limit to claims. A few large claimants were certainly restricted to 2560 acres; but the great majority of claimants had bought quantities of land under the maximum at periods when their expenditure was allowed to entitle them to an acre for every 6d. or 1s., instead of every 5s. And consequently, the very same claims which had entitled 127 persons to 67,652 acres under the disallowed Ordinance of 1842, entitled them to 72,002 acres under the revived Ordinance of 1841. 38

The Corporation Ordinance was disallowed, because it placed the power of establishing beacons and lighthouses in the hands of the Corporation; and because it vested in the Corporation all unappropriated lands within its limits, with the exception of certain reserves. The objection to the latter power was, first, its being declared repugnant to the Act of Parliament for regulating the sale of the waste land of the Crown; secondly, because it vested in the Corporation property of the Crown which her Majesty had not placed at the disposal of the Local Legislature; and thirdly, because it might be attended with the improvident waste of a large extent of most valuable land.

The first objection came with peculiarly bad grace from the Government, who had always obstructed rather than furthered any of these necessary erections

COMPANY'S OFFER TO BUILD LIGHTHOUSE.

as far as Cook's Strait was concerned. So early as the 5th of November 1841, the New Zealand Company had applied to be allowed to spend 1500l. in the erection of a suitable lighthouse at the heads of Port Nicholson, provided that such sum should be made a charge on the future dues. But Lord Stanley had answered that he could "form no opinion on the subject in the absence of any report upon it from the Governor of New Zealand, for which his Lordship would immediately apply:" and he "suggested to the Company the propriety of submitting to their Agents in the colony, that as often as questions may arise there on which it may be necessary for Her Majesty's Government to decide, such questions should be brought to the notice of the Secretary of State through the intervention of the Governor; since, by adopting any other course, a very serious delay must intervene, which may often be attended with extreme inconvenience to the public service."

This seemed to anticipate delay, and to throw the blame beforehand on the Company, for not proceeding in what he chose to consider the formal manner.

Accordingly it was not till the 22nd December 1842, nearly fourteen months after their application, that they were informed that Lord Stanley had "received a despatch from the Governor of New Zealand, in which he states that he has requested the Police Magistrate at Wellington to furnish him with the plan for the erection of a suitable lighthouse at the entrance of the harbour at Port Nicholson, together with an estimate of the expense of erecting and maintaining it, in order that he may be able to report more fully on the subject."

Nor was this all – the Police Magistrate alluded to was no other than Mr. Murphy. Up to the time when he had to resign his office in January 1843, he had not taken the slightest step towards furnishing the plan or estimate, and the letter of the Governor alluded to had been lying for months unheeded on his table. Colonel Wakefield often pressed him to proceed in the business. I have often urged him to get the plan and estimate made at once. But he invariably shuffled it off with various excuses; treating it as "of no consequence," or "totally out of his province;" or declaring that "he did not know to whom he could apply for the requisite information." His successors in the office probably lost all traces of the paper. At any rate, nothing more was ever heard of the lighthouse; and even in October 1844, Captain Fitzroy discouraged the idea, and had some thoughts of erecting a beacon at the heads instead, which will be of no sort of use in the dark. This had been done long before by private subscription, at the risk of having the beacons pulled down or injured because not protected or authorized by law. The Corporation had never, up to the time of their dissolution, possessed funds to a larger amount than 371l.; a sum quite inadequate to the building a lighthouse, and required moreover for other purposes.

The proposal for erecting a lighthouse at Port Nicholson was thus fairly smothered, like the Native Reserves, by the Colonial Office and the local Government: Lord Stanley taking care that it should have to go at least three times the distance between England and New Zealand, besides four times that between Auckland and Port Nicholson; and the local officers taking care that it should faint on the way: Lord Stanley preventing the possibility of the thing being

WELLINGTON CORPORATION.

done by the colonists themselves; and the Governors taking care not to originate the measure.

The only lands vested in the Corporation of Wellington were, the belt reserved round the town for ornament and recreation, and the land which might be reclaimed from the sea.

The Municipality of Wellington had been in existence nearly a year when this disallowance put an end to its operations. After the death of Mr. Hunter, Mr. William Guyton had been elected Mayor.

They had imposed no taxes during their short term of office; but had been principally engaged in preparing measures for various objects, and in regulating the terms on which the land to be reclaimed from the harbour for wharfs and quays should be let on improving leases. They had originated measures for the preservation of the town-belt, for the formation of markets and slaughter-houses, for the maintenance of roads and streets, and for various other useful local purposes. The members of the Council were most praiseworthy in their attendance, meeting once or twice a week; though one of them had to come about nine miles from his home to the Exchange, where they met at 10 o'clock.

Their funds had consisted entirely of fees paid on the registration of voters in October 1842, amounting in all to 370l. 12s. 6d.

This had been spent as follows: – 118l. for labour in repairing roads and streets; 15l. for the rent of their Town-hall; 50l. for the salary of the Town Surveyor; 42l. 15s. for that of the Town Clerk; 7l. for messengers, and 37l. for constables; 8l. for making up a rate-book; 2l. 10s. for engraving a borough-seal; 5l. 5s. for a large map of the beach frontage; 12l. 12s. for law expenses; and 72l. for printing and stationery from the two newspaper-offices.

They were dismissed just as many of their well-digested plans were about to be brought into operation.

Scarcely two months after the departure of the frigate as perfectly unnecessary, the consciousness of impunity had so increased among the natives, that a repetition of the "very trifling affair" of Mr. Clarke junior took place in the very same pa, under precisely similar circumstances, and with precisely the same performers. The Police Magistrate, apparently considering himself the virtual Governor of the White inhabitants of Cook's Strait, thus familiarly excuses himself to the Governor of Auckland for having employed the troops in enforcing British law upon one of those who considered themselves as only subject to New Zealand chiefs: –

"MY DEAR SIR, "Wellington, 5th Dec. 1843.
"As I have been obliged, much to my regret, to call out the military in aid of the civil power, I take advantage of the sailing of The Sisters to give you a hasty sketch of the affair, lest a garbled account should reach you; but I shall forward it officially to your Excellency by return of the brig, which we look for hourly. On Thursday last, a constable, who was in search of stolen goods, detected some of them in a box belonging to or in charge of a young chief named E Waho; and while endeavouring, with the assistance of two other constables, to take him into custody they were not only resisted, but attacked, knocked down, and otherwise ill-treated, by all the natives who were in the pa at the time. I hastened to the spot the moment the circumstance was reported to me; and as I found the prisoner and his party were still determined to set the law at defiance, and refused to yield to the civil force, I was reluctantly compelled to call upon the military: their appearance, I am happy to

LETTER OF MAJOR RICHMOND.

say, brought them to reason, and I was enabled, without further difficulty, to lodge the prisoner in the new gaol. Next morning, not wishing to cause any excitement by sending the military through the town to bring him before me at the Police Court, I directed the constables to conduct him. They used every precaution; but, when opposite the pa, the prisoner contrived to slip his hand out of the handcuff which attached him to one of the constables, and bounded into the pa; when the whole of the natives immediately turned out, armed, to protect him. I gave Mr. Clarke a certain time to endeavour to get him to go quietly with the constables to the Police Office; but both the prisoner and the rest of the tribe obstinately refused, and I was again obliged to call for the assistance of the military. Fortunately, they were again awed by their presence, and the prisoner immediately surrendered. I investigated the case, assisted by Mr. M'Donogh and Mr. Clifford, without delay; when the evidence was so strong that we had no alternative but to commit him to take his trial at the next County Court, which will be held on the 19th instant. It may be in the recollection of your Excellency, that a Mr. Milne was murdered on the Pitone road about two years since. The prisoner was then suspected to be the murderer; and some of the natives have mixed up this affair with it, while others are indignant that a chief should be made subservient to our laws. There is therefore some excitement in consequence of his apprehension; but it was a matter that could not be passed over, otherwise they would with impunity have entered any house and pilfered it as they pleased, independent of their outrageous conduct to the constables. I have written to all the Magistrates, Mr. Hadfield, and other gentlemen of the mission along the coast, that they may give

the natives a true version of the business; and although those at the Pipitea pa, where the prisoner was taken from, are rather sulky, yet I do not apprehend any mischief, more especially as E Puni, the nearest relative of the prisoner, says he shall not interfere, and will be angry with any native that does. This, it is believed, will be a wholesome check to the natives in these districts, who have, since their unfortunate success at the Wairau, assumed a different bearing, and are certainly not inclined to yield obedience to our laws, which before they never disputed.
"With great esteem, &c.
(Signed) "M. Richmond.
"His Excellency Willoughby Shortland, Esq. &c. &c. &c."

This narrative, correct in the main circumstances, contains some misrepresentations, and omits some important collateral facts.

I was again an attendant at the Police Court; although I felt unwilling to take part in a show of authority which was only now necessary because it had been so long delayed or trifled with. I therefore abstained from taking my place on the bench, and remained a silent spectator.

It was painful to a real well-wisher of the native race to behold the prisoner, guarded on either side by a grenadier with his firelock and bayonet, and glancing angrily upon the crowd of anxious townspeople who thronged the Court. The troops were ready to turn out at a moment's notice; and the Commanding Officer was anxiously looking towards the pa about fifty yards off, as though he expected a sudden rescue, while the Ensign, also on duty, was watching the proceedings

CONDUCT OF MR. CLARKE JUNIOR.

inside the Court. At their termination, the prisoner was guarded to the new jail, about a mile off, by a file of soldiers.

This E Waho was the same native who was identified at the time as having been seen following Milne the night he was killed.

When the stolen things, for which he was committed to take his trial, were seen in his box, clothes said to have been worn by Milne the night he was murdered and stripped were also seen there and identified.

In consequence of this, Mr. Smith, the cousin of the murdered man, who had throughout been diligent in his endeavours to find out and bring the murderer to justice, at the conclusion of the investigation applied for a warrant for the purpose of searching the prisoner's boxes, and the warrant was granted by Major Richmond.

The keys of the prisoner's box were given, at the conclusion of the investigation of the theft, to Mr. Clarke junior. Mr. Smith requested Mr. Clarke to accompany him to the pa to examine the boxes; but he hesitated to do so, and at last acknowledged that he feared for the safety of his life. He subsequently went down as far as the pa, and on seeing the natives, said they were too excited to allow of the boxes being searched at that time. Mr. Smith was afraid that, should time be allowed, the evidence of the man's guilt might be destroyed; but all his entreaties were of no avail. Mr. Clarke's fears overcame his sense of duty. His appearance was described by the lookers-on as truly pitiable, as he shrunk pale and trembling from the task imposed upon him.

Early the next morning, the Maori were seen by numerous and trustworthy witnesses to remove from the boxes the clothes supposed to be the evidence of E Waho's guilt as the murderer of Milne. Mr.

