New Zealand: in a Series of Letters

S. M. Martin

First published by Simmonds and Ward in 1845

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

Epub © 2013 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927279-55-7

[TITLE PAGE]

NEW ZEALAND;
In a Series of Letters:

CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY,
BOTH BEFORE AND SINCE ITS OCCUPATION BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
with
HISTORICAL REMARKS
ON THE
CONDUCT OF THE GOVERNMENT, THE NEW ZEALAND
AND THE MANAKAU COMPANIES;
ALSO
A DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS SETTLEMENTS,
THE CHARACTER OF THE ABORIGINES, AND THE NATURAL
PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY.

BY
S. M. D. MARTIN, M.D.
LATELY A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND.

LONDON:
SIMMONDS & WARD, 18, CORNHILL.
1845.

[TITLE VERSO]

LONDON:
H. I. STEVENS, PRINTER, PHILPOT LANE, FENCHURCH STREET.

[PREFACE]

PREFACE.

New Zealand and the New Zealanders have already furnished materials for so many publications, that most persons will be disposed to think that the field is exhausted. The same remark has frequently been made with regard to the Highlands and the Highlanders, as well as America and the Americans, and yet almost every month brings forth a new volume on each of those subjects, somewhat different, – sometimes more interesting, and in some cases less so, than the former ones, but, generally speaking, containing something new: so that it appears as if the more was written on any subject, the more extensive does the field become. Dr. Johnson doubtless thought that he had written everything that could be said regarding the Highlands; yet M'Culloch, Brown, Gregory, and a host of others, have since then found abundant materials. It is even so with New Zealand: although extremely prolific in authors, there may still be something new to add.

PREFACE.

While many of the works which have appeared on New Zealand contain very fair descriptions, either of the Aborigines, their habits and customs, or of the country itself – and, in some cases, of both, – yet few of the writers fully appreciate the native character, or even attempt to trace the customs and habits of the New Zealanders to their real source – a peculiar intellectual and moral organisation, a proper acquaintance with which would at once have enabled them to account for many of the apparent inconsistencies which they discover in that interesting people. With the exception of Mr. Terry, no person has as yet attempted to convey to the English public the slightest idea of the doings of our own countrymen in New Zealand. But however interesting the Aboriginal Tribes and their customs may be, the conduct of our own countrymen, and the effects of that conduct, good or bad, must be equally, if not more so. On the latter subject at least, the following Letters will afford further and more authentic information than has yet been published in England. The Letters comprise a period of five years, commencing before the occupation of the country by the British Government, and bringing down the narration of the management, or rather mismanagement, of the Colony to the present time. They are hastily written, and necessarily contain many defects; but, being composed when the circumstances to which they refer were fresh in the

PREFACE.

recollection of the writer, they may be taken as a fair estimate of the feelings of the Settlers towards the Government. Those feelings have happily been somewhat changed since the arrival of Captain Fitz Roy, the late Governor, a part of whose policy at least, if supported by the Home Government, would have tended much to promote the prosperity of New Zealand, and the comfort and happiness of the two races of people who occupy it.

The remarks regarding the New Zealand Company will most likely give offence to certain parties at home and in the Colony connected with that once influential body; but as truth is the object aimed at, private and public offence have not been reckoned, where their avoidance would affect the first. It is scarcely possible, in the narration of mistakes, blunders, and even crimes, not to give offence to some persons; but the parties must blame themselves for having given so many occasions. Had they conducted themselves better, and with a little more regard to the interest and happiness of others, they would be entitled to more consideration.

[Page vi is blank]

[CONTENTS]

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION .......... Page 9

LETTER I.

Passage from Sydney. Fellow Passengers. Colonial Morality. Hokianga Bar and Harbour. Wesleyan Missionaries. Natives. Baron de Theiry. His pretensions to the Sovereignty of New Zealand. Declaration of Independence of the Chiefs, asserted by the British Resident and Church Missionaries. New Zealand Roads. Small Native Settlement. Native Houses. Native method of Cooking. Weimate. Extensive Purchase of Lands by the Church Missionaries. Hard, but successful attempt, at obtaining a Night's Lodging. Paiha. Inhospitality of Mr. Baker. Bay of Islands. Storekeeper. Kororarika. Foundation of Kororarika by Benjamin Turner. Other Settlements of the Bay of Islands .... 27

LETTER II.

British Resident. Paihia. Church Missionaries. Natives of Kororarika. Bishop Pampalier. Roman Catholic Religion attractive to Uncivilised People. Native Mourning. Native Women Chief Mourners. Tabooed Chief. Orators. Feast. Relish for Whale Flesh. Decrease of Native Population. Effects of European Intercourse fatal to the Females. Prevalence of Infanticide. Character of the European Population; improved of late. Kororarika Association; its Formation, Constitution, and Powers. Native Protection. Europeans to blame for Quarrels with the Natives. Climate of the Bay of Islands; preferable to that of Sydney. Character of the Soil around the Bay of Islands. Reported Fertility of the Thames ........... 52

LETTER III.

Passage from the Bay of Islands to Coromandel Harbour. Thames Packet. Island of Waiheki. New Zealand Hospitality rather expensive. Coromandel Harbour. Frith of the Thames similar to the Clyde. Establishment of Mr. Webster. Immorality of the New Zealand Population. Departure for the Thames. Coweranga. State of the Fine Arts in New

CONTENTS.

Zealand. Schism among the Inhabitants of Coweranga. Billy Tyson and Billy Mow Mow. Their Residence and Mode of Living. Missionary Station of Houraki. Mr. Preice, the Missionary. His dislike to Roman Catholics. The River Thames. The Piaco. Inhabitants of the Thames destroyed by the Chief Honghi. Purchase of Land from the Aborigines. Rights of Property. Constitution of Tribes ... Page 62

LETTER IV.

Arrival of Captain Hobson in Sydney to assume the functions of Governor, or Consul, in New Zealand. Deputation appointed to wait upon him. Congratulatory Address, Publication of Proclamations regarding New Zealand. Disposition of Sir George Gipps and the Council of New South Wales towards New Zealand. New Zealand Association. Agent of New Zealand Company; his injudicious Selection of Land. Fitness of New Zealand for the Settlement of European Emigrants. Great Demand for Timber ........... 78

LETTER V.

Bay of Islands. Kapiti. Mr. Wakefield. Rauparaha. Cloudy Bay. Immorality of Whaling Gangs. Sick Whaler. Attachment of a Native Woman. Violent Gale of Wind at Port Nicholson. Colonel Wakefield, the New Zealand Company's Agent, Great Want of Humanity. New Zealand Company's Emigrants, Fears for the Failure of the Settlement. Description of Port Nicholson. Britannia and Thorndon. Removal of the Township. Scotch Farmer. Usefulness of the Natives. Scottish Emigrants. Port Nicholson Settlers jealous of Persons from Sydney. The Council of Ten; its Arbitrary Character. Mr. Shortland. Alleged Purchase of Land by the Company's Agent. Dicky Barret. Arrival of Captain Hobson at the Bay of Islands. His Reception. Treaty of Waitangi. Opposition of the Natives to the same. Conduct of the Church Missionaries on that occasion. Hokianga. Kaitaia. Major Bunbury, Bribery and Deception. Natives refuse to sign Treaty. Improper Interference on the part of the Church Missionaries. Illness of Captain Hobson. Government Officers. Russell; Hobson; Clendon Job. Inactivity of the New Zealand Government. Capital of the Colony. Surveyor-General. Government Officers insolent and offensive to the Settlers. Rise in the Value of Land at the Bay of Islands ... 86

LETTER VI.

Unsettled State of New Zealand Affairs. Thames. Recently-arrived Immigrants and "Old Hands." Natives, their Greed and Extortion. Threatened Robbery. Sawmill, attempts at its Erection. Valley of the Thames. Mate Mate. Native Chapel. Young Chief. A German taken in by the Natives. Sad Perplexity about selecting a Wife. Native Mausoleum. Meeting of Landholders at Coromandel Harbour. Nature of the Land-Claims Bill. Sir George Gipps and Mr. Wentworth. Petition and Pro-

CONTENTS.

test. Disgraceful Conduct of Major Bunbury and the other Government Agents. Natives of New Zealand different from those of New Holland. Speech of Sir George Gipps. Right of England to New Zealand. Interview with Captain Hobson at the Bay of Islands. Interview with Sir George Gipps. Mr. Shortland and the Port Nicholson Settlers. Captain Hobson's Complaints of his Officers. Great Expense of the New Zealand Government. Selections of the Government Officers. Arrival of the Land-Claims Commissioners .... Page 103

LETTER VII.

Printing Company. Land-Claims. Evil Effects of the Measures of Sir G. Gipps on the Agriculture and Commerce of New Zealand. Timber Trade destroyed by the Government. Treatment of Captain Clayton and Mr. Dalziel. Removal of the Seat of Government to Auckland. Sale of Russell abandoned. Sale of Auckland Allotments. Official Jobbing. Separation of the Colony from New South Wales. Rejoicings thereat. Legislative Council, first Sitting and Constitution. Governor's Visit to Wellington. Dissatisfaction of the Settlers with his Conduct while there. Town of Auckland, strangely laid out. Bank. Churches. Mr. Churton and the New Zealand Company. Arrival of a new Lot of Government Officers from England. Imitate Example of Botany Bay Officers. Old and New Registrar. Happy Expedient for serving the former. Mode of appointing Officers in New Zealand. Choice of Auckland for the Capital. Its Eligibility. Comparison between Auckland, Wellington, and the River Thames. Superiority of the latter in point of Land. Central Position of Auckland. Facilities of Communication with the Interior. Beautiful and picturesque Scenery of Auckland. New Land-Claims Bill. Scheme of Mr. Swainson. Its Object. Interview with Mr. Shortland and the Governor ............ 122

LETTER VIII.

Land-Claims Bill abandoned. Defection of Mr. Porter and Mr. Clendon. Mr. Earp. Mr. Attorney-General Swainson's Ideas of Political Integrity. Dismissal of Mr. Earp from the Council. Enmity of the Government towards the Author. Quarrel with the Printing Company. Captain Matthew Richmond. Dissolution of Printing Company, and Purchase of Printing Materials by Government. Government Newspaper, edited by the Attorney-General. Trial before the Supreme Court. Judge Martin. Memorials and Public Meetings. Mental Irritation, Illness, and Death of Captain Hobson. His Character. Mr. Shortland succeeds. His Pretensions. Extravagant Expenditure of the New Zealand Government. Monetary Embarrassment. Attempt to negotiate a Loan. Quarrels with the Aborigines. Tauranga. Mongonui. Visit of Colonel Wakefield to Auckland. Arrival of Press and Types from Sydney ... 141

LETTER IX.

Wairau Massacre. Letter from Cook's Straits. Origin of the Quarrel. Rash and improper Conduct of Mr. Thompson, the Police Magistrate.

CONTENTS.

Rauparaha and Rangihaeata. The Conflict. Remarks and Reflections on the Wairau Massacre. Captain Wakefield's Death. Evil Effects of being in bad Company. Proceedings at Wellington, on hearing of the Conflict. Proclamation. The erratic Police Magistrate. Patronage of Mr. Shortland. Importation of Parkhurst Boys. Injury to themselves and the Natives .......... Page 162

LETTER X.

Government of Mr. Shortland. Mr. Shortland's Object. Mr. Cooper, the Collector of Customs, a Defaulter. Attempts on the part of the Government Officers to uphold Mr. Cooper. Cooper's Conduct and Character. Continued Excitement in the Southern Settlements; increased by Major Richmond's Conduct. State of the Colony and Government under Mr. Shortland. Arrival of Captain Fitz Roy. Address to the Governor. Levee. Native Addresses. Mr. Shortland takes offence, and is by his Friends persuaded to resign. Promise of Justice to the Old Settlers ...... 176

LETTER XI.

Mr. Shortland's Successor. The Governor's Decision regarding the Wairau Massacre offensive to the Nelson Settlers. Quarrel with the Natives in Auckland. Issue of Government Debentures. Satisfactory Settlement of the Land-Claims. Partial Acknowledgment of the Rights of the Aborigines. Legislative Council, a Mockery. Advantages of a proper Representative Government. Business of the Session. Estimates. New Taxes. Native Trust Bill. Partiality and Injustice of the same. Native Lands. Post-Office. Character of the new Governor. Mrs. Fitz Roy. Charitable Institutions. Captain Fitz Roy's Visit to Sydney injurious to the Colony. Mr. Freeman, Bishop Broughton, and Mr. Churton. Major Richmond and Sir George Gipps ....... 189

LETTER XII.

Effects of the new Taxes on the Aborigines. The Chief Heki. Serious Quarrel with the Natives at the Bay of Islands. Interview with the Chief. Satisfactory Settlement of the Quarrel. Abolition of Customs. Direct Taxation. Removal of the Restrictions on the Sale of Native Lands. Regulations rather defective; how remedied. Claim of the Old Settlers of New Zealand for Compensation from the Government. Improved Prospects of the Colony. Class of Emigrants for whom New Zealand is best adapted ............ 216

LETTER XIII.

Capabilities of New Zealand. Curse of Misgovernment. People driven away from the Colony. South American Emigrant. Indian Officer New Zealand preferable to any other British Colony. New South Wales compared with New Zealand. Great superiority of the latter. New Zealand compared with the North American Colonies; its superiority. Per-

CONTENTS.

fect Freedom from Fevers and all Epidemic Diseases accounted for. Indian Invalids. Hot Baths and Mineral Springs. Mineral Springs near Auckland, the Thames, and the Piaco. New South Wales Emigration Traps. Sheep Farming an unprofitable Occupation in New South Wales. Agriculture. Cheapness of Living. Facilities for the Establishment of New Settlers. Pig Hunting. Grazing. Sheep and Cattle Farming. Causes of the Failure of Colonists and the Prosperity of Colonies. Exports of New Zealand. Copper. Manganese. Copper Mines of Kauwau and the Great Barrier. Timber, Spars, Fish, Flax, Oil, Whaling, Dyewoods, &c ........ Page 235

LETTER XIV.

NEW ZEALAND COMPANY, Natives oppose the Location of Settlers. Agent of the Company to blame. Conduct of the New Zealand Company. Attempt to direct the Indignation of the Settlers from the Company to the Government and the Natives. Commissioner's Report. Impossibility of establishing a Title to the Company's Lands. Unhappy Condition of the Company's Settlers. The Governor's Attempt to relieve them. Wellington. Nelson. Wanganui. New Plymouth. Injury done to New Zealand by the Company. Mistakes committed by the Company. New Edinburgh. Manakau Company a Deception. Their Victims relieved by the Governor ....... 263

LETTER XV.

Aborigines. General Remarks on the Treatment of Aborigines. The Causes of their Extermination. Disease. Faith in Medicine. Method of living. Missionary Efforts to improve the Condition of the Natives. Where deficient. Cannibalism. Taraea. Native Slaves. Ignorance of the Native Character. How to estimate it. Improvement of the Human Race slow, gradual, and progressive. Intellectual, moral, and social Character of the New Zealanders. Chief. King. Religious Feeling. Want of Conscience. Covetousness. Benevolence. Vanity. Deficient Courage. Disregard of Life. Eroa. Want of National Affection. Infanticide. Increase of Population slow. Temperance. Physical Strength. Summary of the Native Character. Moral Influence exercised by the Europeans. Greatly destroyed by various Acts of the Government, by the New Zealand Company, and the Bishop of New Zealand. Conduct of the Church Missionaries contrasted with that of the Wesleyans. Religious Dissensions; their effects. Heki. Bunting. Rev. Mr. Turton. Best means of improving the Aborigines in a religious, moral, and physical point of view. Missionaries. English Schools. Opposition of Missionaries to English Schools. Absurdity of the Political Position of the Natives. The Laws of England inapplicable to their present condition. Native Exemption Bill imperfect. Sale of Lands. Necessity of establishing Hospitals, with the view of preserving the New Zealanders. Benefits conferred upon the Europeans by the Improvement of the Aborigines ........ 275

CONTENTS.

LETTER XVI.