Smith applied for Mr. Clarke to go to the pa with him, and after some hesitation that gentleman refused to do so. Mr. Smith then proceeded with the constables to the pa, and of course was disappointed.

I do not know whether Major Richmond wrote to all the other Magistrates; be neither wrote nor spoke to me on the subject.

The Police Magistrate omits to say that it was their impunity as well as their success, on other occasions as well as at Wairau, which had induced the natives to "assume a different bearing."

But instead of "never having disputed our laws before," he well knew that they had first disputed them at the Bay of Islands only two months after the performance of the Treaty of Waitangi; and that on two occasions, the military had enforced obedience at that place before our laws had been infringed by the natives at Wellington. He knew, moreover, that the conduct of Noble and the other natives at Manganui, north of the Bay of Islands; of the plunderers at Wangari near Auckland; of Rangihaeata at Porirua; of the natives of Maketu and Tauranga; and of the natives of Port Nicholson, headed by Warepori, when one of their number had been found dead; were only the most remarkable among the many cases which had occurred of the cruel results of unpunished disobedience and the want of a respectable protective force.

I rode up to Otaki about this time, with two horses which I had to offer for sale to the natives, they having begged me to bring them some to look at. I had intended to take a dozen mules up the coast, some of a cargo which had arrived lately from Valparaiso, as I thought I could make them useful for carrying flax. But I was told by one of my own natives who visited the town, that Rauperaha had heard of this, and had expressed a firm intention of driving them back.

RAUPERAHA'S SON.

I formed some intimacy with one of Rauperaha's sons, christened Tomihona, or "Thomson." He was a very intelligent young man, who had become much civilized in the course of various voyages in vessels to the Bay of Islands and other places. He had only returned to Cook's Strait from one of these trips since the Wairau massacre, and lived almost apart from his father in the large pa nearer to the house wherein I dwelt. He and his wife were both very neat and clean in their dress and their house. He pleased me especially by being, although unskilful, fearless on horseback. Two old horses had formed part of the stock of the farm on Mana for many years, and now belonged to the proprietor of the island, Mr. Fraser. But soon after the Wairau massacre, Rauperaha had taken possession of them, and they had been conveyed to the mainland in one of the large sailing-boats belonging to his new allies from the Middle Island. He now kept them at Otaki, and his son constantly rode about on one of them. He used to follow over a leaping-bar without any hesitation, though he more than once fell; and he beat a young horse of mine in a regularly-appointed race which we held along a mile of straight beach, to the great delight of the assembled population.

I was going quietly on with my flax-trading, when one morning about the end of December, before I was up, a native brought a strange report to the house. Rauperaha, he said, had come up very early to the large pa, and had stated "that I was reported to be here for the purpose of watching him and Rangihaeata, in order that twenty men on horseback, whom I expected from Port Nicholson, might be sure to catch them." He also said that Rangihaeata had threatened to come and burn the house I was sleep-

ing in, on first receiving the news. I showed the native my rifle and other arms by my bed-side, and told him that I would immediately shoot Rangihaeata, or anybody else, who should attempt to fire the roof over my head. After eating my breakfast, I went unarmed to the pa where the two ruffians dwelt. I was accompanied by Taylor and two or three friendly natives.

I found Rauperaha sitting under the tent taken at Wairau. Near him were his son "Thomson," a nephew of Rangihaeata named E Wiwi, and several other natives. I had hardly begun to deny every particular of the story which the natives had got hold of, when Rangihaeata sprang out of his house in an adjoining court-yard, and made a furious oration.

He was much excited, as though by drink; he foamed at the mouth, leaped high into the air at the end of each run up and down, and made frightful grimaces at me through the fence whenever he shopped opposite to me to turn and run again. He taunted me with being a spy, hiding about inland to watch his doings. He repeated the old question, about whether the soldiers had four arms and four legs that they could take him and put handcuffs on his wrists. He applied the most insulting expressions to the Queen, to all the Governors, and to all the White people. He got to his highest pitch of excitement, when he at length challenged me to stand out and fight him manfully, hand to hand, instead of crouching about in ambush. He roared out his own name, and his known bravery, and his known strength, and his known skill, and his contempt for the Whites as fighting men. All this with occasional interjectional yells, grinding of the teeth, protruding of the tongue,

CONVERSATION WITH RAUPERAHA.

quivering head and limbs, and the usual slapping on the thigh.

It was a complete instance of what he called, in whaling slang, his boo-boo-boo, or "bounce;" and, unarmed as I was, I should probably have thought myself in some danger, even with the fence between us, had not Rauperaha and the other natives continued to whisper to me during the whole time of his harangue, "Don't listen to him! Don't answer! Don't be afraid, they're only words! Don't mind him, Tiraweke!" I looked steadily at him without saying a word; and he at length appeared to get tired, or to be convinced that I would not be intimidated. He finished one of his angry runs by returning into his hut.

I now turned to Rauperaha, and distinctly denied every part of the story which had been reported to him. I endeavoured, but without avail, to trace its origin. We then held a long conversation; Rauperaha taking pains to impress upon me his power, the care which he took of his own people, and the accurate information which he constantly received of everything that was going on in the neighbourhood of the White men's settlements.

To prove the latter assertion, he instanced two cases which, he said, were perfectly well known to him, of murders committed by natives in the neighbourhood of Wellington, and of which the Whites never had any sign or suspicion. The first he stated to have been committed up the Hutt by a native then alive, whom, however, he would not name. He asked me repeatedly, whether any one had been missed up there; and upon my answering in the negative, said that showed how little care we could take of our people compared with that which he took of his. The second murder he described as having been committed among the hills at

the back of the town, by the native who was shot by another in Wellington some months before. He described the whole affair circumstantially, and stated as a proof that the adze with which the deed was done remained with the father of the murderer at a settlement on the main opposite Mana.

He then spoke about the natives living in the town and neighbourhood; and declared that there was not a single one sincerely friendly to us, except E Puni. He named E Tako and Moturoa, a chief of Pipitea, as at the head of an extensive and well-arranged plan, organized at the time of E Waho's trial, for attacking the town, should his sentence have seemed to them too severe; and said that messengers from this tribe had been in constant communication with him as to their proceedings. With his usual treachery, he thus betrayed the plans of the Ngatiawa tribes, his old enemies; but only after they had been unsuccessful, and too late for them to be thwarted had they been carried out, for the trial was to have taken place nine days before, and I did not even know the result. He ridiculed the idea of the 53 soldiers resisting such a combined attack as they had planned; and still more the belief entertained by many people that the natives were Christianized and therefore averse to such doings. He said that the mihanere was only used as a cloak; and that in private they swore at the missionaries as the principal cause of their disasters, and were perfectly ready at any time to sing the war-song with their old fury.

He told me that E Mare, the chief of the Chatham Islands, and another native whom he named, had kept the Waikanae people informed of their plans, and that they, in their turn, communicated with him.

He praised my prudence in carrying arms wherever I went; for, he said, the constables and the soldiers

RAUPERAHA'S STATEMENTS.

had no strength to take care of me here. The Maori all carried arms, and were ready to take care of themselves; why should not I? It was the custom among the Maori chiefs; why not amongst the Whites when they travelled in Maori territory? "Carry your arms," he concluded, "and look about you as you ride through the Porirua bush. You might be attacked, perhaps, by some of your own Ngatiawa people."

He then urged me to return to Port Nicholson, as he acknowledged that my stay caused fears to him and to Rangihaeata. "The reports were true, perhaps – false, perhaps; – never mind; would I go to-morrow?"

I told him I should go two or three days hence, on the same day that I had fixed before this discussion, as I did not choose to be frightened away by threats. I again assured him that I had not the slightest design against him or any other native, as my laws bade me leave utu to be taken by the Queen for her people, and not by the son for the father. But I also told him, that if any one tried to burn me in my house, or to attack me in the bush, I would defend myself with my own hands and do my best.

This was the last I saw of Rauperaha and Rangihaeata.

On the New Year's-day, the Bishop visited Otaki with Mr. Hadfield. Some natives, who saw him arrive at Pakakutu, told me that he at first held out his hand to Rangihaeata, but that Mr. Hadfield informed him of his mistake, and he then turned to Rauperaha, and shook hands with him.

The next day I returned to Wellington. When there, I published an exact account in the paper of what Rauperaha had said to me; as I felt sure that to inform the authorities would only be to have the matter hushed up, and it seemed of consequence that

something should be known about these alleged murders.

A long correspondence ensued between Mr. Clarke junior and E Tako on the one part, and myself on the other. They charged me with reporting untruths, and unnecessarily alarming the community; and blamed me for not giving the information to the Magistrates only. I replied, that I published statements which I had heard from Rauperaha, and I named the other persons who were present; and I explained that I did not wish the matter to be hushed up. Indeed, my letter had elicited several from other parties, furnishing information corroborative of Rauperaha's statements.

The trial of E Waho for theft had taken place on the 19th of December.

From the time of E Waho's committal, great excitement had prevailed among the natives. Meetings had taken place at all the pas among themselves, and numerous strangers had come into the town from places at a distance from Port Nicholson.

At an early hour the Court was crowded with both natives and settlers.

E Waho is a grand-nephew of E Puni, and is related to most of the principal chiefs of Waiwetu, Pitone, Pipitea, and other pas. A large body of natives who had assembled at Pitone had been persuaded not to come over to Wellington, but many others from various places had been arriving for several days before.

The Judge entered the Court, accompanied by the Lord Bishop of New Zealand, who took his seat on the bench. Moturoa of Pipitea, who had been the most violent in opposing the proceedings, and at one time in threatening the Judge, was amongst the crowd; the Judge beckoned to him, and placed him on the bench.

TRIAL OF E WAHO.

Counsel was retained for the prisoner, and Mr. Clarke junior was sworn as interpreter.

After the evidence had been gone through at great length, Judge Halswell charged the jury very carefully. It so happened that one or two of the jurors were men married to native women.

They retired for an hour, and then returned an informal verdict, which they were told by the Judge to re-consider. After an hour and a half more, they returned a verdict of guilty.

Upon the Clerk of the Court, through Mr. Clarke, demanding of the prisoner why judgment should not be passed upon him according to law, the prisoner stated, that the things which he had been found guilty of stealing were not the property of any White man, but belonged to his sister; and as to anything which could be done to him now, he was indifferent. He had been degraded by being handcuffed and kept in jail, and did not care for anything.

The learned Judge said he perfectly concurred in the verdict; and sentenced the prisoner to two months' imprisonment, with hard labour, in the jail of Wellington.

This sentence was received by loud hisses, as too lenient. The Judge directed the usher to close the door of the court-house, and ordered the constables to take into custody any person expressing either approbation or disapprobation.

Upon hearing the sentence, the prisoner loudly complained of the degradation of imprisonment, and requested most earnestly to be killed with a tomahawk. The native Porutu of Pipitea, a near relation of the prisoner, had sent a message to the Judge to this effect at the last sitting of the Court for appearances, a few days before.

The trial lasted ten hours; and the Bishop remained in Court the whole time.

It was now found that the natives contemplated a rescue. Those who had assembled at Pitone were understood to have reached Kai Wara Wara. Dr. Evans rode down to them, and advised them to retire; but they advanced to Pipitea pa. Mr. Clarke junior, and Dr. Fitzgerald, the doctor appointed by Government to attend the natives, tried their influence; but they were both turned out of the pa. A small body of the military were all day close in the neighbourhood of the court, but out of sight; but as a rescue had been threatened in case the prisoner should be convicted, a Serjeant's guard of 25 men were marched out; and E Waho, placed between two constables, not handcuffed but surrounded by soldiers, was marched off to the gaol. When the natives in the fa saw this, they allowed the Bishop to address them; they were about 300. In the morning they fired off their muskets, which they had kept loaded all night, and quiet was restored.

It was afterwards heard, in confirmation of Rauperaha's account to me, from a good native authority in Wellington, that all the Pipitea and Kumu Toto natives, of whom E Tako and Moturoa were the chiefs, with a large auxiliary force from the neighbourhood, were encamped above Kai Wara Wara, on the occasion of the trial, to be ready for action should the verdict be disagreeable to them; and that an order was sent from the confederation to the Te Aro natives to encamp on the hills west of the town (their own potato-grounds), which they however did not obey.

It may be mentioned that the Judge asked E Tako to dinner with him on Christmas-day, and kindly assented to his bringing Moturoa and his wife Martha also to his table.

HAUNTS OF LAWLESS NATIVES.

Mr. Halswell had thus the happy art of blending private kindness and attention to the nearest relations of the prisoner with a strict performance of the public ends of justice.

About this time, the road was finished a mile above the gorge of the Hutt, so that you could ride thither on horseback; and a bridge was nearly completed by the Company over the river just above Mr. Molesworth's large barn and thrashing-machine. In various spots on the lower valley, settlers were daily being driven off land which they attempted to occupy, by the natives living near Mr. Swainson's curtailed farm. The pas there had become the rendezvous for all the worst characters from many of the tribes, as well as for the immediate followers of Rauperaha and Rangihaeata. If an outrage, an insult, or a robbery was perpetrated, it almost always turned out that the culprit was an inhabitant of these villages, or, at any rate, he soon after became one. These fugitives and reprobates, living almost without chiefs or subordination, were contented while they could grow potatoes for the market of the town, with a good road along which to carry them; but seemed resolved to prevent the White, people from entering into competition with them in the pursuit. They were not to be made friends of: missionaries, settlers, and sawyers, were alike laughed at and scorned. Mr. Clarke junior was on one occasion threatened and driven away for attempting to interfere; and they seemed to taint the air, like a loathsome and augmenting dung-heap, in the very path of settlement and civilization.

38 Revised award published in the New Zealand Government Gazette of 6th September 1843.

CHAPTER XIX

CHAPTER XIX.

Arrival of Governor Fitzroy at Wellington – Auckland officials – Levee – Discouraging opinions of the Governor – Public rebuke – Effect – Dispersion of the assembly – Taunts of the natives – Private interview with his Excellency – Accusations – Captain Fitzroy's demeanour – Friendship towards the natives – Captain Fitzroy at Nelson – Dismissal of Magistrates – His Excellency's interview with Rauperaha at Waikanae – Sir Everard Home shakes Rauperaha by the hand – Reflections on Captain Fitzroy's decision – Some account of Captain Arthur Wakefield – Major Richmond appointed Superintendent – Captain Fitzroy and the land-claims – Reasons for leaving the colony – Prospects of the colonists – Of the natives – The only hope – Return to Europe.

ON the evening of the 26th January 1844, just a twelvemonth since Wellington had been graced with the presence of an Excellency of any sort, H. M. S. North Star again entered the harbour, with Captain Fitzroy on board. She had accompanied the Governor from Sydney to Auckland, and brought him thence to this place.

Mr. F. Dillon Bell was also a passenger on board, having been up to Auckland as Agent for the selection by the Company of the stipulated 50,000l. worth of land there. The most important of his arrangements, however, made for this purpose with the Acting Governor, had been overthrown by his successor.

In addition to this, Lieutenant Shortland had been so wantonly insulted by Captain Fitzroy at his first public levee, that he was obliged to resign his office.

Lieutenant Shortland had done but little during his reign of nearly a year towards the good of the colony. His term of office was reported in the Auck-

AUCKLAND OFFICIALS.

land papers to have been principally employed in the management of a speculation for monopolizing the supply of stationery from Sydney to the Government offices at Auckland. Notwithstanding the mischief which ensued from his negligence and callousness of feeling, he will soon sink into oblivion.

Mr. Cooper, another of Captain Hobson's train, and for some time one of the ex officio Legislative Councillors, had proved a defaulter to the Customs revenue, of which he was Collector, to the amount of 2500l.

Mr. Freeman, the only one of their number who could write a despatch, had been taken out of the debtor's jail on "day-liberty" for many months past, for this indispensable purpose. On the resignation of Lieutenant Shortland, Captain Fitzroy had appointed Mr. Freeman to the vacant office of Colonial Secretary. But several of the other officials and leading people at Auckland intimated that their wives would be unable to meet Mr. Freeman's wife at his Excellency's house; so that the office was again taken from that gentleman, and conferred on a Mr. Sinclair, who had made Captain Fitzroy's acquaintance at Sydney, whither he had proceeded as surgeon of a convict-ship.

Immediately on the arrival of the frigate at Wellington, a notice was sent on shore and circulated, that a levee would be held by the Governor on Saturday, the next day, at two o'clock.

Considering the short notice, the levee was very numerously attended. On landing, the Governor was greeted with cordial acclamations of welcome from a large assemblage of the best settlers in the colony. They appeared determined to prove their confidence in his favourable intentions towards them.

The arrangements for the levee were rather undignified; no aide-de-camp, sentries, or constables had

been appointed to keep the ingress through the French window of the large room in the hotel free; and I got jostled in by the eager crowd, along with two or three other settlers, to a spot nearly under his Excellency's nose. He had just done thanking the members of a deputation from a public meeting for their congratulatory address on the safe arrival of himself and his family. He was proceeding to enlarge upon some other topics as I got within hearing; and a general stillness, a sort of chill or damp, seemed to creep over the noisy bustle of the crowd as his opinions were gradually made known. He said that all parties might rely on receiving justice, and nothing but justice at his hands. He then deprecated, in the strongest terms, the feelings displayed by the settlers at Wellington against the native population, of which he judged by what appeared in their newspapers. He stated that he considered the opposition to the natives to have emanated from young, indiscreet men; but he trusted that as they had years before them, they would yet learn experience. One of the first measures to which he would turn his attention, would be the settlement of the land question, which ought to have been settled two years ago. He would send for the Company's Agent at ten o'clock on Monday morning, and go into the question. Having so lately left England, he could not be ignorant of the intentions of people there; none would emigrate to New Zealand unless they believed there was a good understanding between the settlers and the natives, and unless the settlers did all in their power to conciliate the natives, to forgive them, and to make allowances for them because they were natives, even if they were in the wrong. He had great cause of complaint against the Editor of 'The New Zealand Gazette' (the Wellington newspaper), which he had carefully read for a

OPINIONS OF THE GOVERNOR.

long time, and believed to contain most pernicious statements against the native. The natives should be protected. Justice should be done. If in the power of man, unless some unforeseen obstacles arose, which he did not contemplate, he would settle the land question. But, "my friends," continued the Governor, "mistake me not; not an acre, not an inch of land belonging to the natives shall be touched without their consent; and none of their pas, cultivated grounds, or sacred burial-places, shall be taken from them whilst I have the honour of representing the Queen, my Mistress, in this country."

E Tako and one or two other inferior native chiefs were then presented to him. He shook hands with them, and treated them with marked courtesy; he then called upon Mr. Clarke junior to interpret to them that they might rely upon it that their lands should not be taken from them unjustly, but that they must assist the Magistrates to prevent the natives from doing wrong; and that he approved most completely of all Mr. Clarke had done as Protector, and would support him to the utmost in the very arduous duties which he had to fulfil.

Several of the settlers, and among others Colonel Wakefield, were then presented to him by Major. Richmond; and he addressed a few short words of usage to some, and only bowed to others. I followed, as soon as I could extricate myself from the crush, and handed my card to Major Richmond. I had made my bow and had passed on into the crowd on the other side, when the Governor called me back by name. I returned and stood in front of him; when he used nearly the following words, with a frown on his face, and the tone of the commander of a frigate reprimanding his youngest midshipman: – "When you are twenty years

older, you will have a great deal more prudence and discretion. Your conduct has been most indiscreet. In the observations which I made to this assembly just now, I referred almost entirely to you. I strongly disapprove and very much regret everything that you have written and done regarding the missionaries and the natives in New Zealand. I repeat that your conduct has been most indiscreet."

I was so perfectly astounded, that I gained some credit for forbearance, which I should otherwise not have deserved. I looked steadily in the Governor's face while he spoke; and when he had done, walked away in silence without bowing again, and left the room. I walked into the billiard-room adjoining. Two officers of the frigate left the room, apparently fearing lest they should become unwilling listeners to treason, so violently did some of the principal settlers express their feelings. The Crown Prosecutor was sneering at the exasperated party, and reminding them that "he had predicted they would get King Stork instead of King Log."

I again took a peep into the presence-room. It was fast thinning. A large number of the most respectable settlers, feeling that their sentiments were the same as mine, had put their cards in their pockets and left the room without being presented. In a few minutes his Excellency remained standing with only the officers of the frigate and of the troops looking at each other. He then advanced to the open window, and began to address the mob of labourers and others of the lower classes. He preached on the same text. "Live and let live!" he shouted to them; and the labourers cheered vociferously, for they thought he was alluding to a recent dispute about the rate of wages between the employers and the workmen. But

TAUNTS OF THE NATIVES.

when some one in the crowd explained that the allusion was meant as regarded the natives, and when some more clear expressions branded the White population with cherishing unjust hatred and revengeful and oppressive feelings towards them, even this audience melted away, and the Governor was left talking to the winds and a few wondering natives. He then walked across the deserted street and beach to his boat, and returned to the ship without a single cheer or murmur, or expression of feeling of any sort; except when a rude laugh followed the blowing of his cocked hat into the water by a puff of wind.