Colonial Society. A Native Entertainment. Social Condition of Auckland Unmarried Ladies few and highly esteemed. Pretensions of the Government Officers. Effects of the Attempt to establish an Official Aristocracy. Attempt to reconcile the Government Officers and Private Settlers. Places of Public Amusement. Morality of Auckland. Clergy and Churches. Religious Dissensions transferred from the Living to the Dead. Refusal to bury the Dead. Bishop's College. Public Institutions. Reading-Room Library. Mechanics' Institute. Agricultural Society. Total Abstinence Society. Lodges. Philharmonic Society. Charitable Institutions. ....... Page 320

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

Conflict at the Bay of Islands. Result of Government Impolicy. Friendly Feeling of the Natives towards the Settlers. Reflections on the Present State of the Colony. Bay of Islands Residents entitled to Compensation. Impolicy and Injustice of seizing upon or taxing the Lands of the Aborigines. Poverty of the Settlers. Injustice of imposing a Land Tax. Representative Government. Property Rate Ordinance a good basis for Qualification. Right of Discovery considered. The Dispute between the New Zealand Company and the Government. Agreement of Lord John Russell. The proper understanding thereof. Church Missionaries – unfair Charges preferred against them by the New Zealand Company. ..... 333

APPENDIX.

Treaty of Waitangi.......... 360

Protest............. 364

Property-Rate Ordinance......... 368

Address to the Governor.......... 373

Proclamation........... 375

Meteorological Tables.......... 378

INTRODUCTION

[Pages 1-8 do not exist]

INTRODUCTION.

VANITY belongs to nations as well as individuals, and it frequently happens that, in both cases, the grounds for its exercise are as false and absurd as the feeling itself. Manufactures, commerce, and colonization, are, in that respect, the three great national fountains on which Englishmen generally draw. As far as the two first are concerned, there may have been (apart from other considerations) some cause of pride; but certain it is, that no man, who has for any time resided in an English Colony, will ever admit that England is entitled to take to herself any credit because of her treatment and management of the Colonies. The Colonies of England are doubtless extensive, wealthy, and important; but it does not by any means follow, that because they are so, the credit is due to the mother-country, or that the success of the Colonies is in any respect to be attributed to the justice and wisdom of England's Colonial policy. If the truth were known, it would readily be admitted, that England has less to boast of, as regards her Colonies, than any other country in Europe. It may be the case that the Colonies of other

European countries do not succeed as well as those of England; but it will be found that these other European Colonies fail, despite the efforts of their Governments in their behalf, and that England's Colonies, on the other hand, succeed, despite the neglect, the mismanagement, the injustice, and the oppression of the Home and Colonial Governments.

The French and English Colonies are frequently compared with one another, and, as a matter of course, Englishmen decide, perhaps justly, in favour of their own Colonies. The French are, it must be granted, unhappy in their attempts at founding Colonies; they do not succeed as Colonists; but their want of success must not be preferred as a charge against the French Government, or as any evidence in favour of the superior policy of the English Government. If the success and prosperity of a Colony depended merely upon the support of the Parent Government, the French Colonies should have been in advance of the English, inasmuch as the French expend much larger sums of money upon the establishment of their Colonies, and afford a much greater amount of security to their settlers, and are always more jealous over their interests, than the English. The difference in point of success is to be accounted for by the fact, that the French are not a colonizing people. Living for the present, and for present enjoyment, they are unable to endure the hardships and privations incident to a Colonial life. The social philosophy of a Frenchman teaches him to live for his own happiness, leaving his children to do the same; he has therefore no object in subjecting himself to the many privations and self-denials to which a Colonist must necessarily submit. The Government, under these circum-

stances, may do for him what they will, but they can never teach him to forego present pleasure for prospective gain. The Englishman, on the other hand, is born a Colonist; he is always feeding on the future, and denying himself the present: he starts in life in the hope of being able to accumulate as much money as may render it prudent for him to marry; and when he is married, and the father of a family, his anxiety is then to provide for his children. It is the same with a Colonist: he is always looking to the future; he buries himself in the heart of the Canadian forest, or roams as a shepherd over the barbarous and arid plains of New Holland, in the expectation of some day reaping a rich harvest from the one, or the golden fleece from the other. His hopes of happiness are prospective; but they are strong enough to enable him to endure present physical, social, and moral suffering.

The success of our Colonies, then, is altogether the effect of the peculiar character of our countrymen, and is not in the slightest degree the result of good government: on the contrary, it will be found that the history of every one of the British Colonies is nothing more or less than a record of the grossest blunders, ignorance, and oppression!

The Colonies of England are now beginning to attract some notice, and a hope may therefore be cherished that the Home Government will be induced to exercise a little more justice towards them than they have hitherto done.

Pauperism is yearly increasing in England: the accumulated mass of misery is becoming too large to be much longer dammed in. An outlet must be made for it somewhere: the Colonies afford the safest, and therefore they now attract some notice. It is well, even on this low ground, to be noticed: some good to the Colonies may result, if

not from the kindness, at least from the misery, of England.

The position of the British Colonist has hitherto been peculiar and anomalous: he was neither regarded as a British subject, nor altogether as a foreigner; he could neither claim the rights of the one, nor demand the respect which is always due to the other.

How such a system of things as that which prevails in some of the British Colonies could have arisen, it is difficult at the present time to say. The total deprivation of political rights and privileges could only have been submitted to by persons who had forfeited, or been deprived of, their natural rights; and as many of the first Colonies of England were settled either by convicts or slaves, the present parental system of Colonial government has most likely derived its origin from that circumstance. But whatever the origin may have been, it says little for the justice or kindness of the Home Government, that they should to the present time continue a system so monstrously unjust, and so grossly injurious to the Colonists; and much less for the Colonists themselves, in respect of independence and spirit, that they should have so long and so quietly submitted to such wrongs.

The British Colonist is, politically speaking, a serf, or rather a slave; for the feudal system, however barbarous it may have been, was in many respects preferable to the system of Colonial government. It is true that the serf worked for his feudal lord, but his labour and attachment were rewarded by a certain amount of kindness and protection which the Colonist has never yet experienced at the hands of his self-constituted masters: he is the slave in the hands of the overseer. To persons in England, especially if they

are unacquainted with Colonial matters, it may appear strange that a Colonist should be spoken of in this manner. They cannot understand how persons whom they have been accustomed to regard as enterprising and independent can be represented in this unhappy light. But it is nevertheless true, as every man finds to his cost when he arrives in a new Colony. An Englishman cannot sell his birthright, but he may be deprived of the best part of it by his Government. He will be looked after, claimed and taxed as a British subject wherever he may be found; but if he should determine on leaving the United Kingdom for any of the British Possessions abroad, let him not deceive himself by imagining that he will carry with him any of his political rights to the Colony to which he may emigrate. A slave becomes a freeman if he be fortunate enough to touch English ground; but an Englishman, if he settle in an English Colony, becomes politically a slave. The Government of England is called a mixed Government; the power is equally divided between the monarch, the barons, and the people. Of these three estates, the monarchy alone is extended to the Colonies; it is usually vested in a Viceroy, or Governor, in whose hands it generally degenerates into the purest and most absolute despotism.

In some of the Colonies, an attempt has been made to conceal from the people the total destitution of political rights by setting up a semblance or counterfeit of the institutions of the parent country. The North American Colonies, and New South Wales, of late, are mocked with the name of being possessed of a species of Representative Government, in the shape of Legislative Assemblies, to which the people are permitted to elect a certain number of persons as their representatives. But even if all the members

of such assemblies were really elected by the people, they will still be found to be powerless for any good, inasmuch as the representative of Majesty, by being required to sanction their acts before they can become law, has thereby, at all times, the means of controlling and suspending their operations; and even when the Governor may happen to approve of their measures, they must still be submitted to the magnates of the Colonial Office before they are finally confirmed. New Zealand and several other Colonies are not deemed worthy to possess even such an approach to a Constitutional Government as the above. The Governor of such a Colony as New Zealand is in reality clothed with more power, in proportion to the inhabitants and territory, than any of the crowned despots of Europe. That power, when exercised by a wise and a just man, may doubtless tend occasionally to promote the prosperity of the Colony: but if it should happen otherwise, as it is sure to do in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the amount of mischief and misery is inconceivable to any person who has not been unfortunate enough to reside in a Colony.

In England, the vice or extravagance of the rulers is at all times more or less subject to the control of the people. A threat to stop the supplies is on all occasions a very potent check. But the unfortunate Colonist can have no recourse to anything of that kind, even in the hour of extremity. He is taxed like every other British subject; but he has neither the satisfaction of taxing himself, nor of exercising the slightest control over the expenditure of the money raised from the fruits of his own industry.

As in the case of New Zealand, an extravagant and expensive Government is established without his consent or approbation. Offices are created for the purpose of being

filled by the friends or favourites of the party in power at home, with a total disregard of the wants and requirements of the Colonists, or the fitness of the parties so appointed.

New Zealand, although one of the youngest of the Colonies of England, will perhaps afford one of the very best illustrations of the present system of Colonial government, the lamentable consequences arising therefrom, and the necessity of a complete change, if we desire either to save the Colonists from ruin, or the Home Government from expense.

The English people of late complain, and justly, of the expense, if not uselessness, of the Colonies to England; but before they entertain any hostile feelings towards the Colonists, or even attach any blame to them, they ought to inform themselves well as to the merits of the case. It cannot and will not be denied, even by a Colonist, that the Colonies are a great expense to the mother-country. Some of them will perhaps even go as far as the most radical members of the Anti-Corn Law League itself, and acknowledge that England would be better off without any of her Colonies; they may even assert that the Colonies themselves would be benefited if the connexion were to cease. With the exception of the annual bribe to Canada, to keep her from rebellion, there is scarcely another Colony which is in the slightest degree benefited by the expenditure of English money. Mere military stations, such as Gibraltar, or convict settlements, like Van Diemen's Land, must not be regarded in the light of Colonies; they are kept up by the Home Government either on account of imaginary or real advantages; and it is not fair to tax the free Colonies with the expense incurred on account of the vanity or the crime of England.

Whatever her Colonies may cost England, it must not for one moment be supposed that that money is expended for their benefit, or that the Colonies would not prosper as well and better under a different system. But so long as patronage is necessary to power, so long will the people of England be made to pay for the Colonies, and so long will the Colonies themselves be misgoverned, and the interests of the Colonists neglected. If the people of England complain because they are made to contribute such large sums of money towards the maintenance of the Colonial Possessions of England, and if they desire to get rid of that expense, let them assist the Colonists in obtaining an improved and a rational system of government. The Colonies are useful, and highly useful, to the people of England, as an outlet for their manufactures. The people of England ought, therefore, to assist the Colonies in obtaining justice. The Colonies are also useful to the Government of England, under the present system, because they assist the party in power in obtaining and keeping place. This Colonial patronage has no small effect in deciding the contest at the English elections; and so long as the Colonies can be thus made serviceable to the Government, so long will the Government continue their present scheme of Colonial policy, however expensive it may be to the people of England, or injurious to the interests of the Colonists.

From the peculiar and un-English position of the inhabitants of our Colonies, they are left completely at the mercy of their rulers. Wrongs may be perpetrated at home, and grievances may be sustained; but the injured party has an opportunity, through some one of the people, of making known his complaint, if not of obtaining redress.

The Colonist, on the other hand, is shut out from every door of hope. To the Imperial Parliament he has no access, because, though a British subject, he has no representative in the one house, and no friend in the other. A Colonist is said to be a British subject, but he is neither a peer nor a commoner. Like the Catholics of Ireland in former times, he is deprived of a local legislature, and his condition precludes him from any interest in the Government of the United Country; and, like the Catholics of Ireland, he need never expect emancipation, or a redress of political and civil grievances, unless he threaten a repeal of the Union, or openly rebel, like Canada.

The distance of the Colonies from the mother-country, and the difficulty of obtaining accurate information regarding their condition, may be urged as excuses for much of the misgovernment of the Colonies; but they may, with greater propriety, be urged as reasons for a change of system. If the Colonies of England be so numerous and so far distant, that it is impossible, under the present system, to govern them aright, it is surely reasonable that the Colonists should expect and demand a change – such a change, in fact, as would give the people in the Colonies somewhat of that overruling power and control over the government of the respective Colonies, which is now so absurdly placed in the hands of one man at home, and which is, generally speaking, so impotently and uselessly, if not mischievously exercised. To expect that one man, in the shape of Secretary for the Colonies, (be his talents, industry, and integrity what they may,) can manage aright the varied interests of the millions who reside in our Colonies, is an absurdity which the passiveness of the Colonists alone

could have permitted the Home Government so long to act upon. It is, however, to be hoped that the now more intimate acquaintance of the people at home with Colonial affairs will have the effect of establishing a state of things better calculated to promote the interests of the Colonies, as well as to save the mother-country from the enormous expense at present entailed upon her through the misgovernment of the Colonies.

In order to show clearly that it is both the interest of the people at home as well as in the Colonies to obtain a better system of Colonial government, it may be well, under their proper heads, to put down the expenditure of a British Colony for one year. New Zealand will serve as a good illustration.

The European population of New Zealand, amounting to not more than 12,000, was governed by Captain William Hobson and Mr. Willoughby Shortland, in the year 1842, at an expense of £73,018 13s. 3 3/4d., or about £6 per head. The manner in which that money has been raised and spent will at once show what interest the Colonists have in maintaining such an extravagant Government. The money required for meeting that expenditure was in part taken from the people of the Colony, and partly from their friends in the mother-country: under these two heads it may therefore be conveniently and properly stated, thus:

FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE COLONY.

Ordinary revenue, taxes, duties, &c. -

£18,864 8 2

Sales of Crown Lands made in the Colony,

10,832 8 9 1/2

Sales of old stores, cattle, horses, &c.

2,351 7 8

Balance on 1st January, 1842, -

4,375 14 9 3/4

£40,423 19 5 1/4

FROM THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND.

Treasury Bills, – – – -

£13,494 7 8

Advances made by New South Wales, and paid for by England – -

9,179 2 4

Balance of stores from New South Wales, paid for in similar manner -

4,312 15 6 1/2

Advances in England, on account of emigration,

5,608 8 4

£32,594 13 10 1/2

These are large sums to be advanced for a small Colonial Government, but the manner in which the money has been expended will show what benefits have been conferred by that expenditure on each of the parties contributing it. The Colonists have contributed the largest amount, and, under all circumstances, may be supposed to have received the greatest benefit. The advantages to them have been so small, however, that it cannot even for a moment be supposed that they would give their consent to such extravagance if they had it in their power to check it. The Colonists contributed upwards of £40,000. The heads of expenditure may be called three: the People, the Governor, and the Government Officers.

EXPENDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PEOPLE.

Excavating and levelling a street in Auckland,

£305 15 11

" " " " " " " " "

31 10 0

Repairing a road, – -

22 10 10

Making a trench, – -

48 12 0

Draining a swamp, – -

69 12 0

Salaries and rations to Messrs. Hailes and Figg, while On the roads, – -

50 16 10

£528 18 1

This is all that has really been spent for the benefit of the Colony; and even that small sum would not have been expended, but for the fact that Mr. Shortland was obliged to employ some immigrants for several weeks after their

arrival; and, as it is, the money has been very injudiciously laid out. By means of the excavations of the streets, private individuals have been made to sustain a large amount of damage. Certain levels were given to them by the surveyors when they purchased their allotments; their houses were built according to these levels. Mr. Shortland's improvements have so changed the streets, that the houses of some of these parties are now ten or eleven feet below the new levels, and those of others equally high above them.

EXPENDED ON GOVERNOR AND ESTABLISHMENTS.

Salary, &c. – – – -

£1,315 15 0

Private Secretary, &c. – – –

218 16 6

Expenses of Government brig or Governor's yacht, for one year, – – – -

2,079 17 7

Expenses of his Excellency and some friends onboard yacht or Government brig, -

174 15 10

Harbour-master, or person to look after yacht while at Auckland, – – –

1,115 16 7

Governor's medical attendant, – – -

475 4 O 1/2

Governor's chaplain, – – –

238 2 6

Governor's tutor, – – – -

15 0 0

Governor's chapel, – – –

500 0 0

Reporting and printing Governor's speeches and proclamations, – -

928 1 6

Purchase of press and types for printing the same, -

1,425 0 0

Expenses attending Legislative Council for misgoven ing Colony, – –

591 18 5

Repairing Governor's house, kitchen, laundry, &c.; cultivating kitchen-garden, making private walks, and fencing that part of Mr. Shortland's allotments next to the domain, -

9,908 18 2

Expenses of Mr. Cooper to Sydney, while negotiating a loan from Mr. Boyd, at 15 per cent.