On Monday I wrote to request a private interview; which was granted me for the following afternoon. In the interval, several of the natives had got hold of the rumour that I had been rebuked by the Governor; and at two or three houses in the Pipitea and Te Aro pas, whose inhabitants had always remained most friendly to me up to that time, notwithstanding the numerous disputes and bickerings between the races generally, they now insulted me, jeered and scoffed at me, because "the Governor had spoken angrily to me, and I had not a word to reply."

Along the beach I more than once met Charley of Cloudy Bay (the younger brother of Puaha, who had been with us to the Pelorus in 1839), and several other natives whom I knew to have taken part in the massacre. They shouted Wairau! Wairau! at me as I passed them. They were in Wellington on a visit, to trade and to see the arrival of the Governor.

On Tuesday I had the interview with the Governor which I had requested. His Private Secretary and Major Richmond were in the room. The Police Magistrate rose to retire, but his Excellency desired him to remain.

He began by telling me, that had he not imagined that I was about to leave town immediately after the levee, he would have taken a less public opportunity of expressing his disapprobation of my conduct.

After reading to me some passages from his instructions as Governor, and from the charter of the colony, in order to show me that he had a right to reprove misconduct, he referred to letters which I had written at different times since the first formation of the colony, and which had been published in the 'New Zealand Journal' of London; remarking that they were filled with sneers and sarcasms levelled at the missionaries; and that I had shown myself, in thus writing, a decided enemy to their proceedings and to religion! His Excellency assured me with great regret, that I had, by these writings and my general conduct in setting an example to the natives, obtained for myself the name of the "Leader of the devil's missionaries!!" at Sydney and elsewhere.

He then told me that my name would be one of several to be struck off the Commission of the Peace; and that, although this would appear in public as a simple reduction of the number of the Magistrates of the territory, it was his duty to inform me in private, that he "considered I had been included in the Commission most inadvertently by the late Governor, on account of my youth and indiscretion, on account of the bad example I had set the natives, and on account of my being known as one of those who entertained an especial hatred and animosity towards them."

He proceeded to blame me severely for having, since the Wairau massacre, worn arms while travelling among the natives who had partaken in that affair, although I had been warned against such a proceeding by the Chief Police Magistrate, Major Richmond. He

INTERVIEW WITH HIS EXCELLENCY.

said that such a course was calculated to encourage distrust and suspicion among the natives, and was, moreover, mere childish bravado; and that he should "not be surprised if on some future occasion they should take my sword from me and beat me with the flat of it, or duck me in a pond, by way of joke."

He then censured, in most unmeasured terms, my letters in the paper, reporting Rauperaha's statements; and added, that he was surprised Mr. Clarke should have been foolish enough to allow himself to be drawn into any such correspondence. He rated me for attempting by this means to excite the feelings of the Europeans against the natives; and ridiculed the idea of "hunting about for foolish stories of skulls in one place and bones in another, in order to alarm people who had not sense enough to treat such reports as they deserved."

He begged me to consider in what position I should have been placed had he chosen to instruct the Attorney-General to file a criminal information against me for defaming the character of the natives alluded to in that letter. He "wished me to know, that if I, or any other person, should write a similar letter, he would not be allowed to profit by a friendly warning, but would first hear from an officer of the Supreme Court."

All this was accompanied with the most overbearing gesture, the most arrogant expression of countenance, and the most dictatorial tone. Even if its substance had been true, I could hardly have endured the quarter-deck manner of the lecture from my own father. It gave me the idea that Captain Fitzroy was taking advantage of his high station to lay aside all the feeling and demeanour of a gentleman.

And at the end of the violent attack he rose, and

wanted to bow me out of the room, saying, "Now, my time is very precious; I've a great deal of business to transact;" and so on. I insisted, in as polite terms as I could, on being heard at least in defence. But I had better have left the room at once; for I was interrupted at every three words, contradicted, browbeaten, unheard, and worse insulted than before. He told me repeatedly, "that he knew his duty and he would do it, without caring for public feeling; that he would not be dictated to; that he came here to govern, and not to be governed;" none of which I had attempted to deny.

I was not allowed to explain how unjust and ungenerous a charge was that, against me in particular, of bearing animosity towards the natives. At that very time, Wahine iti was waiting to hear from me when I was coming to England; as his father and all his family had agreed that, notwithstanding the chance of war, he should accompany me to be educated properly. And the lad himself was only one of those who were now, I am proud to say, devoted to me. At that very time, I was constantly receiving the most pressing letters from the chief of Tokanu at Taupo, who had travelled from his home first to Wanganui then to Otaki, in order to bring me, in state, a present of 40 or 50 pigs, and as many mats, which he had collected for me since my visit to that country. He eagerly entreated me to come to Otaki, where he was stopping with a numerous train; as he wished to consult me on the present state of affairs, and on the subject of migrating from Taupo to Wanganui with his whole tribe (400 persons), in order to join in the benefits of the flax-trade. I must add, that I had established this traffic at Otaki, Wanganui, and other places, at a considerable loss to myself, principally to

CAPTAIN FITZROY AT NELSON.

befriend the natives on a large scale. In short, I am compelled by the charge of Captain Fitzroy to boast, that to no White man in New Zealand would his accusation of animosity towards the natives have been less applicable.

I just managed to tell his Excellency, that I had always intended to resign my commission as Magistrate, on account of his conduct to me at the levee; as I felt that, under such marked censure, I could not claim in that capacity any respect either from native or from White man.

A deputation of the settlers had waited on his Excellency on Monday and Tuesday, with a memorial detailing all their political wants. Except as regards the Wairau question, which he passed over by reminding his hearers "that our countrymen were the aggressors," his promises gave general satisfaction. He especially promised to settle the all-important matter of the land-claims with the greatest possible despatch.

On the 3rd of February he sailed for Nelson, after a ball to which he and the officers of the North Star were invited by the settlers.

He returned on the 16th. At Nelson he had behaved still more violently than here; so rebuking the Magistrates who had signed the warrants against Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, that they instantly threw up their commissions in a body, except one who preferred to be turned out in order that he might forward his remonstrance to England. Captain Fitzroy had made, both at public meetings and at private interviews, the same declarations, that he knew his duty, and that he came to govern and not to be governed. He had branded the whole population, more deeply than at Wellington even, with the name of wishing to oppress

and exterminate the natives. With scarcely an exception, the whole settlement of Nelson had overflowed with the greatest indignation at the treatment, they received. The few exceptions were placed in the vacant seats of the Magistrates. The places of Mr. Constantine Dillon, Mr. Macdonald the banker and Sheriff, Mr. George Duppa, Mr. Tytler, and Dr. Monro, all estimable and independent men, were filled up by some unknown persons, who had fawned on the Windsor uniform of the Governor.

His Excellency had then gone to Waikanae. His proceedings there have been minutely recorded by an eye-witness, Mr. Dillon Bell, who had obtained a passage in the frigate.

I shall be excused for transcribing a document of such length, when I observe, that it is of importance to know the precise means by which the Governor of an English colony on the other side of the world can take upon himself the combined offices of Coroner, Judge, and Jury, in order to decide a case of alleged murder, entirely from hearing a narrative made by the accused party, differing in many important particulars from three or four narratives which he had previously made of the same occurrence to other persons. An intimate knowledge of the facts, as related in this naked statement, is indispensable to every person who takes an interest in the deliverance of both races in New Zealand from the evils with which they are threatened.

Mr. Bell states that his notes are imperfect, but will serve as an outline of what took place, as he put down nothing but what he was sure of having understood. He adds, that his Excellency frequently interrupted Rauperaha to have questions repeated distinctly, besides at those times he has got down; and that Mr.

MR. BELL'S NARRATIVE.

Hadfield still oftener called upon Mr. Clarke junior to amend his interpretation of words or sentences.

"On Saturday the 10th of February, H. M. S. North Star left Nelson, and anchored under Kapiti on the following-morning. It being Sunday, the Governor would enter upon no business, but landed in the afternoon at the pa at Waikanae with some of the officers and myself, for the purpose of visiting Mr. Hadfield, and attending the church. At the pa we found Major Richmond, Mr. Symonds the Police Magistrate, and Mr. Clarke, who had arrived the previous day by command to meet the Governor; two or three settlers were also present, and about 500 natives had assembled. Before going to church, a great number of natives congregated in an enclosure, and went through their catechisms before the Governor; Rauperaha sitting apart on a potato-house, and looking on; Rangihaeata was not at the pa, having declared, that if the Governor wished to see him his Excellency must go up to his place at Otaki. As soon as service was over, the Governor returned to the boat. Rauperaha had joined the other natives at church, probably to get a word from Captain Fitzroy, for he complained of not having been spoken to at first; however, the Governor embarked without speaking to him, although Sir Everard Home shook hands with him.

"The next day it was blowing too hard to land in the boats; so we got on board a small schooner anchored near us, and sailed over to Waikanae. On our arrival, we found that Rangihaeata had come down at the earnest request of Rauperaha; and after an hour's consultation at Mr. Hadfield's house the conference began. The Governor had prepared an address which had been translated into Maori, on board the North Star, by Mr. Forsaith, the Native Protector; and I suppose the delay at Hadfield's was caused by the correction of the speech in both languages.

"About 500 natives had assembled in the square in which they were catechising the previous day, Rauperaha being

seated next to a chair prepared, for the Governor. Rangihaeata at first stood aloof, having, as we understand, quarrelled with the other as to what they were to say; but when the Governor had begun to speak, he came down, seating himself some 20 yards off behind the ranks of natives, who were squatting in a semicircle around us Europeans. Of Englishmen, there were present, besides the Governor and his Secretary, Mr. Hadfield, Major Richmond, Sir Everard Home, and several officers of the frigate, Mr. Symonds (Police Magistrate), Mr. Spain and his clerk, Mr. Forsaith, and Mr. Clarke junior (Native Protector), myself, and one or two settlers, I believe, from Wellington.

"I did not attempt to take notes of the Governor's speech, and what follows is from memory. He commenced by telling that he had come out to govern all classes, native and European: – 'When I heard of the Wairau massacre at Sydney' (he spoke to this effect), 'I was exceeding angry; my heart was very dark, and my mind was filled with gloom.

'My first thought was to revenge the deaths of my friends, and the other pakeha who had been killed, and for that purpose to bring many ships of war, sailing vessels, and vessels moved by fire, with many soldiers; and had I done so, you would have been sacrificed, and your pas destroyed. But when I considered, I saw that the pakeha had, in the first instance, been very much to blame; and I determined to come down and inquire into all the circumstances, and see who was really in the wrong. I have visited Wellington and Nelson, and have heard the White man's story; now I have come here – tell me your story, the natives' story, that I may judge between them.' He then directed Clarke to repeat his speech so far in Maori. When this had been done, as no native rose for a few moments, the Governor directed Clarke to call up Rauperaha to speak; and after a little delay and hesitation, the old man rose and commenced his harangue.