75 18 0

Governor's orderlies, or mounted police,

357 0 2

Hire of boat for Governor at Kaipara, -

3 0 0

Governor's coffin and funeral expenses, – -

50 0 0

18,663 14 3 1/2

The above monstrous establishment scarcely requires any remarks; it speaks volumes for itself. Perhaps it may be said that the charges of Chaplain and Tutor ought not to appear in the establishment of the Governor. But as nothing else is expended on account of education or religion in the Colony, it would be mockery to charge them against the people. They are at all events inconsiderable items, and are only worthy of notice, as showing how much has been done by the New Zealand Government for the education and moral improvement of the people: £15 for schools, and £9,000 for repairing the Governor's house and kitchen, look well side by side. If the expenses of the Governor and his establishments be thus infamous, those of the Officers of Government and their establishments are still more so: –

EXPENSES OF GOVERNMENT OFFICERS.

Colonial Secretary and clerks, &c. -

£2,267 2 7 1/2

" " Treasurer, – –

1,479 18 5

Expenses of auditing accounts, – -

533 0 2

Officers of Customs, – –

3,490 17 1

Court of Inquisition, or Commissioners of Land Claims.

3,298 9 2

Registrar of Deeds, –

344 14 8

Post-office, – – -

759 5 10

Colonial Store,

623 5 8

Chief Justice and Law Officers...

3,788 0 4 1/2

Police Magistrates and Constables,

4,688 5 2

Money paid to natives for land, -

2,231 8 2

Protectors of Aborigines, –

1,550 3 11 1/2

Surveyors, – –

8,134 10 2 1/2

Passage of useless emigrants from England,

7,411 9 9 1/2

Cash to Haile and Brydon, -

10 0 0

Binding and printing deeds, – -

20 5 0

Advance to Officers on account of Public Service, -

4,267 0 0

Do. do. on account of Salary,

83 3 4

Carried over -

£44,980 19 7 1/2

Brought forward,

£44,980 19 7 1/2

Rent of temporary offices, -

75 0 0

Furniture for some Government offices,

43 16 0

Gifts to natives, – -

0 16 0

Arrears of previous year, and expenses defrayed by Colonial Agent-General in England,

1,916 16 8

Balance on 31st, December, 1840, -

6,808 11 11 3/4

£53,826 0 31/4

It must appear really wonderful to persons unacquainted with the state of New Zealand, how Mr. Shortland could have contrived to spend upon himself and his colleagues upwards of £70,000, and avoid not laying out more than £500 for the benefit of the Colony. The system of Colonial Government pursued by Great Britain will alone account for such an unnatural state of things as that of a whole Colony being left to the mercy of one individual, who has the power of exacting from them all he can in the shape of taxes, and spending it as he likes, without the slightest regard to their wishes or interests. People very likely imagine that the Colonists of New Zealand are quite delighted at the idea of so much English money being spent in that Colony; but if they take into account the manner in which that money has been spent, and the amount that is raised from the Colonists themselves, independent of that received from the Home Government, they will at once believe that the Colonists would willingly give up the aid from home, on condition of obtaining a proper control over the revenue and the expenditure of the Government of the Colony. Until they do so, they will never become heartily reconciled to or well disposed towards any Government established in the Colony. The Colonists do not want the money of the people of England while, as in New Zealand, it is merely an engine of op-

pression. For however extravagant the expenditure of Government during the misrule of Captain Hobson and Mr. Shortland, it is still nothing compared to the amount of private property which has been sacrificed through the rapacity, ignorance, and oppression of these persons.

While the Colonists are made to contribute so largely, and receive such a small benefit as the expenditure of about £500 on public improvements, it cannot be shown that the people of England obtain any direct advantage from the £30,000 which they have spent in one year upon the Government Officers of New Zealand. It is true that New Zealand confers a benefit upon England by its very large consumption of English manufactures and English goods; but not a shilling of the £30,000 has been devoted to the purpose of extending trade and commerce, or facilitating intercourse with unknown parts of the country. On the contrary, it has had a most powerful effect in destroying the commerce of the Colony, by maintaining and perpetuating a most oppressive and unjust Government, under which no person could thrive or prosper.

Let the people of England, then, unite with the Colonists of New Zealand, and every other British Possession, in obtaining a just Government, and they will, by so doing, render them services infinitely greater than if they were to double the amount of their present contributions to the Colonial taskmasters. The Colonists require nothing at the hands of the people of England but the permission to manage their own affairs. Let them be acknowledged as men and full-grown British subjects, and they are satisfied.

To expect justice from the Colonial Office, under whatever auspices it may be managed, is utterly hopeless; for

it will be found, as a general principle, that by how much the servants of that department injure and misgovern the Colonies entrusted to them, by so much will they recommend themselves to the Colonial Office. New Zealand affords a notable example of the truth of this statement. Mr. Shortland, the ex-Secretary of New Zealand, the acknowledged plague-spot of that Colony – he whose demerits and incapacity have been acknowledged and published before the country, in the speeches even of Sir Robert Peel, Sir James Graham, and Mr. Hope, during the late debate on New Zealand affairs – he who has ruined New Zealand, and caused a loss of hundreds of thousands to this country, has been rewarded for these services with the government of another British Colony. Mr. Shortland ruined New Zealand; he has therefore been appointed Governor of Nevis. If he have any other qualification for that office, it is known to Lord Stanley alone. During the four years that he blighted and blasted New Zealand, it was never discovered that he had any. Captain FitzRoy, on the other hand, who, it must be acknowledged even by his enemies, had the most intense desire to benefit the Colony, and who, in spite of what may be asserted to the contrary, did most materially benefit New Zealand, has been dismissed without an assigned reason. The Colonists and the public do not even yet know why the Colonial Minister has dismissed Captain FitzRoy. They may suppose it was because he had not the philosopher's stone, and could not consequently manufacture sufficient gold instead of debentures to pay his officers, or because he did not, as Lord Stanley expected, give prima facie titles to the New Zealand Company for lands proved still to be the property of the aborigines. Perhaps he was expected, as Sir

Robert Peel proposes, to register the lands of the natives, and to impose an annual tax, with the view of confiscating them and adding to the demesnes of the Crown. By attending to these instructions, he might doubtless have kept his appointment, even although he should, by so doing, be the means of plunging the Colony in a war of extermination with the aborigines – which must unquestionably result from the attempt to enforce the two last. The Government may tax and confiscate the lands of the natives; but they must, before so doing, exterminate them in the first place; and it remains to be seen – apart from the sin, inhumanity, and barbarism of the deed – -whether New Zealand is really worth the amount of money and life which must be expended on that monstrous and cruel scheme.

If our Government be wise, they will be satisfied with New Zealand as it is; and, instead of trafficking in the sale of land, they will simply maintain a Government in that country as a matter of police, and with the view of protecting both races, and preserving the peace. If they attempt anything more, they will sadly rue the day they ever heard of New Zealand. Already the blood of the aborigines has been shed in deadly conflict with that of our countrymen, through an infamous and unjust attempt to occupy their unsold lands. Our Government has been sufficiently warned of the effects of rude interference with the rights of the natives by the sad fate of our countrymen at Wairoa; but similar and even worse results will attend the new schemes, if carried into effect.

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LETTER I.

NEW ZEALAND.

LETTER I.

Passage from Sydney. Fellow Passengers. Colonial Morality. Hokianga Bar and Harbour. Wesleyan Missionaries. Natives. Baron de Theiry. His pretensions to the Sovereignty of New Zealand. Declaration of Independence of the Chiefs, asserted by the British Resident and Church Missionaries. New Zealand Roads. Small Native Settlement. Native Houses. Native method of Cooking. Weimate. Extensive Purchase of Lands by the Church Missionaries. Hard, but successful attempt, at obtaining a Night's Lodging. Paiha. Inhospitality of Mr. Baker. Bay of Islands. Storekeeper. Kororarika. Foundation of Kororarika by Benjamin Turner. Other Settlements of the Bay of Islands.

NEW ZEALAND, BAY OF ISLANDS,
June, 1839.

IN some of my last letters from New South Wales I mentioned to you that I had intended shortly to visit this country. I also stated the reasons why I was anxious to leave the penal Colony, which, however well adapted for its original purpose, will, I am confident, never become the happy home of a contented and a moral, free population. But I have said enough on that subject on former occasions; I must now give you some idea of this reputedly savage and cannibal country. The passage from Sydney to Hokianga, a port on the west side of this island, was performed in seven days. We encountered very rough weather; but being a good sailor, and in a safe ship, I suffered no inconvenience. Hokianga is a bar harbour, and in consequence of strong westerly winds, the master of the vessel considered it unsafe to take the bar the day we made the land; the following morning, however, though the sea was still running very high, we ventured among the breakers, which

were really terrific; but, fortunately, the bar is so narrow that with a fair wind, and at the proper time of tide, the danger is not very great: three huge waves or breakers indicate its situation and extent, when they are past the danger is over. Besides our friend Mr. M – – – , my fellow-passengers consisted of two old Hokianga settlers, two respectable young men, who, like Mr. M – – – and myself, had come on purpose to see the country, and a Van Diemen's Land settler, who had visited New Zealand formerly and purchased some land, which he was now proceeding to occupy in person. He was accompanied by a young female, whom he called his wife; but I discovered afterwards that his real wife was left in Van Diemen's Land, where he had at one time occupied, what is called in such Colonies, a respectable position in society, having been a magistrate. Morality and propriety of conduct were unhappily in former times not more highly esteemed in the penal settlements than their opposite; perhaps the fact of this person deeming it necessary to leave the Colony might indicate a change for the better; but many immoral and improper characters still occupy places of honour and trust in the penal Colonies. Mr. I – – appeared, as is always the case, not to have much increased his happiness by the change he had made – the Sydney wife, though young and rather good-looking, was exceedingly vulgar and intemperate.

With the exception of the bar, a splendid river harbour, and some fine woodland scenery, Hokianga does not possess much interest. It is the chief station of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and all the natives who have embraced Christianity, as a matter of course, profess Wesleyanism. Hitherto the Missionaries of the two societies have exercised a forbearing, if not a friendly feeling towards one another. Being until recently the only occupiers of the field, they very wisely agreed not to interfere with one

another. Like Abraham and Lot, it was decided that the one should turn towards the east, and the other to the west. The Church Missionaries have established themselves along the east coast of New Zealand, while the Wesleyans devote themselves to the conversion of the inhabitants of the west. The Wesleyan Missionaries are reported to have been the most successful, but of the truth of this I have as yet had little opportunity of judging. The natives belonging to their communion are also reported to be better behaved and more civilised, and they themselves are, generally speaking, better thought of by the European settlers. The Church Missionaries are charged with the character of being proud, overbearing, unkind, and especially inhospitable. I fear there is some foundation for the latter charge at least, although in a country like New Zealand there could not by possibility be greater virtues than charity and hospitality.

The natives of Hokianga seem to have made considerable progress in civilisation. In this respect there is perhaps little difference between those professing Christianity and the heathen natives. A chief of the latter class called Tonui dined on board the ship the day of our arrival; he managed his knife and fork very creditably, and was not by any means indifferent to the usual forms. Tonui is a chief of considerable influence, and an extensive dealer in spars and timber, the dimensions of which he can calculate with much precision.

The European settlers at Hokianga, with the exception of the Missionaries, consist entirely of sawyers and those who employ them. They are scattered along the harbour in various creeks and bays. From the nature of the country all communication is by water, either in boats, or more frequently in native canoes.

In consequence of the evils arising from the inordinate use of ardent spirits, a temperance society was established at Hokianga a short time ago; but although all the settlers on the river took the pledge it was soon broken through, and they are now as much as ever addicted to drink. The land around the harbour is extremely steep and precipitous, being in its present state not adapted either for agriculture or pasture. A very extensive tract of rich alluvial soil, however, extends for a considerable distance, forming a beautiful valley along the banks of a river at the head of the harbour, and I have been informed that similar tracts exist at the heads of nearly all the other rivers and creeks, of which there are many around the harbour, but the expense of clearing the land and cutting down the timber would be too great in the present state of the country; indeed, the natives produce all the necessaries of life so abundantly and cheaply, that no European farmer could compete with them in so limited a market. Some cargoes of Kauri spars have been shipped to England from Hokianga, but through the ignorance or carelessness of the shippers they have seldom paid well, being either too expensively procured or of unsuitable dimensions.

After remaining two days at Hokianga and seeing everything that could be seen, I determined, in company with Mr. M – – , and two of the other passengers, to proceed overland to the Bay of Islands, as being the most central point for further movements. The journey from Hokianga to the Bay of Islands may be performed in summer in one day, but in consequence of the heavy falls of rain in the winter time, it is a weary walk of two days by the nearest route. Through the assistance of one of the European settlers we were enabled, with much difficulty, to obtain the services of six natives to carry our luggage

across the country and to act as guides. The difficulty of obtaining them arose from the circumstance of their being at the time engaged in cultivating their land. The offer of a dollar apiece was, however, sufficient to induce the six good Wesleyan natives to leave their cultivation and to accompany the pakehas, or strangers, to the Bay of Islands. It is worthy of remark and somewhat in favour of the Missionaries, that Christian natives were recommended in preference to heathen, as being more faithful and trustworthy than the latter, and that, too, by a person not at all friendly towards the Missionaries. In the afternoon we started from the ship in a native canoe, and proceeded up the river a distance of eight or nine miles to a native settlement, where the road, or rather the foot-track, to the Bay of Islands commences. Before arriving at that place we were thoroughly drenched with rain, and finding the accommodations rather unpromising, we determined on making an effort to obtain better. Having learnt from the natives that a light which we perceived on an eminence at some distance proceeded from the residence of the Baron de Theiry, of whom you may possibly have heard in connexion with this country, it was agreed that, like true travellers, we should without hesitation make for the baronial residence, and throw ourselves as benighted pilgrims upon the hospitality of its regal owner. Leaving four of the natives in charge of our baggage, under the guidance of the other two we commenced the rather perilous undertaking of working our way over stumps of trees and decayed logs towards the Baron's house. After sundry falls, some slight contusions, and a good coating of mud and clay, we attained the desired object. With the exception of a small glass window in front, we discovered, to our dismay, that the baronial residence was little better,

in appearance at least, than the native huts we had left. It was constructed of the same materials, and after the same style of architecture, but somewhat larger. Seeking in vain for the door in front of the house, we came to the conclusion that it must be at the back, or at all events somewhere. At the back we discovered it, and I being perhaps the most impudent of the four, was unanimously selected as the fittest person to try the effects of the application of my knuckles upon the Kauri boards, in the absence of a bell or knocker. After the usual intimation, the door was opened by a person who had just risen for the purpose from a good blazing fire in a place which appeared like a kitchen. Of this person I inquired if the Baron was at home; I also told the usual tale of travelling distress, and the very great reluctance with which we had been compelled to pay so unseasonable a visit. The person who opened the door, being no less a personage than the Baron himself, assured us at once of a hearty welcome by expressing his great happiness in seeing and accommodating strangers at all times, and we were immediately conducted to a small square wooden box opposite the door, where we were left to meditate in darkness upon the prospect before us. The Baron, however, returned as soon as possible with a light, which enabled us to become more intimately acquainted with his appearance, as well as with our own mud-bespattered persons. On the Baron's re-appearance we could not help noticing that he had during his absence materially improved his exterior, so much so that he could have been no longer mistaken for his own domestic, even if he had one. As it was, such a thing could not be, inasmuch as the sovereign chief comprehended in his own person and family all that existed of his feudal dignity and power. He was in truth the feudal lord without the followers or

serfs. As this was the first European family I had visited in New Zealand, and as the Baron's name and character are public property, I may be forgiven if I give a more particular account of our reception than under ordinary circumstances I could be justified in doing. To speak of the domestic economy of a family is seldom consistent with propriety, and almost always an outrage upon hospitality; but when you know that the Baron de Theiry assumes the name of sovereign, claiming, as he does, the title of King of Nehuheva, and "by the grace of God Sovereign Chief of New Zealand," you must allow that there can be no more sin in speaking of the Court of Charles, Sovereign Chief of New Zealand, than of that of the King of England, or the Citizen King of France, the only crowned head in Europe whose alliance King Charles deemed it consistent with his dignity to claim. Charles Baron de Theiry is about fifty years of age; he is, I believe, the son of a French emigrant, an hereditary French peer, but born and educated in England. When dressed, he wears the undress uniform of an officer of the English army. He has most likely held a commission in Her Majesty's service. How or why he left that service I know not, but for some years he has been making the most persevering efforts to place himself, in name at least, on an equality with his late royal master. With this object, and doubtless filled with the fame of the celebrated Cacique of Poyais, Gregor MacGregor, he has visited various parts of South America; but none of the Indian tribes would submit to his rule. From South America he proceeded to the islands of the South Sea, perilling life and everything else, like Ulysses of old, in search of his kingdom. The Sandwich Islands, Tahiti, and various other islands of the great South Sea were visited and asked in vain to accept of a king. The

inhabitants of the Marquesas at last took compassion upon the erratic prince, and constituted him king of one of their smallest islands, called Nehuheva. Whether he was expelled by his subjects, if ever he had any, or whether the taste of power had generated the usual kingly desire of extending his dominions, it is hard to say, but certain it is that he had a design upon New Zealand for a long time. The peculiar condition of this country, being neither claimed by any European power, nor under the government of any powerful native prince or princes, would at first sight appear to highly favour the views of the Baron. In addition to this, he claimed a large tract of land at Hokianga, which he alleged had been purchased on his account many years ago for twenty tomahawks by one of the Church Missionaries. Revolving all these favourable circumstances in his royal bosom, King Charles left his kingdom of Nehuheva and arrived in Sydney in the year 1835. Immediately on his arrival, he caused a proclamation to be published intimating his designs upon New Zealand. This proclamation was indited in the usual kingly style, commencing with the words – "Charles, by the grace of God, King of Nehuheva and Sovereign Chief of New Zealand, &c." Having made it appear that he was countenanced in his pretensions by the King of the French, and exhibiting several documents from the Government of France, he had little difficulty in persuading many persons in Sydney that his claims were not only well founded, but would be supported by his ally the Citizen King. His own gentlemanly address, good manners, and great presumption, contributed very much to the success of his preliminary scheme – that of raising a sum of money to enable him to visit his dominions with that power and dignity which became his royal pretensions. A person could

scarcely believe that men so proverbially keen as those of New South Wales would allow themselves to be taken in by a pure adventurer like the Baron de Theiry, however high his pretensions may have been; it is nevertheless true that the Baron succeeded in raising a considerable sum of money by the sale of some bills which he drew upon the French Government: these bills were discounted by a mercantile house in Sydney of the name of Wilson, (strange to say, Aberdeen people,) but after the bills were forwarded to their destination, they were, as might have been expected, returned dishonoured. The Baron with the money thus-obtained proceeded immediately to accomplish the object so long desired – the possession of his sovereignty. A host of servants and retainers were engaged; all necessary, and some unnecessary, supplies were purchased, and a ship was chartered to convey the Sovereign Chief, his court, and followers, to Hokianga, where he purposed establishing himself in the first instance. The fame of his proceedings in Sydney, as a matter of course, preceded his arrival in New Zealand, and produced various effects in various places. While the people of Hokianga had made up their minds to submit quietly, if not cheerfully, to his authority, the British Resident and the Church Missionaries regarded the state of affairs in a very different light. To the one it appeared as an attempt on the part of France to infringe upon the rights of the country which he so faithfully, but never till then effectively, represented. To the Missionaries, again, it seemed as the shadowing forth of a coming cloud of Popish priests, who by their doctrines would deceive and lead astray all the faithful and beloved natives in the country. The Baron must, therefore, be opposed politically and spiritually, and without a moment's delay. A convention of the natives was forthwith called at the Bay of Is-

lands – a declaration was prepared by the Missionaries and British Resident, and adopted and subscribed by the chiefs of the northern part of New Zealand. In that declaration they set forth the independence of their country, and declared the union of their respective tribes into one state, under the designation of the United Tribes of New Zealand. A copy of the declaration, with a request that Great Britain would acknowledge their independence, was immediately forwarded to the British Government through the Resident. How far that gentlemen was warranted in thus ceding away the claims of the country he so uselessly represented, it is scarcely necessary to say.

A few days after the completion of these great and formal proceedings, the Sovereign Chief arrived at Hokianga, and was received on landing from his ship with royal honours by the assembled European and native residents. One or two old guns were conveyed to a rising ground, and a royal salute was fired. So far matters promised well. With a few faithful and loyal subjects in one part of his dominions, Charles might naturally and most likely did expect that the wisdom, the impartiality, and justice of his Government would in time recommend it to the disaffected Missionaries and natives of the Bay of Islands. So fully was he impressed with that belief, that he abstained from taking notice of their highly disloyal and reprehensible conduct in attempting to establish a rival Government. How far Charles could have succeeded, had his means (I mean his money) been commensurate with his ambition, it is now hard to say; but the want of funds, the absence of Aberdeen merchants, and consequent inability to discount his French bills – the impossibility of procuring additional supplies, and the want of provisions for his followers and servants, soon reduced the Court and Government of the

Baron to the number and members of his own family. It must however be stated to the credit of his followers, that they did not abandon him until he had nothing more to feed them with; several suffered great privations before they got back to New South Wales, and some of them had to throw themselves on the charity of the Missionaries. Thus the Baron practically failed in establishing his sovereignty, and I regret to say that he has been no more successful in establishing his claim to the lands which he alleges to have purchased from the natives. The dream of power still haunts him, and though left without money, servants, or even food for his family, he cherishes the monomaniac idea that France will yet assist and establish him as Sovereign Chief of New Zealand. We had scarcely been seated in his house, before he asked whether we had seen any French ships outside, and informed us with all the sincerity and gravity imaginable, that he expected two or three ships with troops and emigrants every day, and that he was just about laying out a township near the harbour for the purpose of locating them. In connexion with the Sovereign Chieftainship, he talks of making a carriage road to the Bay of Islands, of which, while he had any servants about him, he actually finished about one or two hundred yards. Another project which he seriously contemplates, is the making a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. What bearing the latter scheme has upon the Bay of Islands road or the New Zealand Chieftainship, I could not discover; but they appear to be intimately connected with one another in his mind, at least. Notwithstanding a feeling of pity for himself and his family, we could not help being amused with the serious and solemn manner in which he spoke of his various past, present, and future undertakings, appealing every now and then to the

Baroness for confirmation, which she, to her credit, never withheld. Whether the frequent repetition of the same schemes taught her to believe in their truth, or whether she deemed it useless to contradict him, I do not know, but she invariably and good-naturedly bore willing testimony to everything the Baron asserted. It is proper to mention that while the Baron's family bore every appearance of being in want of all the comforts and many of the necessaries of life, every effort that the kindest hospitality could suggest was made for our comfort. If anything were wanting, we were politely told it was because it could not be procured. We had no bread at supper; but to prevent our supposing that that circumstance was in the slightest degree to be attributed to the poverty of our host, we were informed that the last bag of flour was only finished the day before we arrived, and that a new supply was daily expected from Sydney, and had most likely arrived in our own vessel. The absence of wine and spirits was in a similar manner ingeniously accounted for by the fact of the Baron having a great regard for Father Mathew's principles, which he practically carried out by the total disuse of wine and spirits in his household. We could have forgiven him had he had not insisted on making us converts for the night, but he could not help himself.

Being anxious to hear the Baron's views on the political prospects of the country, I took the liberty of asking whether there was any chance of immediately establishing a Government in New Zealand, and what form of Government would best meet the wishes of the people generally. I felt that in putting such a question I might seem to have forgotten or disbelieved all that he had already communicated regarding his own pretensions. However, he took no offence, but gave me a very distinct and accu-

rate idea of the state of the country, and the various schemes proposed by the European population for the establishment of order. He informed me that three plans had been proposed, the first being to place the supreme power in the hands of one native chief. This was a scheme which he himself highly disapproved. The idea of transforming a blanketed chief into a King of New Zealand he treated with indignation. The second, which was to establish a mixed Government, consisting of native chiefs and the more respectable European settlers, was nearly equally objectionable; but the third plan, that of investing some distinguished European with supreme authority, coincided fully with his views, and as a matter of course met with our entire approval. The matter being so far settled, I then asked him if any person had been thought of as fit to wield the sceptre. He replied with great gravity that he himself was the person deemed most worthy at present, and addressing himself to the whole of us, he concluded his remarks by very disinterestedly telling us if we were to become purchasers of land in the country, and that if any of us should be deemed more fit than himself, he would support us; on the other hand, if he should be deemed the fittest person himself, he would expect that we should support him, which we promised faithfully to do.

Highly refreshed by the Baron's conversation and a few hours of sleep, we arose early in the morning with the intention of proceeding on our journey; but our host anticipated our intentions, for he was up before us, and was very anxious we should wait breakfast, which we were obliged to decline. He then insisted on showing us a portion of his dominions, and pressed us very much to lease some of his lands, offering the most advantageous terms; but, knowing beforehand that he merely occupied them himself through

the forbearance of the natives, we could not then at least fall into his views: we however satisfied him by praising their fertility and great value.

The above sketch of the Baron de Theiry, a personage who has been deemed worthy of the notice of the British Government, may prove interesting to you, tending as it does, to a certain extent, to exhibit the true character of a pretender – a man of good education and manners, who possesses considerable ability, though impracticable for any good or useful purpose, who, while his aspirations are so high, has, with criminal indifference, allowed his children to grow up in total ignorance. His eldest son, or heir apparent, is said to be in every respect a native. The Baron, however, is not a solitary instance of an educated man mis-spending in the forming of wild and visionary schemes the time which he ought in duty to have devoted to the education of his family. So much for "Charles, by the grace of God, Sovereign Chief of New Zealand." I must now endeavour to give you some idea of our journey to this place, together with the troubles and dangers attending it, both by land and water.

On arrival at the native settlement we found everything safe, and the natives busy cooking their breakfast, which, like that of the Irish, and, I regret to say, of the Highlanders, consists almost always of potatoes. The natives of this country have a particular method of cooking their food by means of what is called a native oven, somewhat similar, I have no doubt, to that which was used by the ancient Fingalians. The native oven is simply a shallow pit, dug in the ground, and filled with small rounded stones; over these stones a fire of wood is lighted, and when the stones are supposed to be sufficiently heated, they are all removed, with the exception of the bottom layer, on which a tier of potatoes is placed, and over that another layer of

stones, and so on till the pit is nearly filled; the rest of the hot stones are placed over all, and covered with a layer of fern or dry flax, as a protection from the earth, of which a sufficient quantity is thrown on the top to prevent the heat from escaping. They not only cook their potatoes, but also their pork and every other article of food, in this frying, steaming manner, and the meat is very frequently clean and well cooked. On the potatoes thus cooked, together with some biscuit and ham which we brought from the ship, we all made a good breakfast, and having secured our portmanteaus and trunks by means of slips of the native flax (a very convenient substitute for rope) on the backs of the natives, we proceeded on our journey, the first part of the road being along the banks of the river through a rather extensive and level valley, covered with a magnificent forest of kauri and kaikatea trees, two of the most valuable and finest woods in the country. A New Zealand road or foot-path, especially in the interior of the country, presents very few objects of interest; at all events, the fatigue of travelling in a very rainy day, such as we had, is more than enough to engage the attention of the traveller. All that I can tell you of our first day's journey is, that during the first five or six miles we followed the natives through a fine and fertile valley, eminently adapted for cultivation. We then ascended a hill covered with wood and vines to the very top. We had no sooner arrived at the top, than we had to descend into a steep and deep gully, and up again the side of another hill, and so on over steep hills and deep valleys until the evening, when, wet and weary, we were glad to find ourselves approaching a small native settlement in a sweet little valley, where our guides proposed staying for the night. The inhabitants, as we soon discovered, were a portion of the same tribe, and rain-

ing though it was, nearly all the men, women, and children came out of their huts to see the pakehas, or strangers, as all Europeans are called. After satisfying their curiosity by a close inspection of our persons, and exciting their cupidity by the sight of our baggage, our chief guide was desired to request us to follow him to a small hut which had been vacated for our accommodation. This being my first introduction to savage life, I dare say you will expect me to be somewhat particular in my description. The hut or ware assigned for our use was neither the very best, nor perhaps the worst, in the village; and though very likely a most comfortable residence in the estimation of a New Zealand Chief, it presented anything but the promise of a comfortable night to a person not fully initiated into the mysteries of a New Zealand life. The framework was built of light sticks, the walls being about three feet high, and the roof about four feet; the whole length of the building not more than ten or twelve feet, and the breadth about six or seven. The walls and roof were covered over or thatched with strong wiry grass, which served to keep out the rain pretty well. The door was precisely in the centre of one side of the building, and was the only opening into it. Its dimensions were exactly sufficient, and not more than sufficient, to enable a person to creep through on all-fours. The inside contained no furniture either in the shape of chairs, stools, or table – such having never been in use either by the present New Zealanders, or their fathers before them. The floor was, however, very carefully strewed with litter – more, perhaps, for the accommodation of small inseparable, but rather disagreeable (to strangers at least) companions of the natives, than the comfort of the travellers. A small space was reserved for the wood fire, which burned in the centre, with a smoke

intolerable to European eyes, and injurious even to those of the aborigines. Such were our night's quarters – -small enough, you will admit, for ourselves, our luggage, and our chief guide, who, as a part of his duty, insisted on remaining with us during the night, in order to look after the luggage, for the safety of which he deemed his honour as a chief to be involved. Being wet to the skin, we, as a matter of course, took the first opportunity of changing our clothes and hanging them up to dry; we then, in native fashion (which all Europeans acquire with wonderful facility), wrapped ourselves up in our blankets, and otherwise enjoyed ourselves how we could. Before the night was far advanced, the natives, who are invariably hospitable, brought us a quantity of potatoes and pork, cooked in the native fashion. The pork had been killed since our arrival, and the weather being very unfavourable for any outside cooking, it was rather unclean – so much so, that although exceedingly hungry, I was under the necessity of feeding on the potatoes and a small piece of biscuit: the kindness of the natives was nevertheless equally deserving of my gratitude. Our active companions in the litter attacked us so furiously during the night, that none of our party enjoyed much rest; we were consequently prepared for a start early in the morning. As we were about leaving the village, our guide informed us that the resident chief was desirous of shaking hands with us. He also informed us, that the said chief expected a present of tobacco as a return for his hospitality. Both these duties we at once discharged to his satisfaction. We left the little settlement with the intention of breakfasting with some one of the missionaries at Waimate, which we understood was not very far distant. The weather was still wet, and though the character of the country was much

changed, being much more level and freer of timber than that we had passed the day before, it was still unfavourable for travelling, being covered with very tall fern. On our road that day, and for the greater part of the day before, we noticed several straight lines like those made by surveyors: inquiring of the natives what they were intended for, they gave us to understand that they were the boundary lines of land purchased by Mr. Clarke, one of the missionaries, whose lands we had been travelling over that day, as well as the greater part of the former. If this be correct, Mr. Clarke has assuredly not been unmindful of the things of this world, or ignorant of the quality of land, as his lines embrace not only a vast extent of country, but also the very best land in the district. To what use he and his family can convert so much land, it is difficult to conceive. Perhaps he has merely been employed as the agent of the Society, and other missionaries, in making the contract with the natives. As we approached the Missionary station of Waimate, we saw several flocks of merino sheep, which appeared to thrive well, the carcass being large and the wool longer than those of the same description of sheep in New South Wales.

Between one and two o'clock we came in sight of the cultivated fields and comfortable-looking houses and church of Waimate – a sight which gladdened us not a little, after wandering for nearly two days starved and hungry in the wild woods. Fatigued, hungry, and wet as we were, we never for a moment doubted that we should meet with a hospitable, if not a warm reception, from our countrymen in a strange and a savage land, more especially as the very character, profession, and even name of missionaries, comprehended in themselves everything kind and good in our nature. We had, it is true, heard something to the con-

trary; but the parties accusing the missionaries were not the most reputable, and we deemed that their reports might not be depended upon. They were, generally speaking, runaway sailors and escaped convicts, who went about demoralising the natives: it might be therefore wrong to countenance such people, or to show them even kindness; it might be throwing pearls before swine; and as we were neither sailors nor convicts, we doubted not that our reception would be kind and friendly. Learning from the natives the name of one of the occupiers of the three best and most commodious-looking houses in the settlement, we boldly went up to the door of one of them, and made the usual sign that we sought admittance. The inmates seemed in no hurry to answer our call; but we were not much surprised at this, as they might perhaps be overtaken by the arrival of strangers, and the parlour might have required some arranging before admitting us. After giving us sufficient time for any speculations of that or any other description we might choose to indulge in, the door was at length solemnly and slowly opened by an artificially-grave and reverend-looking personage (in a threadbare brown coat, the representative of a former black), who stood with much precision exactly in the very centre of the opening he had made – thereby intimating, as well as by his cold and unsympathising features, that no small effort would be required on our part to move him out of it. But hunger, wet, and fatigue are powerful stimulants to exertion, especially when the storming of a comfortable fort is the object in view. We addressed this grave-looking personage by asking if he himself was at home; to which he answered in the affirmative, assuring us that it was he himself (as we had already shrewdly guessed) who stood before us in the door. I then introduced myself and the other three gentlemen; but our names fell idly on his ear

I then mentioned that we were fatigued, and even hungry, but without further effect upon our grave friend than an expression of wonder that such a result should attend so short a journey: he also, of his own accord, informed us that a few hours would now bring us to the Bay of Islands. He even went so far as to offer one horse for the use of the four – as if a horse could allay hunger and overcome fatigue, or at all meet the object we had in view. After some further conversation, during which the missionary discovered that the natives had led us twenty or thirty miles out of the usual track to suit some purpose of their own, he began to think that by possibility we might be somewhat in need of food and a short rest; or perhaps, seeing our firm determination not to leave his door, he at length asked us to come in and partake of some refreshment, after which we should have time enough to proceed on our journey. This was precisely what we wished, being determined that once inside his door, it would be rather an undertaking to drive us out for that day at least. We had already experienced enough of travelling to know that it was at all times unwise to leave certain good quarters, as the Missionary houses were reported to be, for an unknown road at a late hour of the day. While we had so much difficulty in effecting an entrance, it is fair towards our host that I should state, that once in his house, we were extremely well treated; but I hope I shall never be again under the necessity of forcing hospitality in a similar manner.