"I was unable to take copious notes of Rauperaha's speech, for Clarke's back was turned to me; and as he spoke very low, and I was some paces behind, I often missed

CAPTAIN FITZROY AND RAUPERAHA.

his sentences. In those cases, however, I put nothing down: what follows now is, therefore, only what I heard well, and I think it is pretty correct, as far as it goes.

"He began by saying, that the dispute which had terminated in the Wairau affair was occasioned by the land not being paid for. When the Port Nicholson purchase was made, only one tribe met; and the natives got angry because a few only among them were applied to to sell and got the payment. The Tory anchored one day off (some place), and Wide-awake wanted to purchase the Taitapu. 39 He (Rauperaha) sold him Blind Bay and Massacre Bay. Totaranui 40 was also sold, and that was all that he disposed of. Warepori sold Port Nicholson, and he and his friends sold Blind Bay and Massacre Bay. He and Hiko sold the land; but they never consulted Rangihaeata or any other chiefs. When Wide-awake came to Port Nicholson afterwards, he claimed places which he {Rauperaha) had never sold. He then was proceeding to state what payment he had received; but the Governor stopped him, saying it was unnecessary to go into that point. However, Rauperaha said he meant it to show why he turned the Europeans off land; and that Wideawake claimed the Porirua district, though he had only given a cask of tobacco for it. As soon as Rangihaeata heard of these sales, he was in a great rage; he was up the country at the time, and when he came down the goods had been distributed. Rangihaeata was at Wairau when a party of surveyors commenced surveying there; he and his party went over to Nelson, and warned the chief surveyor to desist. They also went to Wide-awake's house (Arthur), and had a korero about the land. Wide-awake said he would take possession by force, if necessary, as they had sold the land; and if the natives resisted he would make a tie of them. Rangihaeata said he would never be tied up, even if he should be shot for it. Captain Wakefield replied, that if he resisted the law, he would be shot. The Maori then returned home, and Wide-awake sent more surveyors, Barnecoat and

Thompson, to the Wairau. Rangihaeata came over to Porirua to say the Wairau was being surveyed. Then Rangihaeata and the rest went over to Queen Charlotte's Sound and sent up the Wairau river, where they met Cotterell. (Here I missed some sentences.) When the natives had burned the warre's, they brought the things out in safety. (The Governor asked what natives had brought out the things? Some slaves, answered Rauperaha.) Then Mr. Parkinson's people left Cloudy Bay, and afterwards Mr. Tuckett came up the river with twenty people in the big boat. The natives continued to cultivate their ground, until one morning they saw the Government brig standing up, with Mr. Thompson and the others on board. (Here I missed many sentences.) When the White men came up to where Puaha was, Thompson held him by the hands, and detained him. On arriving at the scene of the fight, Thompson said, 'Where's Rauperaha?' 'Here I am.' 'You are to come with me.' 'Where am I to go?' 'On board the brig.' Rauperaha answered, that he would not go. Thompson then said, 'Come on board to talk.' The natives said 'What is the talk?' Thompson answered, 'About the warre's you destroyed.' Then he {Rauperaha) said, 'I won't go on board. If you are angry, let us talk here now, and again to-night or to-morrow, as the korero is good about the land; but as to being tied up, we won't be made a tie of.' Rangihaeata had yet said nothing. Then Thompson called to the constables to bring the handcuffs, and holding up his hand said, 'Here is the book of the Queen.' Rauperaha said, 'What book? is it a book to tie us up?' Then Thompson spoke very loud, and was in a great passion, and ordered them once more to come on board. Rauperaha and Rangihaeata said, 'We will not obey you.' Thompson said, 'Well then, I will order the people to fire.' Rauperaha said, 'If I am shot, I am shot; but I won't be made a tie of.' Thompson told the constables, who were opening the handcuffs, to put them away, and then called out, 'Fire!'

"The Governor – 'Did Mr. Thompson say 'I will order the men to fire, or did he give the order to fire? – Mr.

CAPTAIN FITZROY AND RAUPERAHA.

Clarke had understood Rauperaha to say, 'Thompson gave the order to fire.' The Governor: 'Ask him again.' Mr. Clarke again repeated his question, and repeated the previous answer.

"Rauperaha continued – He asked Thompson if he was going to fire; and Thompson called out again, 'Fire,' Not Wide-awake, but Thompson. Rauperaha then said, 'This is the second time you have ordered them to fire.' The women and children were at this time round their fires close by. The first few shots from the Europeans killed two natives and wounded three. When one man had been killed and three wounded, he {Rauperaha), Rangihaeata, and Puaha called out, 'Now pay yourselves; fire!' The natives fired, and killed three; then the Europeans fired, and killed a woman. The natives soon got desperate; and then the Europeans ran away, firing as they retreated. All went away, including the gentlemen; and the natives chased them in the bushes.

"The Governor here asked, 'How was Captain Wakefield killed?'

"Rauperaha gave no decided answer, but continued to say that some of his slaves, who had gone after the White men, brought back Captain Wakefield to him.

"Rangihaeata came running down and called out. 'Your daughter.' Captain Wakefield had come from a hill about 100 yards off, with the other gentlemen; the firing was still going on where the natives caught them; and when those natives who had been chasing the White men returned, the gentlemen had been killed. Thompson asked him (Rauperaha) to save their lives. He replied, 'Did I not warn you how it would be? and yet you now ask me to save you!' It was according to their custom after a fight to kill the chief men of their enemies.

"(In this last part I missed a great deal, though I strained every nerve to listen.) Clarke spoke so low, that no one near me could hear more than I did. But I believe Rauperaha neither offered nor was asked for any account of the

manner of the gentlemen's death, after the Governor's question on that point, which he did not answer.

"At the conclusion of Rauperaha's speech, the Governor said, 'Tell him to sit down, that I may think over what to say to them.'

"Captain Fitzroy then took a pencil, and wrote for about a quarter of an hour; and a little more time was then occupied in consulting with the interpreters, apparently in order to translate what he had written into Maori. When this was over, the Governor again rose, and spoke to the following effect: – 'Listen, O ye chiefs and elder men here assembled, to my words. I have now heard the Maori statement and the Pakeha statement of the Wairau affair; and I have made my decision. I, the representative of the Queen of England; I, the Governor of New Zealand, have made my decision. In the first place, the White men were in the wrong. They had no right to survey the land which you said you had not sold until Mr. Spain had finished his inquiry; they had no right to build the houses they did on that land. As they were, then, first in the wrong, I will not avenge their deaths.'

"Repeating these last words emphatically, he ordered Mr. Forsaith to repeat what he had said in Maori. When this had been done, he went on: –

"'But though I will not avenge the deaths of the Pakehas who were killed at the Wairau, I have to tell you that you committed a horrible crime, in murdering men who had surrendered themselves in reliance on your honour as chiefs. White men never kill their prisoners. For the future let us live peaceably and amicably – the Pakeha with the native, and the Maori with the Pakeha; and let there be no more bloodshed.' He went on to say that he would protect them most fully: no pa, or burial-ground, or any other land which they did not choose to sell, should be taken from them; and no land should be taken henceforward which they had not sold. But the Maori should not, on their part, disturb settlers who were occupying land; they must wait

CAPTAIN FITZROY AND RAUPERAHA.

until he had decided all questions about the land, which he was now going back to Port Nicholson to do. He had come out here to do strict justice to everyone – Maori and Pakeha; and they might depend that he would take care strict justice was done. He concluded by recommending them to be guided by 'their true friends, the missionaries, the Native Protectors, and the Government officers;' and wished them farewell and the blessing of God.

"He desired Mr. Forsaith to repeat his last words over again when he translated the above into Maori, and particularly to repeat his wishes for the blessing of God upon them all. Immediately afterwards, his Excellency introduced Major Richmond as his representative, who would act just like him, and decide any disputes about land in his absence. He also brought forward Mr. Spain, and told the natives that he was going to enter immediately on the land question by his command, and would get it settled as soon as possible."

"I watched the natives very attentively," continues Mr. Bell, "throughout the meeting; and I am satisfied in my own mind (whatever may be thought by others to the contrary), that neither the threat in the first part of his speech, nor his sudden clemency afterwards, produced any great impression on their minds."

"I did not observe the Governor speak to either Rauperaha or Rangihaeata; though Sir Everard shook hands with the former. Immediately on breaking up the meeting, the Governor took his leave of Mr. Hadfield, and returned to the 'North Star.'"

Rauperaha told some whalers at Waikanae that same afternoon, that "this man had been talking a great deal of nonsense to him; but that it was all tito," or "lies," "and that in fact the Kawana was

afraid of him! He would eat the frigate, Governor and all!"

I have already described what got to be called the "Government fever;" which was almost inevitably communicated to any person who helped to drain the purse of the Cook's Strait settlers through the Auckland treasury. No matter how unprejudiced might be the mind of an Attorney-General or a Land Commissioner on his first arrival from England; no matter how completely a less distinguished subordinate might have shared at one time the wholesome spirit and feelings of the "good colonists;" it would be no less difficult than invidious to point out a single instance which surpassed the others in accepting the "virus" together with the quarter's salary and the town allotment.

But it is disgusting to remark the purulent and contagious nature of the disease. In some cases direct private gain could hardly be assigned as the cause of the unmitigated infection of persons who were only connected with the officials in a casual and honorary capacity. It appeared as though the moral plague of aversion to the independent settlers was spread by the mere breath and odour of authority.

Sir Everard Home, a Captain in the British Navy, had just deserved the honour of being made a Companion of the Bath for gallantly maintaining the dignity of Great Britain in the Chinese war, with his frigate.

He bore a Governor and a suite of New Zealand officials about the coast for some months.

He then pressed, with a friendly grasp, the hand of a man who had only six months before taken a leading part in the foul death of one of his brother-officers, most esteemed in the service, besides many more of his

CAPTAIN FITZROY'S DECISION.

countrymen. The cunning savage himself must have despised the White man, unmindful of the White man's blood, even while accepting the ceremony of shaking hands, which he knew to convey the sympathy and approval of the fighting chief who commanded 300 warriors.

The decision, as he was pleased to call it, of Captain Fitzroy, is a still more serious subject. As to his opinion that the savages were innocent, I will not lay myself open to the charge of making a cry for vengeance on the murderers of a near and dear relative. But as he declared that the White men were in the wrong, I must claim indulgence for stating the opinion of many thousand British subjects now living in New Zealand, that the White men were in the right.

I should not have dared to contradict the verdict of twelve impartial and fairly-chosen Jurymen, or to impugn the sentence of a Judge acting as he was entitled and bound to do by the British constitution. But I have a right to dissent, in the most explicit terms, from the despotic decree of a man who has assumed to himself, against all law and custom, both of those important functions.