The missionaries, or rather the funds of the Society, have made great improvements at Waimate. It has quite the appearance of an English farm, with well-cultivated fields and fences. The soil, however, is not very rich, being rather light; but it grows beautiful clover, and seems well adapted for all European grasses.

Judging by the number of houses at Waimate, the Missionary establishment must be rather extensive. But it is doubtful if the missionaries bestow the same care upon their Missionary duties, as they appear to do on their fields and houses. They have, at all events, not neglected the building of a church, which is a very neat and comfortable wooden structure. When I know more of the state of the country, I shall be better able to inform you regarding Missionary operations in New Zealand. At present it is not fair to offer any opinions on the subject.

Refreshed by a comfortable night's rest at the Mission-house, we again started for the Bay of Islands, but not until we had partaken of a very good breakfast. After travelling for several hours through a gently undulating and open country, with fine clumps of wood here and there, we arrived towards evening at a creek which impeded farther progress till the recession of the tide, which unfortunately happened to be then at the full. Having to wait for several hours, the natives availed themselves of the opportunity of cooking some potatoes, knowing that it was most likely the only chance they had of a dinner for the day. Another Missionary (the chief) station, Paihia, was within a few miles; and having succeeded so well at the last, we naturally expected that we should have the same good fortune at Paihia. We therefore abstained from partaking of the natives' potatoes, thinking that some better fare was in reserve for us at the Mission station. How woefully we were deceived, you shall soon learn. It was dark before the creek admitted of our passing, and even then we were transported on the shoulders of the poor natives. About eight o'clock we arrived at the Missionary establishment of Paihia. The first bouse being that of a Mr. Baker, and knowing no difference between one missionary and another,

we went up towards it; but before reaching the door, that hospitable man, having heard the sound of our footsteps, and having doubtless some apprehension, that we might be strangers seeking a night's lodging, hurried to the gate and informed us at once that we could obtain no quarters at Paihia, either from himself or from any other. We in vain told the tale of hunger and fatigue, and asked if there was any inn or other house that would sell accommodation for the night; but such a thing was not permitted at the Mission station. Mr. Baker had never experienced any privations himself, at least since his arrival in New Zealand, for he carried on his cheeks the accumulated fat of several hundred pigs. By way of getting expeditiously rid of us, he offered to send his boat and natives with us to the head of the Bay of Islands, where a storekeeper resided, to whom, we informed the hospitable Mr. Baker, we had some letters of introduction.

For the storekeeper's house, in a dark and rather stormy winter's night, we started about eight o'clock, in the Mission boat, where, after knocking about for an hour and a half, we at last arrived, thinking, in our ignorance of New Zealand hospitality, that there, at least, we could lay down our weary limbs, and obtain something to appease our hunger. We had by this time sadly repented having refused the potatoes from our kind-hearted natives. Disappointment still seemed our lot; for after sending in our letters of introduction, (we had not the courage to go to the house,) the storekeeper came down to the beach, and after making several regrets for our condition, still more regretted his own utter inability to give us relief, stating as a reason why he could not receive us for the night, that his two maid-servants had married that day, and that he had no person in the house but his wife, who, we were afterwards told, is the

better man of the two, though ill disposed towards strangers. We intimated that we should be content with even shelter in an out-house, or anywhere, but to no purpose. I at last asked him if there was any rock near the place that would afford us any protection from the weather. This aroused some little natural sensibility, and though he could not ask us to his own house, he said he had a friend at Kororarika, a Mr. – – – , (a Jewish publican, as we afterwards ascertained,) who would, on his account, accommodate us for the night.

Kororarika being six miles distant, and having no boat of our own, we felt at a loss to discover how bis friend could benefit us. But the storekeeper, though utterly devoid of hospitality, had still sufficient interest with the missionaries to order the natives to transport us in their boat from his residence. After uttering a few words to them in unintelligible native, he told us they agreed to convey us to his friend's house; and then said good-night, though we at least felt it to be anything but that.

We had no sooner stepped into the boat than the Christian natives gave us to understand that a dollar each was the passage-money, and the only condition on which we could be brought to the house of the storekeeper's friend. This we at once promised to give, and at ten o'clock we were landed at the first light on the beach of Kororariki, which they informed us was the publican's house.

Leaving my fellow-travellers to look after the luggage, I made for the light; but, on entering the house, I discovered that the natives had deceived us, the place we were in quest of being at the other end of the beach. The owner of the house, however, (who happened to be surgeon of the settlement,) considering the lateness of the hour, and the trouble we had already encountered, offered, like a good

Samaritan, to do everything he could for us. But having small accommodation of his own, and there being so many of us, we declined availing ourselves of his hospitality, and requested the favour of his directing us to a place where we could take up our quarters during our residence. Whereupon he accompanied us to an adjoining house kept by a person who had been at one time comfortable and respectable, though then reduced to the level of a Kororarika grog-seller. Here we were very glad to take refuge for the night, more especially as we were promised for supper the remains of a good dinner which had that day been prepared for the masters of some whaling vessels then in the harbour. Our landlord could not furnish us with beds; but that was a matter of no moment, as we had mattresses with blankets of our own, which we laid down on the floor of the room, where we slept with much comfort.

I fear you will form a very poor opinion of the comforts and hospitality of New Zealand from the above account, but that is no fault of mine: I can only speak of things as I find them. It will, at least, serve to give you some idea of the miseries of new countries, and the hardships that new settlers have to encounter.

Kororarika, from which I now write to you, is the chief settlement at the Bay of Islands, and, properly speaking, the capital of New Zealand, containing, as it does, a larger European population than any other part of the country. Besides Kororarika, there are various other settlements in and around the Bay of Islands: but this being nearer the entrance of the harbour, affording good anchorage and the best landing, is the most frequented by ships, and consequently the most populous.

Kororarika owes its rise and progress almost entirely to a person called Turner, said to be an emancipist from Syd-

ney, who now owns more land and property in the settlement than any other European. This person arrived at the Bay, some years ago, without a shilling. After working for a time as a sawyer, he saved sufficient money to purchase from the natives a piece of land on this beach, on which he erected a grog-shop, by means of which he is said to have made a small fortune. There are now so many competitors in the same line, that he has been induced to retire from the field, and to assume the more respectable occupation of a general dealer and money-lender. But I must reserve for my next a more particular account of the Bay of Islands and its inhabitants, in which I am likely to be delayed for a week or two longer.

LETTER II.

LETTER II.

British Resident. Paihia. Church Missionaries. Natives of Kororarika. Bishop Pampalier. Roman Catholic Religion attractive to Uncivilised People. Native Mourning. Native Women Chief Mourners. Tabooed Chief. Orators. Feast. Relish for Whale Flesh. Decrease of Native. Population. Effects of European Intercourse fatal to the Females. Prevalence of Infanticide. Character of the European Population; improved of late. Kororarika Association; its Formation, Constitution, and Powers. Native Protection. Europeans to blame for Quarrels with the Natives. Climate of the Bay of Islands; preferable to that of Sydney. Character of the Soil around the Bay of Islands. Reported Fertility of the Thames.

BAY OF ISLANDS, 1839.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LETTER III.

LETTER III.

Passage from the Bay of Islands to Coromandel Harbour. Thames Packet. Island of Waiheki. New Zealand Hospitality rather expensive. Coromandel Harbour. Frith of the Thames similar to the Clyde. Establishment of Mr. Webster. Immorality of the New Zealand Population. Departure for the Thames. Coweranga. State of the Fine Arts in New Zealand. Schism among the Inhabitants of Coweranga. Billy Tyson and Billy Mow Mow. Their Residence and Mode of Living, Missionary Station of Houraki. Mr. Preice, the Missionary. His dislike to Roman Catholics. The River Thames. The Piaco. Inhabitants of the Thames destroyed by the Chief Honghi. Purchase of Land from the Aborigines. Rights of Property. Constitution of Tribes.

SYDNEY, 1839.

Having returned from New Zealand sooner than I expected, I had no opportunity of again writing to you before sailing for this place, where I arrived a few days ago.

In my last, I informed you of my intention of visiting the River Thames. That intention I was enabled to carry into effect by means of a small 20-ton coasting vessel, in which I and my fellow-travellers took a passage. There is no overland communication between the Bay of Islands and the Thames – not even a native track, and, from the general character of the country, I should suppose it to be very difficult to travel overland.

Besides my friends and myself, the Thames packet carried several other passengers, in the shape of natives and native dealers; and as the cabin could only afford room for four of us, the hold of the vessel was fitted up for general accommodation. Having been recently occupied by passengers of a different description, in the shape of

pigs, &c – the conveyance of which to the Bay of Islands is the chief support of the packet, – -you may imagine that our situation was not altogether the most comfortable; and, to make matters still worse, our commander was drunk from the time we came aboard his vessel until the supply of rum was finished. It is astonishing how property should be entrusted to such people: but I imagine it would be difficult, in the present state of the country, to procure the services of steady and sober men. Our commander, even when drunk, seemed to have a good idea of what he was about; and although he could do little himself, his orders were given with judgment, and implicitly obeyed by his crew.

We had rather heavy weather during the first day, and had to take shelter for the night under an island off the coast, about sixty or seventy miles to the southward of the Bay of Islands. The next day we made another island, in the frith of the Thames, called Waiheki, where we landed some of our passengers and anchored for the night.

Our fare aboard-ship being nothing but pork and potatoes, boiled together in the same pot, and eaten off the top of the companion, we were glad to avail ourselves of an invitation from one of the passengers to dine at his house. This person, like most of the European settlers, is married to a native woman, and has a large and fine-looking family. Having seen so much of New Zealand hospitality already, I felt rather surprised at the manifestation of it by such a person; but before the evening was over, I discovered that it was not so disinterested as I thought. Our host, after feeding us with good ham, eggs, and potatoes, commenced the manufacture of what is called egg-flip, a species of drink in common use among Europeans in this country. On the present occasion it was manufactured by

NEW ZEALAND.

heating some very bad Cape wine, and mixing it well with beaten eggs. Several bottles of the most detestable Cape wine were in this manner consumed by our party, for every one of which, when the feast was over, our worthy host made his guests pay at the rate of 6s. Such hospitality is certain to pay in any country.

Next day we resumed our voyage, and arrived at Coromandel Harbour, a place about thirty miles from the head of the frith or commencement of the valley of the Thames. There we found one or two Sydney friends, living at the house of Mr. Webster, one of the principal settlers and traders in the place. At Mr. Webster's house we also took up our quarters. With the appearance of one of our friends I was very much amused. Having seen him shortly before at one of the Sydney hotels dressed with the utmost precision and neatness, I did not know him at first when I met him at Coromandel Harbour rigged out in a sailor's red jacket; so much do taste and fashion change with circumstances and place. The person I refer to is a man of fortune; but he appears, for a time at least, to prefer the semicivilised life of New Zealand, to the station which his fortune and connexions would entitle him to in England.

The appearance of the coast from the Bay of Islands to the frith of the Thames is rather uninviting, presenting nothing but a series of wooded hills and dark projecting rocks. Towards the entrance of the Thames the land, however, becomes gradually lower and more level; but not having landed on the main-land, I can say nothing as to its fertility. The frith of the Thames is exceedingly like that of the Clyde, only it is more studded with islands, which abound in kauri and other valuable timber.

Coromandel Harbour is situated on the east side of the frith, and is merely valuable as a timber station and depot

for the collection of the produce of the natives, which is thence shipped for the Bay of Islands. There is a considerable number of Europeans living around the harbour, finding employment either as traders in timber, dealers in native produce, or sawyers. Mr. Webster is at present the most extensive trader in that part of the country, with the exception perhaps of Mr. Gordon Brown, who now lives at Mercury Bay, and who is in a great measure entitled to the credit of having established the timber trade of New Zealand. Mr. Webster and all the other traders were formerly in the employment of Mr. Brown, who has shipped several cargoes of kauri spars to England, having had a contract at one time for the supply of the navy. In consequence of some losses sustained through that contract, he is somewhat embarrassed, and his former servants appear to have risen on the ruins of his fortune. Mr. Webster has rather an extensive establishment at Coromandel Harbour, but whether a profitable one or not I could scarcely say; though I certainly should feel inclined to suppose it was not, from the idleness and irregularity of his workmen, who are so much masters of their own movements, that they merely work when they feel disposed, which is, generally speaking, not more than two days in the week, the other five being devoted to drinking and quarrelling. All these men, of whom there are at least twenty at the establishment, have entered into alliances with the natives by marrying their women. These marriages are generally regarded as binding and valid so long as the parties remain in the country, although they are not always solemnised by a clergyman. I am not aware that marriage has ever been regarded by the natives as a religious contract, although there are, by all accounts, few people who more sacredly and rigidly insist upon conjugal fidelity. Mar-

riages take place between European settlers and native women both as a matter of policy, and because there are as yet few European women in the country. A chief who gives away his daughter or relative to a European, looks upon himself, in consequence, as being bound to afford protection to the person and property of that European, and to assist him in every possible manner in carrying out his views, whatever they may happen to be. The inferior grade of Europeans, such as sawyers and sailors, generally aspire to nothing higher than the daughters of freemen, or even slave women.

The district of Waikato stands, by all accounts, much in the same relationship to the European settlements that Circassia does to Constantinople. I do not apprehend the ladies of Waikato are finer than those of other parts of New Zealand; but it is the most densely-peopled district, and therefore affords a greater selection.

The New Zealand women are not by any means handsome. In personal appearance they are decidedly inferior to the men. Some of them are, however, rather delicately formed. They have fine dark expressive eyes; but they disfigure their faces by tatooing. Many of them have very beautiful and delicate hands; but their feet are clumsy and ill-shaped: perhaps the constant habit of going about without shoes may produce that effect. As a people, the New Zealanders are remarkable for coarseness of bone and limb.

The Euronesians, or half-caste children, do not appear to be very numerous. They are in every respect a decided improvement as far as the aboriginal, and in many cases the European stock, is concerned. How far an amalgamation of the two races may take place, it is difficult to say. Such a circumstance will depend much upon the manner

in which the country is settled by Europeans. If emigration go on slowly, it is more likely to ensue. If, on the other hand, the country be occupied by large bodies of Europeans, the two races will in all probability remain distinct, if the one do not, as in most other countries, altogether disappear, and give place to the other.

The missionaries, perhaps justly, complain of the immorality of the Europeans, and its evil effects upon the native population. It must indeed be acknowledged that social morality is still rather low in New Zealand. From the character of both races, it could scarcely be expected to be otherwise. The customs of the natives do not recognise its existence, or enjoin its practice; and the Europeans are, generally speaking, persons who under the most favourable circumstances would not be very remarkable for propriety of conduct. In a country like New Zealand, the ordinary checks of society are completely removed; it therefore requires more than an average amount of principle and moral feeling to prevent a person from falling into the errors of those around him. Where there is neither law nor example to appeal to, crime will meet with no condemnation, and, as a matter of course, will cease to be regarded as such, or even to be known by the name. It is however to be hoped, both on account of the natives, as well as the Europeans themselves, that a higher tone of morality will ere long be established both by the efforts of the missionaries, as well as by the gradual introduction of a better class of our countrymen. It is a remarkable and a lamentable fact, that, almost always, the vices and the crimes of civilised countries are the first presents which we make to the inhabitants of barbarous countries. Before the missionary and the minister of religion and morality can set their feet upon the shore, the seeds of European crime are already

planted, and in most cases bearing fruit. The same has doubtless been the case in New Zealand; and however long the missionaries have been established in the country, and however great their exertions and useful their labours may have been, it is still a struggle and a contest as to whether European vice or European morality shall in the end prevail. While the natives appear to have a peculiar aptitude for the acquisition of knowledge, their present apparent self-interest and their excessive covetousness lead them to yield to the temptations held out to them by unprincipled traders and abandoned sawyers.

The immorality of the New Zealand settlers, sawyers, and natives, has almost diverted me from the object with which I commenced this letter – that of giving you an account of my journey to the River Thames. To resume, then, I must inform you that the sea is the great high road – indeed, the footpath – in New Zealand; and the schooner, the whale-boat, and the canoe, are the omnibus, the cab, and the walking-stick. Having a journey of some length to perform, where safety as well as expedition were of some importance, I made choice of a whale-boat, in which, after a few days' delay at Coromandel Harbour, I started, in company with Mr. M – – – and Mr. A – – – : the latter is concerned in some land and mercantile speculations with Mr. Webster, and both were as anxious as myself to visit and to explore the valley and the great plain of the Thames.

Our crew consisted of four natives, and our water and provision were put in for at least two days. We started with a fair wind, which was lost in a calm before we had fairly left the harbour, and the natives being rather inexperienced boatmen, it took us the evening of the second day to arrive at a native settlement called Coweranga, distant about

three or four miles from the entrance of the Thames. The coast from Coromandel Harbour to Coweranga is bold, rugged, and woody, but by no means interesting. There are very numerous native settlements; but the land is not available for agriculture. The natives generally cultivate the sides of small valleys which intersect the hills. The general outline of the country is wild and mountainous; but it is said to abound in kauri and other valuable timber.

Opposite to Coweranga there are several extensive banks, which are formed by depositions of mud from the River Thames. On one of these banks we grounded, and were rather unpleasantly detained for several hours, until the flow of tide enabled us to enter a creek which brought us to the settlement, in which there are two European traders, in whose house we resided while we remained at the Pah.

Coweranga is a settlement of considerable importance, said at times to contain a population of a thousand natives. It covers a large extent of ground, and is defended by two wooden walls erected with much labour. The distance between the walls is just sufficient to permit a man to walk with freedom. The walls are constructed of heavy posts of wood, about ten feet high, let deeply into the ground upon their ends, and fastened on the top by means of strong vines to long transverse beams. At certain intervals, and in particular on each side of the gates, the posts are somewhat higher, and carved on the top so as to exhibit the human figure in distorted and very indelicate forms. Judging by these specimens, the fine arts have made but small progress among the New Zealanders. The taste of the aborigines appears to delight in the manifestation of the most ludicrous, indelicate, and disgusting representations of the human form. The interior of the Pah is divided into various compartments, which are slightly fenced

in, and occupied by the houses and storehouses of the various petty chiefs, their families, slaves, and pigs. Various narrow lanes afford the means of communication from one part to another. The division of the head chief is the largest; and before his house, which is the best and most ornamented in the settlement, there is an extensive yard, where all the inhabitants assemble on solemn days and great occasions.

A schism has been lately created in the settlement, in consequence of one half of the inhabitants having become missionaries, or made a profession of Christianity. It is now a house divided against itself; and as light and darkness cannot exist together, so the missionary natives have determined to abandon Coweranga to the heathen party, and they are now erecting another Pah about two miles distant from the old one.

Our hosts, Billy Tyson and Billy Mow Mow, as they are called by the natives, occupy the same house – a native structure of considerable size, and finished in the best style of native architecture. It has a large central hall about thirty feet long, with several apartments on the sides. In the centre of this hall is the fire-place; there is no chimney, and the smoke is at times rather disagreeable. As our hosts are seldom troubled with visitors, this room is generally filled with the products of their trade, such as baskets of maize and potatoes: in front of the house there is a portico very neatly lined with native reeds, with a room on each side, in one of which I slept during my sojourn at Coweranga. The house is altogether one of the largest and best native structures I have seen in New Zealand. Billy Tyson and Billy Mow Mow have established themselves in the settlement, and secured the friendship and protection of the natives by conforming to the usual cus-

torn of selecting each a wife from among the young women of the tribe. They have in this manner not only obtained the services of industrious and faithful housekeepers, but they have also succeeded in obtaining all the benefits arising from the purchase of the produce of the settlement and the supply of the natives, both of which appear to be exclusively in their hands. Like most of the New Zealand traders, I fear they are neither very circumspect in their own conduct, nor in the character of their establishments, even though in the neighbourhood of a Church Missionary station. A person might have expected that the vicinity of a missionary would have been felt as some check, but in the present case it seemed to have little or no influence; in fact, Coweranga is remarkable as being perhaps the most immoral native settlement in the country. Of this unhappy fact, and the low and depraved condition of the natives, I had convincing proof during my stay at the place.

The Church Missionary station of Houraki being within a short distance of the Pah, and having heard from some of the natives that Mr. Preice, the missionary, had informed them that I and my friends were Roman Catholics, to whom he advised them not to sell their lands, I determined upon paying a visit to that gentleman, with a view of ascertaining what his object or motive could have been in thus deceiving the natives and prejudicing them against persons whom he had never seen, and of whose religious sentiments he could have known nothing. I accordingly, about twelve o'clock the following day, walked to the Mission-house, which is situated on a rising ground above the Pah, and commands a very extensive view of the islands and frith of the Thames. Mr. Preice was at home, and I was rather surprised to find that he was glad to see me. After a little conversation, I discovered that he had been induced

to represent us to the natives in the manner we had heard because of a disreputable character at Coromandel Harbour, who had told him that we were his countrymen and Roman Catholics – a religion which he professed himself, although his general conduct would go far to prove that he had none. A report of the difference between our conduct at the Pah and that of most of the Europeans who visited the same place had also, through the natives, reached the missionary, (for the natives conceal nothing from him,) and that circumstance had most likely some effect in changing his feelings towards me. At all events, he was so well disposed and friendly, that he not only invited me to wait dinner, which I did, but he also promised to assist myself and my friends in the purchase of land from the natives if we should have any desire to do so. He strongly recommended the valley of the Thames as being the finest agricultural land in the country.

Rain and rough weather detained us for some days at Coweranga. When the weather became moderate, we engaged the services of Billy Mow Mow (or Billy the Destroyer, as he is called by the natives, on account of some extravagance or other) to act as our interpreter, and with him, and a chief who followed us from Coromandel Harbour for the purpose of selling his land to us, we proceeded to explore the famed valley of the Thames. On that excursion we were absent about seven days, and were in every respect highly pleased with the fertility of the Thames and the appearance of the country. We only regretted that in consequence of an old feud between the Thames natives and those of Waikato, we could not prevail upon our boatmen to proceed far enough up the river, being afraid of falling into the hands of their enemies, if they ventured too near their territory.

The Thames is a splendid river, somewhat like the

Clyde, but containing a larger body of water, and in its natural state affording greater facilities for navigation. Its entrance is deep enough to admit vessels of two and three hundred tons;. and vessels of a smaller draught of water could be brought a distance of at least sixty or seventy miles from its entrance. The banks on each side are beautifully wooded; but the forests do not in depth exceed a mile or two at the utmost. The rest of the plain is open and free from timber, with the exception of some clumps of wood here and there. The soil of the greater part of the valley is a diluvial deposit of clay and earth, with a layer of vegetable mould on the top, which seems admirably adapted for the growth of wheat. The valley of the Thames is altogether the most extensive tract of level available land I have seen in New Zealand. It is bounded on the east and west by high ranges of hills, varying from twenty to forty miles in distance from one another. The valley is said to extend upwards of a hundred miles in length. The River Thames and its numerous tributaries carry off the water on the east side, and the Piaco, a river nearly as long, but not affording the same facilities for navigation, drains the west side of the extensive plain. The portion of land in the centre, bounded by the two rivers, is in some parts rather wet, in consequence of its being so very level, and because of the rank and decaying vegetation stopping up the natural drains.

The lands belonging to the native chief who accompanied us in the boat are situated on the east bank of the Thames, and on one of its tributaries which runs through a very beautiful valley. A great portion of it has been formerly in cultivation, but the river has been years ago abandoned, the majority of the inhabitants having been destroyed by the celebrated chief Honghi from the Bay of Islands, who,

after a visit to England, acquired so much of the habits and customs of civilised men, as to become acquainted with the use of fire-arms, and to generate in him the desire of being a great man like King George, which he sought to accomplish by making war upon and nearly exterminating his countrymen. After his visit to the Thames, the surviving natives betook themselves to the sea-coast, where they have ever since resided. If they, however, succeeded in getting one or two Europeans to settle among them, they would again come back to their old lands, which they still prefer to any other.

It is difficult to know what value the natives attach to their lands. They can seldom, if ever, make up their minds what to ask for them. But it is generally understood, when they consent to sell, that they are likely to be satisfied with a reasonable payment, which is always made in European goods and manufactures, such as guns, muskets, blankets, prints, calicoes, iron pots, spades, tomahawks, powder, pipes, and tobacco. There is at all times much difficulty in ascertaining the rightful owners, as some of the most insignificant men in the tribes in other respects may nevertheless own the largest tracts of land. It is therefore unwise to make payment without residing for some time on the spot; and even then it is customary to appoint a day for the purpose of assembling all the owners of the land in question, when the goods, if acceptable (for it is only then known whether they are or not), are handed over to the chiefs of the tribes, to be by them distributed to the sellers of the land in proportion to their claims. Notwithstanding this, which is reckoned the real purchase of the land, there are sundry after claims to be satisfied on account of parties who are not owners of the land, but who may happen to have near and distant relatives buried in

some portion of it, which constitutes a claim for payment from the European purchaser. These claims are not heavy; but they are very vexatious, and frequently occasion much trouble. The places where these dead bodies are buried are reckoned tobooed, or sacred; and the taboo must in this manner be removed before the land can be used or even travelled upon by Europeans. You will perceive, from what I have stated, that it is rather a difficult matter to arrange for the purchase of lands in this country.

From all that I could ascertain, there appear to be two distinct rights recognised in the sale or alienation of land; – the one, political, and exercised by the chief and high men of the tribe; and the other, the real right of property. Before any purchase can be effected, this political right must be secured by obtaining the consent of the chief or chiefs of the district to the residence of the European among the tribes, and even upon lands in which the chiefs may have no right of property. After the political right is satisfied and secured by a suitable payment, then the individual proprietors of the soil are to be dealt with and satisfied for the land, according to the extent, quality, and value they may attach to it. The political right confers the permission to settle in the district, but the special purchase gives the right of use and occupancy. The boundaries of the various lands, even though, as in the case of the valley of the Thames, they may happen to have been for a long time unoccupied, and some of them perhaps never settled upon or cultivated, appear still to be well defined and well understood. The names of the various tribes, and even the several proprietors of all the lands we passed over, were always mentioned to us by the old chief when asked to do so. At the settlement of Coweranga the lands are as regularly marked out, even by straight lines, as they would be in England or Scotland.

I could not ascertain anything satisfactory regarding the descent of property; but I imagine, like all feudal countries, the laws of primogeniture are more or less in force in New Zealand: they appear, however, to be somewhat modified, inasmuch as the younger brothers of the high chiefs are, generally speaking, if not always, possessed of land, which it is to be presumed they must have inherited from their ancestors. The political and military authority do not always, I believe, descend to the eldest son, unless he manifest ability to exercise them creditably; and it frequently happens that the political and military command are vested in two distinct persons in a tribe. The one is supreme in council, and the other in war. They must, however, be always enjoyed by a person of high birth and rank.

The system of clanship exists in New Zealand in great perfection. The people may be said to be divided into five distinct classes, viz.: first, High Chiefs, or the heads of tribes; second, Chieftains, or the heads of families; third, Gentlemen, or the descendants of chiefs and chieftains; fourth, Freemen; fifth, Slaves. The third and the fifth are perhaps the most numerous classes. Priests and medical men, who are held in great estimation, belong to the two first classes. In time of war, the high chief would take the command of the united tribes or families of the district, and the petty chieftains would head their respective clans or families. Like many ancient nations, the New Zealanders are in the habit of placing their slaves in the front of battle, so that the fear of death before and behind them might strongly stimulate their courage, which, under other circumstances, might not happen to be of the highest order.

To return to the subject of lands. Mr. M – – – and myself have been so well pleased with the appearance of New Zealand altogether, and with the district of the Thames in

particular, that we have determined to purchase between us a tract of land from the old chief who accompanied us.

For the purpose of accomplishing this object, Mr. M – – – has remained in New Zealand, in order to ascertain all the rightful owners of the land we have fixed upon; and I have returned here thus early, to forward to him the necessary goods for the completion of the purchase. There are so many persons now going to New Zealand from this Colony with the view of purchasing land and settling in that country, that before long, much of the available land will be purchased and occupied. With the assistance of the missionary, I have every hope that we shall be enabled to arrange with the natives for the land, which I am confident will in time turn out a valuable property.

Such is the rage for speculation in Sydney at the present moment, and so anxious are people to invest money in New Zealand property, that I have already been offered at the rate of of 5s. per acre for the half of any land that Mr. M – – – may purchase on my account: but not knowing that I may become the owner of any land myself, I could not in fairness take money from others on the faith of a purchase not yet made. I have therefore declined the offer.

When Mr. M – – – returns from New Zealand, and when anything of further importance regarding that country may occur, I shall again write to you. In the mean time, I must visit the Bush of Australia, (which I heartily detest,) in order to see how matters are getting on. I prefer New Zealand to this country, uncivilised though it be; and if I could to-morrow get rid of my concerns in this Colony, I would leave it and settle in the other. As it is, if the land be purchased, I must very likely soon again visit New Zealand.

LETTER IV.

LETTER IV

Arrival of Captain Hobson in Sydney to assume the functions of Governor, or Consul, in New Zealand. Deputation appointed to wait upon him. Congratulatory Address. Publication of Proclamations regarding New Zealand. Disposition of Sir George Gipps and the Council of New South Wales towards New Zealand. New Zealand Association. Agent of New Zealand Company; his injudicious Selection of Land. Fitness of New Zealand for the Settlement of European Emigrants. Great Demand for Timber.

SYDNEY, Jan. 25, 1840.

ON my return here from the interior, I was glad to find that Mr. M – – – had arrived from New Zealand, after having succeeded in effecting a purchase of land on his and my account – the extent of which I cannot exactly say. Independent of the land actually bought and paid for, he has also made part payment for another tract. The propriety of completing that latter purchase is now, however, rather doubtful, in consequence of an event alike unexpected both in New Zealand and in this Colony – I mean the arrival in Sydney of Captain Hobson as Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, – that is, provided he himself can succeed in persuading the natives to cede their sovereignty to the Queen of England – a matter very easily accomplished, if he pay them well for it: but they have no idea of giving up anything which they can discover to be of value to a European, even though useless to themselves, unless the European pay them well to do so. Captain Hobson is required by his instructions to endeavour to obtain the cession of sovereignty with the intelligent consent of the natives; and it is understood that if he can-

not obtain it in that manner, he is not to assume the functions of Lieutenant-Governor, but merely those of British Consul, in New Zealand. In the event of obtaining the cession of sovereignty, New Zealand is to become a dependency of this Colony; – Sir George Gipps being, as he now is, Governor-in-Chief; and Captain Hobson, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, to act under Sir George Gipps' instructions.

The difference between Governor and Consul is so great, both in point of salary, dignity, and power, that there is very little reason to doubt that Captain Hobson will, right or wrong, endeavour to place himself in the former position; and, being a naval man, he is not likely to be very nice as regards the means. His arrival has had the effect of creating a great deal of interest regarding New Zealand and New Zealand affairs, – alternately exciting the hopes and fears of those who hold lands in that country, – the claims of some of whom are so preposterous, being so large in extent, and the consideration given so very trifling, that it is the general belief they will be disallowed, and most likely severely injure the real settlers, and those who have even given full value for their lands. There are three or four parties here who have whaling stations in New Zealand, and who pretend to own land in that country, not by thousands, but by millions of acres.

With the view of ascertaining the intentions of the new Governor regarding our lands, several parties who were interested in the matter called together a public meeting of the proprietors of land in New Zealand. The meeting was respectable and well attended, and a deputation, whereof I was one, was appointed to wait upon Captain Hobson, who received us at Government House the following day. At the interview he appeared nervous and

embarrassed – evidently most anxious to impress us favourably, but fearful, at the same time, of committing himself. With his answers to the various questions put we were in general satisfied, as he encouraged us to occupy our lands and to proceed with our improvements. He concluded by assuring us that he had been expressly authorised to disabuse the minds of the owners of land in New Zealand of any fears they might entertain as to the interference of Her Majesty with possessions already acquired in that country. All claims which were equitable would be recognised; but where there were conflicting claims, the Government would investigate them.