The mode of investigation adopted by Captain Fitzroy was subversive of the simplest principles of justice towards both the parties. In fact, he decided the matter without hearing either state his own case, and without giving either an opportunity of answering the other. He equally neglected the observances of justice towards both parties; and only did not do equal injustice to both, because his passions had determined him before inquiry to decide entirely in favour of one.

He professes to have heard the White story, and thus

to be qualified to assume the office of public prosecutor of the accused men. When did he hear the White story? It is just possible that he may have read the depositions taken before the Magistrates; but as no further proceedings that can be called legal ever took place, how can the public know that he ever even did that? He may have read the White story; but, if he did, it could only be that which was reported by those Magistrates for the purpose of justifying a particular step in the process of investigation, and not as substantiating the European view of the whole subject.

He professes to have heard the Maori story, and thus to be qualified to act as counsel for the accused person. When did he hear the Maori story? He heard a confused narrative from one of the accused men, which was only one of half-a-dozen varying narratives which the same man had told to different persons.

Thus he picked up what he calls the story of each party from one or two chance representatives of its interests; and heard both stories by snatches without any means of testing the truth of either, and without giving either the opportunity of commenting on the other. Among the uncivilized savages themselves, when they do decide a dispute by formal conference, a korero is never thought complete unless the two parties are confronted with each other. But Captain Fitzroy preferred a course no less inconsistent with the customs of New Zealand than with the laws of England and the practice of civilized men.

There was in the whole proceeding just so much of resemblance to the forms of judicial inquiry as to mark the absence of substantial justice. Without an opportunity to the prosecutor to state his charge, the accused person (for he was no prisoner) having been called upon to criminate or exculpate himself, without con-

CAPTAIN FITZROY'S DECISION.

firmation or denial, and no witnesses on either side having been heard, Captain Fitzroy resolved himself into a judicial character, and proceeded to make some show of coming to a judgment, which there can be no doubt that he had in fact reduced to words before the pretended inquiry.

No matter whether his decision were right or wrong, he was guilty of a breach of the law, without having the apology of conforming to the customs of the New Zealand chiefs; and still less with any pretence of taking an effectual and straightforward way of getting at the truth, and giving a just decision. If he had decided that the savages were in the wrong, and had taken upon himself to order their apprehension and execution for the crime, equally without the intervention of those forms of our law which are revered for their even-handed justice, he would have been equally culpable in the highest degree. Indeed, when he told the natives that on first hearing of the affair at Sydney, he intended to visit them with war and extermination, he was guilty of great injustice; and taught them to believe the question to be one of race against race, and not of law against lawlessness. It was giving them a strange notion of English law, to inspire them with the belief that an English Governor would regard it as his duty to lay waste the pas and take the lives of a large body of Her Majesty's subjects because two of their number had committed a crime.

He avoided this injustice only to refuse all redress to that portion of the community whose habitual obedience to law rendered it probable that it would submit with the greater tranquillity to his injustice. For his unconstitutional conduct at Waikanae was but a weak subterfuge for avoiding the necessity of

using compulsion to enforce obedience to British law by rebellious British subjects.

My uncle and Captain Fitzroy had been friends: for they were midshipmen in the same ship; and not only had they kept up the intimacy so occasioned, but in 1837, Captain Fitzroy had joined his old shipmate in so cordially approving of the views of the New Zealand Association as to write a strong opinion in its favour, and to be a member of it for some days. It is true, that after those few days he changed his mind, and wrote another letter to my uncle expressing the opposite views of Mr. Dandeson Coates. Their personal friendship, however, was not interrupted; and when, in 1841, Captain Wakefield was about to sail from England in command of the preliminary expedition for founding Nelson, they held frequent and friendly communications on the subject of that undertaking. The Committee of the House of Commons of last year has spoken of my uncle's "long and distinguished services in the British Navy." These, with the exception of nearly four years when he commanded the Rhadamanthus on the Mediterranean station, are related in a document which the Directors of the New Zealand Company printed, in order to inform their constituents "what sort of a man Captain Wakefield was," and which appears in the Appendix to this book. I hope the reader will excuse me for praying of him to read it. The writer of that document first went to sea at ten years of age, with a pay of less than 20l. a year, and never afterwards occasioned his family the expense of a shilling. He made some prize-money, and presented the bulk of it to poor relations. He never owed anybody a farthing; and yet always seemed to have money in his pocket for a generous purpose. In his management of the Nelson settle-

THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT.

ment, he was conspicuous for a total absence of selfishness; and was accordingly revered by his fellow-colonists, who, almost to a man, grieved for his death as if they had lost a near and dear relation. I have said before how the natives, before they were corrupted by the insane course of Captain Hobson's and Lieutenant Shortland's governments, described him as "a man with a soft tongue and a great heart." He was one of the authors of the project for amalgamating the natives with the colonists by means of upholding the rank of the chiefs through the possession of valuable property in the civilized community, and was an enthusiast in seeking to promote that honourable work. And all this Captain Fitzroy knew well.

This part of the new Governor's conduct of affairs was put aside for a time by the settlers, in their consideration as to how they should treat him. In everything else they said that he promised to do all that they could wish; and it was useless for them to enter into a new contest, already more than half crippled as they were.

Major Richmond was the perfect shadow of his Excellency during his stay at Wellington, and was duly appointed Superintendent of the Southern District, with the title of "His Honour," and a salary of 600l. per annum. It had been thought that some one might have been selected for this situation from among the leading colonists. Mr Petre and many others were considered as fit for the duties as an over-cautious hanger-on, who displayed but little sympathy for either settlers or natives, and who was apparently callous to all feeling except self.

Every one who knew the public conduct of Major Richmond was sure that Cook's Strait would still be under the rule of a mere Police Magistrate, only better

paid. To suppose that he would ever take upon himself any responsibility in emergencies beyond the close letter of written instructions, would have been flying against reason. I have since heard of several applications made to him on most trivial subjects, which he declared he could not answer without referring them to Auckland.

Captain Fitzroy re-opened the negotiations for the award of compensation to the natives; calling upon Colonel Wakefield to be ready to pay whatever sums might be awarded for the disputed waste lands, without any relation to the reserved pas, cultivations, or burial-grounds. I last saw him under the lee of a garden-fence, listening to the renewed demands, more exorbitant than ever, of E Tako and other inferior chiefs, in a little ring of the discontented natives. Mr. Spain, Mr. Clarke junior, another Protector of Aborigines, and the Private Secretary, were also inside the ring. A few settlers were shrugging their shoulders and scarcely restraining their laughter when they heard the Governor telling the natives they should have whatever they asked, but warning them not to ask too much. The day was windy and unpleasant, and the place bleak except where the little group were cowering under a fence; so that few people observed the assemblage, or had the least idea that this was a Governor conferring with that class of his subjects to whom he professed himself most attached.

His Excellency had fixed his day of departure in a week from that time; but declared, much to the surprise of everybody, including Mr. Spain, that he was determined to settle the land-claims before he went.

For my part, I could stay no more in the country with comfort under this Government; for so long as

CAPT. FITZROY AND THE LAND-CLAIMS.

Captain Fitzroy ruled, I must always appear to a certain degree as a disgraced member of the society. However much I felt sure of the sympathy of the settlers, the pleasure of my friendly relations with the natives must necessarily be fatally impaired, when they heard that the highest authority in the colony had degraded me because I was their bitter enemy.

I might, to be sure, have waited to be turned out of the Magistracy, and then have become one of the unfortunate men with a case at the Colonial Office in Downing-street. So I might have wasted months in the "room of sighs," while Mr. Dandeson Coates walked past daily to a tete-a-tete with the Secretary of State.

I wrote and published a letter to the Governor, defending myself from his opprobrious charges, in order that I might still enjoy the respect of the settlers with whom I had spent four happy years; and I reminded his Excellency at the end of the letter, that his threatened course of prosecuting me for a libel on the natives would not have been compatible with English law or liberty. I got an acknowledgment of the receipt of this letter, but of course no further notice or answer; and two days afterwards I embarked in a ship that was bound for Valparaiso.

I left Cook's Strait with the conviction that the brave colony of Englishmen planted on its sunny shores had taken a firm root in the fertile soil; that no blight, however blasting, would be able to wither it; that no cold winds would be able to kill its vigorous shoots; that no grubbing would eradicate it; that no cherishing of noxious weeds would be able to smother its ultimate growth into a flourishing and happy nation: so plentiful are the resources of the country, and those

of the stalwart and invincible colonists who have chosen it for their abode.

But I foresaw for them at least many months more of harassing delays, doubts, and torments, under the tread of a ruler who seemed well inclined to adopt, as far as regarded the delicate native question, the whole determination of the intolerant portion of the missionaries to "thwart them by every means in their power."

And I grieved when I felt sure that the poor natives must inevitably descend one step nearer towards a miserable end, while debased by the care of a father so weak as to yield indulgently to every whimsical demand and self-destroying caprice which the spoiled child might imagine – so foolish as to encourage the savage in his infantile ambition to maintain himself in a rivalry with the White man.

The last hope appeared still to be that some really great man might be despatched in time to remedy the evils which were accumulating for both White people and natives. Some such man as Lord Metcalfe or Sir Henry Pottinger, able and willing to grasp with his master-mind the task of uniting two races in one nation, might yet heal the wounds inflicted by a prejudiced incapable. A firm and unwavering course of foreseeing philanthropy could alone lay sound foundations for a gentle and permanent union.

We were 37 days in reaching Valparaiso: I remained five weeks at that port and in the neighbouring part of Chile; and then rounded Cape Horn in a French merchantman, which made the voyage to Bordeaux in 92 days.

And since my arrival I have written the foregoing narrative. I hope it is not unbecoming in me to say

PROSPECTS OF THE COLONY.

that my intention in every part of it has been to relate truly and exactly the scenes which I saw, and the things which were of paramount interest to me at the time. So earnest has been this intention, that I have often dwelt over-minutely on trivial details, and have fallen almost unawares into the language, while I acquired the unavoidable spirit, of a partisan.

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39 Native name for Blind Bay, literally "sacred tide."

40 Native name for the north end of Queen Charlotte's Sound.

[APPENDICES]

APPENDIX I

APPENDIX I.

1. A Memorial by the late Captain Arthur Wakefield, R. N., to Earl Minto, First Lord of the Admiralty.

MY LORD, 28th February, 1837.