The Deputation, after leaving Government House, committed to writing, in presence of one another, the substance of the conversation with Captain Hobson. They also called another public meeting, both for the purpose of informing the parties interested of the result of the interview with the Governor, as well as to present him with a congratulatory address on his arrival in the Colony, assuring him of their ready assistance and co-operation in forwarding the objects of his mission.

To myself in particular, and to many others who had really purchased land in New Zealand with the view of settling in that country, the prospect of the establishment of British authority appeared a guarantee for the security of life and property, as well as a certain assurance that it must materially and speedily increase the value of our possessions. I therefore strenuously supported the adoption of the address by the meeting. Others, again, opposed the giving of any pledge to support the Governor – doubting, perhaps justly, the sincerity of his intentions, and expressing a fear that he merely wished to lead us astray as to his purpose, which, after he had established himself

in his Government, was to deprive us of our lands. Being, perhaps, unacquainted with the mysteries of Colonial politics, I did not see any great reason to doubt the truth of assertions so seriously and solemnly made as those of Captain Hobson.

After considerable discussion, the address was at last agreed to, and a more numerous deputation than the former was appointed to present it. Being chairman of both meetings, the duty of reading the address, and, after reading, presenting it to Captain Hobson, devolved upon myself. Having been furnished with a copy of it before the day of presentation, he was prepared with a written answer, from which it would appear that he was highly flattered with the compliment paid to him, which I sincerely trust he may be found to deserve.

A few days after these proceedings, Captain Hobson sailed for New Zealand in H. M. S. Herald, accompanied by several officers, selected for their known incompetency by Sir Geo. Gipps. What assistance he is to expect from these persons I do not know; but they are evidently sent to New Zealand because Sir Geo. Gipps had no use for their services here, and was consequently anxious to get rid of them.

Captain Hobson had scarcely sailed, when three proclamations, antedated by several days, appeared in the Government Gazette; the first intimating that Her Majesty had extended the boundaries of this Colony, so as to include the Islands of New Zealand: the second intimated the appointment of Sir Geo. Gipps as Governor of the so-extended Colony of New South Wales and New Zealand, as well as the appointment of Captain Hobson under him, to act as Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand. It is still, however, reported that the farce of asking "the intelligent

consent" of the natives to the cession of sovereignty is to be attempted to be formally gone through by Captain Hobson on his arrival in New Zealand – doubtless to cover this unwarrantable seizure of the dominions of an inferior but independent people. The third proclamation, which is regarded with much suspicion, if not fear, is an announcement "to all Her Majesty's subjects in New Zealand, that Her Majesty will not acknowledge as valid any title to land acquired in that country which is not either derived from or confirmed by a grant to be made in Her Majesty's name, and on her behalf; but that care shall be taken, at the same time, to dispel any apprehensions that it is intended to dispossess the owners of any land acquired on equitable conditions, and not in extent, or otherwise, prejudicial to the present or prospective interests of the community; such claims to be investigated and reported on by commissioners to be appointed by the Governor of New South Wales, 'with such powers as may be conferred upon them by an act of the Governor and Council of New South Wales.'" It was also further declared "that all purchases of land in any part of New Zealand which may be made by any of Her Majesty's subjects from any of the native chiefs or tribes of these islands, after the date hereof (Jan. 14), will be considered as null and void, and neither confirmed nor in any way recognised by Her Majesty."

I must confess, from what I know of the character of Sir George Gipps, the disposition of the Council of New South Wales towards New Zealand, and the reports of the intentions of both parties which are now in circulation here, that I strongly fear the proprietors of lands in New Zealand will not be permitted, without a struggle, to retain their possessions in that country.

There are at the present moment so many persons

leaving this Colony for New Zealand, and so many more preparing to follow, that the Governor and Council would not hesitate to adopt any measures, however harsh and unjust in themselves, provided they had the effect of stopping the tide of emigration which is now running so fast from their own shores towards New Zealand; and nothing can certainly tend more to produce the desired effect than the scheme intimated in the proclamation, if carried into law by an act of the Botany Bay Council, which there is very little doubt of their doing if the Governor wishes it.

The proprietors of land in New Zealand resident in this place have already taken the alarm, and, under the belief that union is strength, they have organised themselves into an association for the purpose of watching over the movements of the Government, and defending their own natural rights. What success may attend their efforts it is difficult to say, but they are fully justified in making an attempt to protect themselves. It is difficult to contend against a Government; but it is, on the other hand, almost impossible for a Government to maintain itself in New Zealand with a disaffected European population, which they are sure to be, if their lands and properties are rudely interfered with.

Mr. M – – – informs me that he has at the Bay of Islands seen Colonel Wakefield, the agent of a Company recently formed in London for the purpose of colonising New Zealand. He pretends to have purchased large tracts of land around Cook's Straits, although he has been but a very short time in the country. He has, by all accounts, selected a very bad locality for the commencement of his operations, as the land in Cook's Straits is, generally speaking, allowed to be inferior. Had he come to the north or middle of the island, he would have placed

himself in a more favourable position. While at the Bay of Islands, he was hurriedly called away in consequence of the arrival of the first lot of the Company's emigrants. Between the Company and the Government, New Zealand is now likely to attract some notice at least. If the Government act fairly and justly, it is certain to go a-head more rapidly than any other British Colony. In truth, the Colony is already, or rather has been long ago, formed and ready for the reception of any number of emigrants. The abundance of provisions in the country, and its great natural resources, give it decided advantages over any other Colony ever established by Great Britain. Its proximity to Van Diemen's Land and this Colony will enable the settlers to obtain a supply of horses, cattle, and sheep, at comparatively little expense.

In the present uncertain state of things, I feel much at a loss how to act with regard to our land in New Zealand. It is the opinion of every person here, that occupation is the most likely means of securing it; perhaps it may turn out so. It has cost too much to be abandoned altogether. Mr. M – – – is anxious that we should as soon as possibleendeavour to erect a saw-mill on a stream that runs through the land, on which he says there is a good fall. I have not seen the fall myself; but depending upon his statement, I have joined him in the purchase of a saw-mill here, which has cost us a large sum of money. Sawn timber is at present selling at a very high rate in New Zealand, and in consequence of the occupation of the country by the British Government, and the numbers of persons who are certain to follow in their wake, the demand is likely to increase. If we can in time succeed in the erection of the mill, I have no doubt it will pay us well; but there is much difficulty in obtaining the services of a proper millwright. I

should myself have preferred to have laid out the money in farming and the importation of stock; but my friend is so sanguine about the mill and the eligibility of the place for its erection, that I have yielded to his opinion and wishes, which I trust may turn out according to his expectations. He is immediately to proceed to New Zealand, with two carpenters and necessary supplies, for the purpose of erecting one or two houses, and making some other preliminary preparations; and I intend to follow him, so soon as I can engage the services of a competent millwright, and obtain a vessel to carry the machinery of the mill to Coromandel Harbour, the nearest place to which I am likely to get it conveyed by any vessel from this place without paying much additional freight.

From New Zealand I shall write again as soon as I can, giving a report of my own progress, as well as of that of the Government, and anything else that I may conceive will be of interest to you.

LETTER V.

LETTER V.

Bay of Islands. Kapiti. Mr. Wakefield. Rauparaha. Cloudy Bay. Immorality of Whaling Gangs. Sick Whaler. Attachment of a Native Woman. Violent Gale of Wind at Port Nicholson. Colonel Wakefield, the New Zealand Company's Agent. Great Want of Humanity. New Zealand Company's Emigrants. Fears for the Failure of the Settlement. Description of Port Nicholson. Britannia and Thorndon. Removal of the Township. Scotch Farmer. Usefulness of the Natives. Scottish Emigrants. Port Nicholson Settlers jealous of Persons from Sydney. The Council of Ten; its Arbitrary Character. Mr. Shortland. Alleged Purchase of Land by the Company's Agent. Dicky Barret. Arrival of Captain Hobson at the Bay of Islands. His Reception. Treaty of Waitangi. Opposition of the Natives to the same. Conduct of the Church Missionaries on that occasion. Hokianga. Kaitaia. Major Bunbury. Bribery and Deception. Natives refuse to sign Treaty. Improper Interference on the part of the Church Missionaries. Illness of Captain Hobson. Government Officers. Russell; Hobson; Clendon Job. Inactivity of the New Zealand Government. Capital of the Colony. Surveyor-General. Government Officers insolent and offensive to the Settlers. Rise in the Value of Land at the Bay of Islands.

BAY OF ISLANDS, April 28, 1840.

As it is likely I may not again for some time be able to communicate with any of my friends, I embrace the opportunity of our vessel calling at the Bay of Islands, previously to landing me at Coromandel Harbour, for which we sail to-morrow, for the purpose of writing to you. I left Sydney about a month after the date of my former letter. Being unable to procure a passage by any vessel coming direct to this place without waiting a long time, I was induced to ship myself by the vessel from which I now write to you, although I was aware that she was bound for Cook's Straits in the first instance. The passage has been

much longer than I either expected or could have wished, it being now about two months since we left Sydney. It is, however, some compensation for this delay and loss of time, that I had a good opportunity of seeing much of the country, which I had not visited before – and, among other places, the newly-formed settlement of the New Zealand Company at Port Nicholson.

We left Sydney with a large number of passengers, horses, cattle, and goods; and, after an average run, arrived at an island in Cook's Straits called Kapiti, chiefly remarkable as a whaling station. At this place we met a son of Mr. E. G. Wakefield, returning to Port Nicholson after a cruise among the natives in the interior. We had also a visit from Rauparaha, the most distinguished native chief and warrior in this or any part of New Zealand. He and his wife, or queen as he calls her, came in a large war-canoe to pay their respects to Mr. Scott, the charterer of our vessel, whom they had known several years ago while trading in this place for flax. Rauparaha is originally a Thames native; and, on being driven away from his own tribe by the late Honghi, he settled among the natives of Cook's Straits, where, by his policy and military achievements, he has been enabled to raise himself to the chief command over all the tribes in this part of the country. That political and military adventurers succeed in New Zealand as well as in Europe, is proved by the fortunes of Rauparaha, who, if he had been an educated man, and had occupied an extensive sphere in a civilised country, would doubtless have made himself just as distinguished as he is now among the savage tribes of New Zealand. He has a very intellectual countenance, and though not a large man, must still be possessed of much bodily strength; a circumstance highly esteemed by the New Zealanders,

and most likely to have contributed to raise him to his present elevated position. But Rauparaha is also said to be wise, politic, and brave; indeed, if he had not been so, he could not have succeeded, as he has done, in obtaining the chief place among a people where he had no friends or relations, and where he did not even possess an inch of land. He and his queen are still heathen. They were rather gaily attired, with feathers in their hair, and their persons partly covered with European and partly with native fabrics. There are several natives living on the Island of Kapiti, which, though small and not fertile, is still a place of much importance, being equally distant from the Northern and Southern Islands, and consequently a very commanding position, and highly valuable in time of war.

Having remained for three days at Kapiti, we sailed for Cloudy Bay – a fine harbour in the north end of the Middle Island, and nearly opposite to Port Nicholson, where we arrived on the evening of the same day. We had stores and passengers to land at one of the whaling stations, of which there are many in that place: that delay, together with some other circumstances, such as a dispute between the Captain and charterer, detained us a week at Cloudy Bay. There is a considerable European population at Cloudy Bay, but they are all engaged in whaling; indeed there is no other occupation for them, the land being so steep and mountainous around the harbour, that they have much difficulty in getting spots large and level enough on which to erect their houses. The vegetation, however, is extremely luxuriant; the plants and trees have much more of a tropical appearance and character than even in the north end of the North Island: this is, doubtless, owing to the heat of summer, which must be very great, on account of

the northerly exposure, as well as on account of the Bay being completely surrounded on every side, except the north, by steep and rocky mountains, which must in the summer reflect very intense heat.

Kororarika and the Bay of Islands have been celebrated for the immorality of their population; but they are a paradise compared to Cloudy Bay, where crimes of every description flourish as in their native soil. If there be a Pandemonium on earth, it must be constituted by the settlement of a number of whaling gangs in the midst of a native population. The Europeans are, as a matter of course, vicious and abandoned; but they have made the natives of Cloudy Bay equally so. Drunken parties of Europeans, natives, and native women are constantly seen on the various beaches fighting with one another. A day or two before we left that infamous place, a miserable European object was brought on board our vessel for the purpose of being conveyed to Port Nicholson, one of the surgeons of the Company having promised him admission to their hospital. In a quarrel with some of his companions he was wounded by a musket-ball, which passed through his thigh and fractured his thigh-bone. In that state he had been for months, abandoned by all his own countrymen, and left altogether to depend upon the kind attentions of a native woman, who never for one instant forsook him in the time of trouble. The poor creature, although the morality of the country did not teach her the name of wife, was nevertheless as devoted and attached as the most affectionate wife could be to the best of husbands, – dressing his wounds, and procuring food for him from her tribe and friends. Mr. Scott at once consented to give them a passage to Port Nicholson, and we raised a small subscription for them among the passengers.

From Cloudy Bay we had a short run across the Straits to Port Nicholson. We made the harbour a little after dark; but as the wind was blowing high and out of the harbour, and the master of the vessel had not been there before, we anchored in the entrance. During the night the wind changed in the opposite direction, and blew with such fury that he was obliged to slip his chain and run in. So violent was the gale, that even though we anchored in the best-sheltered part of the harbour, so near the land that the water was quite smooth, we were still obliged to hold on by our three remaining anchors, after striking our topmasts. To communicate with the shore was utterly impossible. The slipped chain and anchor were never recovered; and the matter of astonishment is that the vessel could have escaped in safety, as we discovered, on leaving the harbour, that the buoy which was fastened to the chain was in the midst of rocks, among which we must have passed at night, although we then could scarcely venture near them in the boat.

As soon as we could effect a landing, Mr. Scott and myself called upon Colonel Wakefield, the agent of the Company, for the purpose of procuring admission for the wounded whaler to the hospital. The Colonel's humanity, which is certainly far below zero, was difficult to be acted upon even by the sight of a fellow-creature in distress; and although his own surgeon had induced the poor man to visit Port Nicholson, the humane Colonel Wakefield would not admit him to the hospital, which was at the time unoccupied, until Mr. Scott, a stranger to the man and having no interest in the settlement, became bound to pay at the rate of fifteen shillings per week for the expense of his keep. A man so destitute of feeling as the Colonel, is not likely to become a favourite with the people over whom he is at present placed by the Company.

Some of the Company's immigrants have been now about four months at Port Nicholson – some a shorter period, and many more are expected to follow; but from all that I can see and hear, if the majority of them are not now disappointed, they will very soon become so. That the settlement of Port Nicholson will be a failure, I strongly suspect and fear. A sad mistake has been committed in sending the emigrants out so soon, before any proper preparations had been made for their reception. Neither the town nor country lands have been yet surveyed, and it will be a long time before they are so. The immigrants and purchasers of land are left in the mean time to shift for themselves the best they can: that they should under such circumstances feel disappointed, and even disgusted, is not to be wondered at. They have paid their money in England in the hope of obtaining land immediately on their arrival, but they now discover that the hope was a delusion. Some of the immigrants were so discouraged with the state of things on their arrival, that they seriously proposed emigrating to South America; and I have no doubt that many of them will before long remove either to the north end of the island, or to the neighbouring Colonies.

Port Nicholson has fully realised the character I had by report formed of it before I saw it. The harbour is by no means a good one, nothing to be compared to the Bay of Islands: and if it were better than it is, the strong gales of wind which almost always blow through Cook's Straits will render it difficult of access. With the exception of a small valley at the head of the bay, containing certainly not more than 10,000 acres, there is no other available agricultural land near the harbour, which is on both sides bounded by steep and impassable hills, or rather mountains, rising abruptly from the water's edge. The

land in the valley of the Hutt, as the glen at the head of the Bay has been called, is in some places good, but much of it is swampy, and the whole must be subject to floods during the rainy season; it is also very heavily timbered, – so much so, that I should think the clearing of every acre must cost from £25 to £30.

It was the intention at first to form the township on the beach at the head of the harbour near the valley; but they soon found that vessels could not with any security anchor in that part of the Bay. The site selected for the town was also so low, that during a flood which occurred shortly after its formation, the houses were half filled with water, and some of them threatened to be carried away altogether. It was then determined to abandon the first site of Britannia (as the town is pompously called) for a place near the heads, a small flat containing about three hundred acres, a locality in every respect preferable to the former, both as regards facilities for landing goods and healthiness of situation. Some of the immigrants are still at both places; but they are fast removing to Thorndon, the new place.