RETURNING the other day to England, after passing three years on a foreign station as Senior Lieutenant of H. M. S. "Thunderer," having spent nearly 27 years in his Majesty's service, nearly 25 years in active employment, and upwards of 20 years on foreign stations, including two years and a half on the coast of Africa, the first intelligence I received was of a coming general promotion, and the next that 25 Lieutenants, 16 of them my juniors, and 5 of the latter serving on the station which I had just quitted, have obtained the rank of Commanders, whilst I remain a Lieutenant of 16 years' standing. Since then I have been led to entertain a hope that, as has unavoidably happened before on similar occasions, my exclusion from the recent promotion may have occurred through accidental oversight; for which, however, I take blame to myself alone, because, wholly occupied by the service, I have perhaps neglected to bring my claims fully to your Lordship's notice. In truth, my Lord, during a period of active service, with which that of few officers of my age will bear comparison, I have never been in the habit of making applications to your Lordship or your predecessors, but have, as a principle or rule of conduct deliberately pursued, sought promotion by one means only, namely, fagging at the hard work of the profession, trusting always that in time a claim to notice would be established, such as could not but have effect with the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, even though unsupported by solicitations from myself or my friends.

In the hope then that, provided my only claim to advancement, services, and character, had been sufficiently expressed in due time, I should at least have been included in the recent promotion, I would now respectfully petition that the

oversight of those claims may be remedied, by my being placed according to seniority amongst my brother-officers who have been recently thought worthy of his Majesty's favour.

In May 1810, at ten years of age, I entered his Majesty's service, on board the "Nisus" frigate, commanded by Capt. Philip Beaver, who was an old and intimate friend of my father's. I served on board the "Nisus" until May 1814; having been present at the capture of the Isle of France and Java, under Sir Albemarle Bertie and Sir Robert Stopford. At Java I was taken on shore by Capt. Beaver; and was present when the breaching batteries sustained a heavy cannonade from Fort Cornelis.

After Capt. Beaver's death, in April 1813, the "Nisus" was commanded by Capt. Charles M. Schomberg; whose good opinion I am well known to have enjoyed until his death. In May 1814, when the "Nisus" was paid off, I immediately joined the "Hebrus" frigate, Capt. Edmund Palmer; under whom I served until December 1816, when the ship was paid off. Under Capt. Palmer, I served as his aide-de-camp in the expedition which resulted in the capture of Washington, and at the affair of Bladensburg I had the good fortune to secure one of three flags taken from the enemy. I entered Washington close to Sir George Cockburn and General Ross, when the General's horse was shot under him. I had the honour to be mentioned in Sir George Cockburn's despatch, descriptive of this expedition.

Immediately after this expedition, being then 14 years of age, I was put in charge of a prize of 280 tons burden, and took her from Chesapeake Bay to Bermuda.

Having rejoined the "Hebrus," I was present in her at the bombardment of Algiers, in 1816, under Lord Exmouth, and remained in her until she was paid off in December 1816. Capt. Palmer's opinion of me is testified by various letters and certificates; and I enjoyed his warmest friendship until the day of his death.

In December 1816, I passed my examination in navigation, two years before my age enabled me to qualify for the rank of Lieutenant.

In March 1818, I joined the "Queen Charlotte," Capt.

Thomas Briggs, bearing the flag of Sir George Campbell; and in July 1819, was removed into the "Superb," bearing the broad pendant of Sir Thomas M. Hardy, with whom I served until July 1821. During Sir Thomas Hardy's exercise of diplomatic and consular functions in South America, I had the honour to be selected to attend upon him as Flag Midshipman.

Although it was with a view to my immediate promotion that I had been removed from the "Queen Charlotte" to the "Superb," at the especial desire of Lord Melville, then First Lord of the Admiralty, expressed to Sir George Cockburn whilst holding in his hand the Gazette Extraordinary containing Sir George's despatch relative to the expedition to Washington, I was not advanced to the rank of Lieutenant until the partial promotion of February 1821. I served as Lieutenant on board the "Superb," until she was paid off in June 1822.

At this time, when his Majesty George the Fourth went to Scotland by sea, Lord St. Vincent, who honoured me with his kindest regards, was desirous that I should accompany him as his aide-de-camp, when he waited upon the King at Greenwich; and was alone prevented from fulfilling his intention by some official objection to his being so attended on board the royal yacht. Consequently, I accompanied his Lordship no further than to Greenwich.

In January 1823, I was appointed to the "Brazen," Capt. George W. Willes; under whom I served until September 1826, on the South American, Channel, and African stations. During six months of the "Brazen's" service in the Channel, 2l smugglers were taken and convicted, and smuggled goods captured to a large amount. On the coast of Africa, 900 slaves were taken; and I had the satisfaction of taking 420 of them, when in command of the ship's boats, from a Spanish vessel of four guns and 48 men, the crews of the boats amounting only to 25, and the vessel being nine miles distant from the "Brazen."

In the following month of September, the commander of the "Conflict" having invalided, Commodore Bullen was pleased to appoint me to the command of that brig; which I held till she was paid off in February 1828; having during

this command captured two slave-ships loaded with goods (of the estimated value of 40,000l.) for the purchase of slaves, and actively engaged in the traffic. With respect to my services throughout the above five years, I hold the strongest testimonials from my commanding officers, Admiral Bullen and Captain Willes.

In June 1828, upon the application of Sir Eaton Travers. I was appointed Senior Lieutenant of the "Rose;" in which I served on the Cape of Good Hope and North American station until January 1830, when her commander was promoted and superseded by Commander J. G. Dewar, who was drowned on the coast of Labrador in August 1830. The Commander-in-chief, Sir Edward Colpoys, was then pleased to appoint me to the temporary command of the "Rose;" which I held until I had completed the execution of Commander Dewar's orders for the protection of the fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, when I was superseded by my junior officer, Commander W. Pilkington.

Sir Edward Colpoys, however, after expressing his regret at this circumstance, took me into his flag-ship, where I served a great part of the time as Senior Lieutenant, until Sir Edward's death; thus losing the prospect of that promotion which, if he had lived, the Senior Lieutenant of his flag-ship might have expected, and which, on that account, is so frequently bestowed on Senior Lieutenants of flag-ships when their friend in command happens to die on a foreign station.

After the death of Sir Edward Colpoys, I continued to serve as First Lieutenant of the "Winchester," under Captain Wellesley, until she was paid off in June 1833. With respect to my services during the above period of nearly three years, I have the honour to refer your Lordship to the enclosed testimonials from Captain Wellesley.

In October of the same year (1833), I was appointed First Lieutenant of the "Thunderer," Captain Wise; under whom I served in that ship on the Mediterranean station until the present month of February, when she was paid off. With respect to my services during the above period of more than three years, I have the honour to refer your Lordship to the enclosed testimonials from Captain Wise.

Upon three occasions I have jumped overboard after drown-

ing men – firstly at Halifax, in February 1830, in very severe weather, when I assisted Mr. George Star, the purser of the "Rose," who had also jumped overboard, in rescuing a corporal and private of marines; and again at Halifax in 1832, when, although I picked up the man before he had been two minutes in the water, life was unfortunately extinct; and lastly, at Vourla in 1834, when I had the satisfaction of saving a life. It happened on the two former of these occasions, that I was the commanding officer at the time; and as no report was made of the circumstances, in all probability they would still have remained unknown to your Lordship, if I had not been impelled by my present feelings to overcome a natural repugnance to speaking of myself in this memorial.

The above statement is not the only proof that I can adduce of that devotion to the service, and those professional qualifications, on which alone I rest a claim to your Lordship's consideration. Besides the most constant attention to the ordinary duties of every appointment that I have filled, and having performed for a long while, as Senior Lieutenant of a large ship, those arduous and responsible duties which are held to qualify for the situation of commander of a line-of-battle ship, I can safely declare (and the fact ought to be known to your Lordship), that I have paid especial attention to the management and discipline of men: and to show with how much success, I would mention the circumstance that, in the short space of nine days, the "Winchester" was dismantled and paid off, without an accident during the dismantling, or an irregularity, or the omission of a single formality; and that, on the recent occasion of paying off the "Thunderer" at Plymouth, with a crew of 600 men, no accident or irregularity occurred, although during ten days of that disorganizing process, the ship was without marines, and had no other than blue-jacket sentries. Moreover, the few hours that I have been able to steal from the most active routine duties have still been occupied with my profession; as some proof whereof, I venture to remind your Lordship that my invention for the "imitation of shot practice" has been so far adopted by his Majesty's Government as to be in full use on board the "'Excellent,' trial gunnery ship," at Portsmouth; that Sir Josias Rowley,

the Commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, after witnessing and approving my invention for facilitating the fishing of anchors with a double hook, officially submitted the same to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and that this improvement has been in constant use during the last two years on board the greater part of the Mediterranean squadron. Lastly, I have not made holiday even when not in actual employment; for the brief periods which I have passed on shore, amounting altogether to but little more than two years out of 27 in the service, were employed in a thorough examination of the French naval arsenals of St. Servan, L'Orient, Brest, and Cherbourg, and in acquiring, always with a view to my profession, a familiar knowledge of French and Spanish, the two foreign languages of which the use is most frequently required by a British naval officer. Indeed, my Lord, I have become a stranger to my family; I have no home but in the service; no tie, or enjoyment, or wish, or serious thought, apart from it; nor any hope consequently, except in your Lordship's justice, of that distinction which I know not how to seek, otherwise than by respectfully asking your Lordship to reconsider whether I have deserved it.
I have, &c.
(Signed) ARTHUR WAKEFIELD.

2. Copy of a Letter from Captain {now Admiral) Bullen to Lieutenant Wakefield.

MY DEAR SIR, Southampton:, 10th March, 1828.
YOU have my authority to say I did put you in command of the "Conflict," and I did so from the excellence of your character given to me by your late Captain, Willes; and I have great pleasure in now assuring you, that the high character I have received of you, I afterwards found fully confirmed by the steady, zealous, and active execution of whatever orders I had occasion to give you.
Believe, &c.
(Signed) CHARLES BULLEN.

3. Copy of a Letter from Captain Palmer to Lieutenant Wakefield.

MY DEAR WAKEFIELD, Brighton, 16th June, 1837.

I HAVE written to-day to Sir James Graham, as strongly as I can, in testimony of your merits and services in the "Hebrus." I should say you would be promoted; and I need hardly say, that I hope most sincerely it may be now.

Never apologize to me for writing about your affairs; for independent of the regard I bear you, your conduct as an officer with me claims every good office I can render you.
I am, &c.
(Signed) E. PALMER.

4. Copy of a Certificate from Captain Willes.

Hythe, Southampton, February, 1837.

THESE are to certify, that Lieutenant Arthur Wakefield served on board H. M. S. "Brazen," under my command, from January 1823 to September 1826, when he was appointed by Commodore Bullen, then on the coast of Africa, to the command of the "Conflict" gun-brig; that his conduct was always that of a most zealous, enterprising officer. When on the South American station, he rendered great service in the constant communication I was obliged to have with the authorities at the different ports, from the Rio de la Plata to the Amazon, nearly all in a state of commotion or blockade, from his knowledge of the Spanish and Portuguese languages, the British merchants always claiming my interference in their behalf. While in the Channel for a few months, he was most active and successful against smugglers, away night and day in boats; and subsequently, on the coast of Africa, he behaved most gallantly by chasing and capturing with three small boats a large Spanish slave-schooner, which had outsailed the ship in a 48 hours' chace, armed with four heavy guns, and a crew of 48 men, and 420 slaves on board.

I have great satisfaction in further testifying, that the general conduct and ability of this officer frequently called

forth the praise of my senior officers, as well as others; and I do not hesitate to declare, I consider him in any situation an honour to the service.
(Signed) G. W. WILLES, Captain.

5. Copy of a Letter from Sir George Cockburn to Lieutenant Wakefield.

DEAR SIR, Highbeach, 24th February, 1837.

In reply to your application to me, I have no hesitation in stating, that from the reports made to me respecting you by your late Captain, Palmer, my own observations of your conduct when acting under my immediate notice at the capture of Washington, the very good opinion I know my late greatly-respected friend Lord St. Vincent entertained of you, and all I have since known of your services, I consider you to be an officer of very superior merit and abilities, and fully descrying of any mark of favour and encouragement which the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may be pleased to extend to you.
I am, &c.

(Signed) GEO. COCKBURN.

6. Copy of a Letter from Sir Thomas Hardy to Lieutenant Wakefield.

MY DEAR SIR, Greenwich Hospital, 22nd February, 1837.

IN reply to your application, I beg to state, that during the time you served with me in South America, from September 1819 to February 1821, I was much pleased with your activity and strict attention to your duty; and I have every reason to believe you have given general satisfaction to all the officers under whom you have served, up to the paying off of the "Thunderer," which I believe took place in the last month.
I remain, &c.
(Signed) T. M. HARDY.

7. Copy of a Letter from Captain Wise to the Earl of Minto, and given to Lieutenant Wakefield as a Testimonial.

MY LORD, Plymouth, 18th February, 1837.
About a month since, I took the liberty of addressing your Lordship in behalf of Lieutenant Arthur Wakefield. I learn from that officer that he is about to make a further application to your Lordship for promotion; and I feel that in justice to his merits I ought not to allow him to do so without repeating the very high opinion I entertain of him.

We met on board the "Thunderer" as perfect strangers; and we parted with the conviction, on my part, that his Majesty has not in his service a more zealous officer, or one more competent to discharge the higher duties of our profession.

If I were called on to state what are the qualifications in which Mr. Wakefield excels, I should say, in conducting the duties of a large ship, with a command of temper I have never seen equalled; a point which your Lordship will be aware is of the utmost importance, now the days of coercion are happily at an end. He has also the talent of readily acquiring a knowledge of the character and abilities of seamen, which, added to an admirable system of stationing them, and of conducting all the details of a ship, were productive of the most beneficial results.
I have, &c.
(Signed) W. F. WISE, Captain.

8. Copy of a Letter from Captain Wellesley to the Earl of Minto, and given to Lieutenant Wakefield as a Testimonial.

MY LORD, Westbrook, St. Albans, 17th February, 1837.

Having been requested by Lieutenant Wakefield to give him a testimonial of his conduct whilst under my orders, I very gladly assure your Lordship of the zeal and ability with which he executed his duties of First Lieutenant for a period of eight months, during which I commanded the "Winchester;" and I have frequently heard the late Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Colpoys, who had removed him, from a

sense of his abilities, into his flag-ship from a smaller vessel, state the high opinion he entertained of his character and services.
I have, &c.
(Signed) W. WELLESLEY, Captain.

9. Copy of a Letter from Captain Sir Eaton Travers to Lieutenant Wakefield.

The Lodge, Ditchingham, Norfolk,
Dear WAKEFIELD, 14th February, 1837.

I have very great pleasure in expressing, in the strongest terms, my warmest approbation of your conduct during the period you served on board his Majesty's ship "Rose," under my command, as First Lieutenant; when your zeal, assiduity, and ability were most conspicuous, and tended in no small degree to draw forth from our Commander-in-chief, Sir Charles Ogle, those praises so liberally bestowed upon her efficiency as a man-of-war, and the good order preserved on board without any severity.

Believe me, your speedy promotion will be heard with sincere satisfaction and pleasure by your faithful friend,
(Signed) E. TRAVERS.

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APPENDIX II

APPENDIX II.

ROUGH STATISTICS.

As some statistical details may be interesting to the reader, I transcribe some of the results of the census taken recently by the Company's Agents in their settlements.

Wellington. – The total White population of Wellington and its vicinity, on the 31st August 1843, was nearly 3,800. At Petre on the Wanganui there were 192 settlers; at Manawatu, Otaki, and elsewhere on the coast, there were about 150; the number of shore-whalers at the stations dependent on Wellington, in the beginning of 1844, was 550.

A striking feature in this population was, for a young colony, the inconsiderable disproportion between the numbers of the sexes. At Wellington, the number of males was 2,090, of females 1,707. The total excess of males over females was only 383; and in the population below 2l years of age it was only 55. The number of children born since the formation of the settlement was 431; of these, 224 were females and 207 males. At Petre there were 36 married couples, 40 adult unmarried males, and 6 adult unmarried females; among the children, 40 were males and 26 females.

Of the 3,800 Wellington settlers about 200 may be regarded as belonging to the middle or (as they may there be termed) upper classes; including capitalists farming their own land, or land taken on lease, and employing labourers; lawyers, medical practitioners and clergymen; Government and Company's officers; merchants, traders, auctioneers, private surveyors, and schoolmasters.

There were 5 clergymen or priests in the settlement; 1,241 Episcopalians, 368 Scotch Presbyterians, 168 Wesleyans, 112 Independents, 96 Roman Catholics, 50 Baptists, 26 Jews, and 96 unascertained. There were 4 regular schoolmasters; 6 children attended a private school for the upper classes, 193 a mechanics' school, and 5 private schools for the poorer classes, 50 an infant-school, 100 the European

Sunday-school, and 56 a school attached to the Mechanics' Institute.

The dwelling-houses of the settlers were estimated to have cost 76,699l.; and the detached warehouses, forges, mills, public buildings, &c, 23,335l. There were 20 vessels, of small tonnage, belonging to Wellington; and of these 19 had been built in Wellington or Cook's Strait, and 5 more were on the stocks. Since the formation of the settlements, 632 vessels, with a tonnage of 74,795, had entered Port Nicholson.

The procrastination in the Court of the Commissioners of Land Claims had prevented the colonists from settling to agriculture; they had only cleared about 822 acres of land, of which 380 were arable, 130 pasture (exclusive of the natural cattle and sheep runs), and 70 garden-ground. The settlers possessed 129 horses, 1,394 grazing cattle, 4,823 sheep, 5,060 head of poultry, pigs innumerable, and some other domestic animals. About 36 miles of road had been constructed. Since that time the lines of road have been much extended, and several bridges built. The number of acres surveyed at different parts of the settlement from Wanganui to the Upper Hutt was 193,000.

Nelson. – In the last week of October 1843, the White population of Nelson was 2,942: of these 1,805 resided in town, and 1,137 were rural settlers. There were 1,588 males and 1,354 females. The excess of males over females was, in the town 91, in the country 143 – in all 234. The excess of males in the population below 2l years of age was only 49. The number of the better class (lawyers, medical practitioners, clergymen, merchants, &c.) was 105, exclusive of 83 farmers, large and small, of whom perhaps one-half might belong to this class. There were 132 storekeepers and tradesmen, 272 artisans, and 323 farm-labourers.

There were 4 clergymen or priests in the settlement, 1,315 members of the Church of England, 182 Roman Catholics, 1,200 Christians of other denominations, 3 Jews, 35 unascertained. There were 321 children at day-schools: the number receiving instruction at Sunday-schools and at home was believed to be considerable.

The dwelling-houses of the town settlers were estimated to

have cost 19,864l., of the country settlers 4,810l. – in all 24,674l. The detached warehouses, shops, &c, in town, the barns and mills in the country, and the public buildings, were estimated at 6,505l.

As at Wellington, comparatively little has been done in the way of cultivation. In October 1843, 723 acres had been cleared; of which 540 were arable, and 133 garden-grounds. The settlers possessed 50 horses, 436 grazing cattle, 1,130 sheep, 1,152 swine, 2,202 head of poultry, with other domestic animals. Fifty miles of roads (exclusive of streets) had been made. 182,400 acres had been surveyed.

New Plymouth. – The total White population of New Plymouth, at the end of August 1843, was 1,090. Of these, 690 resided in the town, and 400 in the country. There were 616 males, and 474 females; giving an excess of 142 males. The excess of males below 2l years of age – somewhat more than half of the whole population – was only 35. Of the upper class may be reckoned, 28 capitalists cultivating their own land, 6 leasing land, 215 letting land to farmers; 3 lawyers, 3 medical practitioners, 2 clergymen, 13 persons holding office under Government or the New Zealand Company, or living on their means, 2 schoolmasters, 28 surveyors – in all, 117.

There were two ministers of religion, both Dissenters, in this community. Yet there were 401 members of the Church of England, 9 Roman Catholics, and only 185 Christians of other denominations. The report only mentions two schools; one for the children of the wealthier class, attended by 3 pupils; one for the poorer classes, attended by 25.

The cost of the dwelling-houses in town was estimated at 9,517l., in the country at 3,157l. – in all, 12,674l. The cost of other buildings was estimated at 1,360l.

When the report from which these details are taken was made, 250 acres of land were cleared and under cultivation at New Plymouth. The settlers possessed 102 grazing cattle, 849 sheep, 332 swine, 1,063 head of poultry, with other domestic animals. Twenty-four miles of roads had been constructed. 32,031 acres have been surveyed.

The White population of the northern settlements, including Auckland, the Bay of Islands, and their dependencies, was

estimated in the end of 1842 at about 4,000; but any further details are not easily to be collected, as no regular census has been made by the Government.

I do not pretend to estimate the native population with any degree of accuracy; but I am inclined to believe that the rough estimates hitherto made have been rather above than below the actual numbers. I only know of two cases in which an exact census has been taken. Mr. Halswell took a census of the native population inhabiting Port Nicholson in 1841, and found its numbers to be 541. The Rev. Richard Taylor counted 2,200 natives on the banks of the Wanganui river as far as Pipiriki, 80 miles from its mouth.

From all the information that I can gather on the subject, I should calculate the native population inhabiting Cook's Strait and the banks of the rivers which flow into it to be about 8,000, and the total of the native population of both islands to be considerably less than 100,000.

THE END.

London: Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS, Stamford Street.

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