Among the settlers at Port Nicholson, there are several officers of the Spanish Legion, who still delight in the name of colonels, majors, and captains, although they have laid aside their warlike occupations for the more peaceable ones of general dealers, grocers, and boatmen. Judging by the immense quantities of stores and agricultural implements which are lying about and being destroyed on the beach, there must also be several men of property among the immigrants. It is a great pity and a loss to the Colony that they should not be enabled to carry out their intentions of becoming settlers and cultivators of the soil. One Scotch farmer, who, among other farming implements, brought out two carts, finding that

there was no prospect of being able to follow that occupation, started as a general dealer; but his carts being a commodity which he could neither sell nor use at Port Nicholson, the happy idea struck him of taking off the wheels and converting them into a jetty for the landing of goods and passengers; a speculation which has turned out uncommonly well, for he charges at the rate of twenty shillings for every ton of goods landed on his wharf; and now that the settlers are moving down to the new site, it yields him a very handsome revenue.

The natives make themselves very useful to the settlers, by erecting houses for them from native materials. These houses are cheap, and sufficiently comfortable in such a climate as that of New Zealand. It is amusing to see the change in the dress of the natives since the arrival of the Europeans. Dressing-gowns, dress-coats, and surtouts with velvet collars, are quite common. I have frequently seen them building and roofing their houses in dressing-gowns, and some in surtouts. One native chief has already accumulated £500 in gold, by selling pigs and potatoes to the Europeans. He acts as general agent for the other natives, whose produce he purchases at a certain rate, and then sells at a good profit to the Europeans. He is so careful of his money, and fearful of losing it, that though there is a bank in the place, he will not trust it there. The native of whose civilisation the Company's people talked so much in England, and who was expected to render such assistance to their agent in this country, no sooner arrived than he doffed the European dress and assumed the blanket, or native mat: he is now living with his tribe – he has never been a person of any importance.

There are several Scottish immigrants and a Presbyterian clergyman at Port Nicholson. I was very much amused

one day, on landing with some of our passengers, at the delight which one of them, a Highland woman, manifested when I addressed her in her native tongue. From her appearance, I suspected that she was a countrywoman; but I never supposed that any person could have been so overjoyed at the sound of her native tongue as that poor Highland woman. Being married to the parson's servant, she almost insisted on my visiting her master, which I did, she taking upon herself the task of introducing me. From the parson and his friend, a Glasgow writer, I obtained much information regarding the settlement. I afterwards visited the Scottish settlement, which is about four or five miles up the Hutt. Before reaching the settlement, I met another countrywoman, but from Paisley, to whom I also betrayed myself by my tongue. But it had a different effect in the latter case, for the woman began to cry when I spoke to her. The sound of my voice, it appears, reminded her of her native country, at the recollection of which she could not help weeping, and wishing she were out of that barbarous country, and back again in Paisley. Being unable to persuade her that New Zealand was a fine country, and excellent for industrious working people, I left her and proceeded to the house of Mr. Barton, who employs a great number of the Scotch immigrants in cutting down and sawing timber. Mr. Barton was formerly acting as Superintendant for the Duke of Sutherland on his Scottish estates; and although an Englishman, the Scotch appear very attached to him, and regard him as a countryman. At Mr. Barton's house we had some excellent Highland whiskey; and after getting a full account of the settlement generally, and the Scottish immigrants in particular, we returned to Britannia, where we remained for the night in an inn, or hotel, kept in a small house im-

ported from England. We could procure no beds, but we wrapped ourselves up in some rugs and carpets, some upon the floor and some upon benches, and slept as soundly as if we had been in beds of down. In the morning we walked along the beach (a dismal road) to Thorndon.

The people at Port Nicholson are very jealous and fearful of everything from New South Wales: such is the feeling, that they would scarcely venture to transact any business with our vessel, merely because we came from the penal Colony, where they suppose every man is necessarily a rogue. As a matter of course, they are sadly indignant that New Zealand should be made an appendage of New South Wales.

In order to be independent of the Government, or perhaps not expecting that the country would be so soon taken possession of by Great Britain, the Company and their settlers established a Government of their own, which is still in existence. The Company's Agent is King or Governor, with a council of ten, composed of some of the youngest men in the settlement, by whom all matters of importance, whether civil or criminal, are tried. A police force is established, under the command of a late officer of the Spanish Legion, who is called the Police Magistrate. Dr. Evans, besides being a member of the juvenile Council, is also lord chancellor, or legal adviser, to the Wakefield Government. The juvenile Council, as might be expected, is extremely arbitrary and tyrannical, – so much so, that I find, since my arrival here, that the Governor is determined to put them down by force. For that purpose, Mr. Shortland, a late Lieutenant in the Navy, but now acting Colonial Secretary and Police Magistrate at the Bay of Islands, is to proceed to Port Nicholson in a day or two with some troops. From Mr. Shortland's character, he is likely to

discharge this duty in the most obnoxious manner, and will most likely create a feeling of ill-will on the part of the Company's people towards the Government, which is not by any means difficult to be done. The Governor has been induced to take this step on the representation of a person of the name of Pearson, the master of a trading vessel. Pearson somehow gave offence to the juvenile Council, or their friends, while recently at Port Nicholson; whereupon they sent their constables aboard his vessel, had him conveyed ashore and placed in irons. On being released, he immediately proceeded to this place and lodged a complaint with the Governor, who instantly chartered his own vessel to carry Mr. Shortland and the troops to the rebel settlement.

Of some of the old residents in Cook's Straits I made particular inquiries regarding the purchases of land alleged to have been made by the Company's agent; and the general opinion is that they are not good, and must be upset on a proper investigation into the Company's titles. The only land which he appears to have at all purchased is that around the harbour of Port Nicholson, and even that is likely to be disputed. His alleged purchase of territories bounded by degrees of latitude and longitude is a farce, or rather an attempt to deter other Europeans from purchasing within these limits. In his transactions with the natives, Wakefield seems to have acted under the advice and guidance of a person called Dicky Barret, an old whaler, who acted as interpreter for him, and who has most likely led him astray both with regard to the character of the New Zealanders, as well as the proper method of effecting purchases of land from them. Even at the harbour of Port Nicholson, and on the very spot where they propose laying out the town, some of the land has

been purchased by Europeans long before the agent of the Company arrived in the country. And the same is likely to be the case in many other places where he pretends to have purchased land. I fear, under all these circumstances, that it will be a long time before the purchasers of the Company's allotments in England will find themselves in possession of their land in this country.

Having said so much about the Company and their settlement, of which you will of course hear much at home, I must now say something about the Governor and his proceedings since he came to the seat of his future government.

Captain Hobson arrived at the Bay of Islands on the 29th of January, 1840. He landed at Kororarika the following day, and assembled the inhabitants for the purpose of having read to them the commission appointing himself Governor, as well as the proclamations of Sir George Gipps, to which I have referred in a former letter. After spending some days with the missionaries concocting the Treaty of Waitangi, of which I send you the Governor's official translation and the literal one, 1 several of the chiefs and natives around the Bay of Islands were requested by the missionaries to meet the Governor on the 5th of February, at twelve o'clock, near the residence of Mr. Busby, the late British Consul, at a place called Waitangi, from which the treaty takes its name. To give an imposing appearance to the conference, a number of tents decorated with flags from H. M. S. Herald were erected on the ground, and the Governor requested the officers of that ship, in full uniform, as well as the missionaries and other residents at the Bay of Islands, to accompany him, which they accordingly did.

The treaty, which had been previously drawn out by the missionaries, was then submitted to the chiefs, the majority of whom so violently opposed it that the Governor was obliged to adjourn the meeting till the following day, in the hope that the Missionary influence, and a liberal distribution of presents in the shape of blankets and tobacco, might produce a more favourable result. The arrival of a powerful missionary chief, called Nino, towards the close of the meeting, had also by his speech somewhat tended to moderate the fury of the other chiefs against the indignant proposal, as they termed it, to be reduced to the condition of slaves, to be obliged to break stones on the roads, to have their lands taken away, and their dignity as chiefs destroyed. I trust that this may not turn out to be the true meaning, or, at least, the effect of the Treaty of Waitangi, as far as the poor natives are concerned. The Church Missionaries, the blankets, and the chief Nino, had the effect of inducing thirty or forty persons to sign the treaty. The Governor went to Hokianga on the 13th, where he met with a similar reception, and by similar means procured a few more signatures. Mr. Shortland was equally successful at Kaitaia; and Major Bunbury, the officer commanding the troops, is now visiting various parts of the coast in H. M. S. Herald, well supplied with tobacco, which will doubtless be the means of procuring some additional signatures; but that the majority of the chiefs will ever consent to cede their sovereignty I do not believe, nor do I think that any would, even though bribed by the offer of blankets, if they really knew the nature of the treaty. The Church Missionaries have far gone out of their place in interfering with the natives: one of them, Mr. Henry Williams is at present among the natives as agent for the Government, inducing them to sign the treaty. When the natives shall,

as they are certain to do, repent or find out that they have been deceived, they will assuredly turn round upon the missionaries, who, as ministers of religion, are far from justified in taking upon themselves the duty of persuading the natives to part with their political rights and privileges.

Shortly after the above proceedings, Captain Hobson was taken seriously ill, having had a severe fit of apoplexy, which terminated in a low nervous fever, with which he was laid up for a considerable time at the house of one of the missionaries at Waimati. Disappointment, anxiety, and an extremely nervous temperament were supposed to have occasioned this unfortunate illness, which appears not only to have completely destroyed his bodily strength, but to have seriously impaired his mind. It is asserted by some that he had a quarrel with Captain Nias, of the Herald, which is given as one of the causes of the illness. To show the character of some of the parties who were furnished to him as officers by the Governor of New South Wales, I need only mention that one of them, the treasurer and collector of customs, Mr. Cooper, the moment he found that his master was laid up, and doubtless expecting that he would not recover, took the very first opportunity to solicit for himself the government, which he hoped would soon be vacant. Captain Hobson, however, I am happy to say, disappointed his countryman (they are both Irish), and still lives, and even improves in health. Another transaction, equally disgraceful, occurred at the same time, in which Mr. Shortland, Mr. Mathew, and some of the other New South Wales officers were the agents.

At the Bay of Islands there is a person of the name of Clendon, formerly the master of a trading vessel, who, by extraordinary attention to the Church Missionaries, and

some pretensions to religion, had contrived to establish a fair business as storekeeper and general dealer. So long as he had no opposition, Captain Clendon did well; but finding lately that others, whose knowledge of business and connexions were better than his own, were starting in the same line, he was anxious to dispose of his house and stores at the Bay, and retire to some of his lands in the country, which are rather extensive. Being by marriage connected with persons in New South Wales, he and the Botany Bay officers, as a matter of course, were intimate, and on the best of terms. The consequence was, that they lent themselves to Captain Clendon's project of selling his weather-boarded dwelling-house, his wooden store, and about 300 acres of barren, inaccessible hill at the head of the Bay of Islands, to the Government; the house to be occupied as the Governor's residence, the store to be converted into public offices, and the barren hill to be laid out as a Government township, and rival to Kororarika, from which it was intended, in time, to drive the inhabitants, and to compel them to purchase allotments at Mr. Clendon's Okiata, now to be called Russell. The Surveyor-General, Mr. Mathew, lately town-surveyor of Sydney, entered warmly into the scheme; and the Governor, during his illness at Waimati, and when he could have known little about the value of Okiata or any other place, was readily induced to approve of the speculation, and to sign the contract for the purchase. The advantages of being able at once to procure a house for Mrs. Hobson and his family, who were in Sydney, were doubtless availed of as arguments to induce the Governor to approve of the choice of his officers and Mr. Clendon's friends. A sum of £15,000 was promised to Mr. Clendon, of which £2,500 were immediately paid to him by bills on the Sydney Government,

the remainder to bear 10 per cent. interest until paid. It is worthy of remark, that at the very time when the poor Governor was persuaded to enter into this arrangement, the very officers who recommended the mad-like act were holding consultations amongst themselves, and considering the propriety of forwarding a statement to the Governor of New South Wales, to the effect that Captain Hobson was unfit, from mental derangement, to discharge the duties of Governor of New Zealand.

Besides the above transaction, the creation of some useless and unnecessary appointments, such as police magistrates, health-officers, harbour-masters, and protectors of aborigines, I cannot discover that Captain Hobson and those who accompanied him are doing anything to forward the object of his mission. They have neither purchased any lands from the aborigines themselves, nor will they permit any of the numerous immigrants who followed them to do so. The Surveyor-General is running about from harbour to harbour, but no site has been as yet fixed upon for the future capital of the Colony. The River Thames is talked of as being the best place, and the Surveyor is said to be anxious to fix it either at the place where he and Mr. Cooper have recently purchased some land, or at the Tamaki on some land belonging to Mr. Fairburn, one of the missionaries, on whose prosperity very likely that of the Surveyor-General may now somewhat depend. Captain Symonds, a son of Sir William Symonds, and agent for a Mr. Roy, from Edinburgh, and some other parties, who claim land in New Zealand, under the name of the Manakau Company, is reported to have persuaded Captain Hobson, that a place called Waitemate, in the frith of the Thames, is the most eligible spot, perhaps because it adjoins, if it does not form a part of the

land belonging to the Company for which the disinterested Captain Symonds is agent. From all that I can understand, I think it more than likely that the person who can bid highest for the interest and influence of the Government officers may have the capital fixed on his land, wherever that land may happen to be.

The settlers at Kororarika and the Bay of Islands are already getting tired of the Government, at all events of the Government officers, who appear to conduct themselves in a very overbearing and insolent manner, cutting down the timber on the lands of the private settlers, openly and barefacedly telling them that they have no right to their own lands, that they are the property of the Queen.

The population of the Bay of Islands has very much increased since I was here last, and notwithstanding the threats of the Government officers, many speculations are made in the sale and purchase of lands. At Kororarika building allotments have risen to an enormous value, both because of great expectations from the occupation of the country by the British Government, as well as because many of the recently-arrived immigrants, who live in tents, are unable to obtain any lands from the Government, and are therefore anxious to purchase some place to live upon until a change for the better take place.

1 Vide Appendix No. I.

LETTER VI.

LETTER VI.

Unsettled State of New Zealand Affairs. Thames. Recently-arrived Immigrants and "Old Hands." Natives, their Greed and Extortion. Threatened Robbery. Sawmill, attempts at its Erection. Valley of the Thames. Mate Mate. Native Chapel. Young Chief. A German taken in by the Natives. Sad Perplexity about selecting a Wife. Native Mausoleum. Meeting of Landholders at Coromandel Harbour. Nature of the Land-Claims Bill. Sir George Gipps and Mr. Wentworth. Petition and Protest. Disgraceful Conduct of Major Bunbury and the other Government Agents. Natives of New Zealand different from those of New Holland. Speech of Sir George Gipps. Right of England to New Zealand. Interview with Captain Hobson at the Bay of Islands. Interview with Sir George Gipps. Mr. Shortland and the Port Nicholson Settlers. Captain Hobson's Complaints of his Officers. Great Expense of the New Zealand Government. Selections of the Government Officers. Arrival of the Land-Claims Commissioners.

SYDNEY, January 10, 1841.

My last letter was written to you from the Bay of Islands on my way to the Thames, and as many circumstances of importance as regards New Zealand and my own prospects in connexion with that country have happened in the interval, you will, I know, forgive me if I again give you the trouble of reading a long letter on New Zealand affairs, even although they be exceedingly gloomy at present. Before, however, entering on the subject of New Zealand politics generally, I must first continue the narrative of my own proceedings since I left the Bay of Islands, as being of more immediate interest to you, and explaining, in connexion with the general state of New Zealand, the reasons why I am so soon again in this

Colony, where I shall likely remain for some time, at all events till matters change for the better in New Zealand; for in the present uncertain state of things in that country, it is impossible for any person to know what to direct his attention to, and those who have already unfortunately entered into any engagements would now willingly abandon them if they could. Such is the general impression: how far it is well founded, you will be able to infer from the following report.

To continue my own personal adventures, then. From the Bay of Islands I sailed almost immediately after the date of my former letter. After a short passage I arrived safely at Coromandel Harbour, where I transhipped myself, a millwright, a blacksmith, and the machinery of the sawmill, into a small coasting vessel which I chartered for the occasion, and which conveyed me up the river to the place where Mr. M – – – had established himself, when I was glad to find he had erected a small weather-boarded house for our own accommodation, and one or two native houses for the men, although one of the carpenters whom we brought from Sydney had already left him and the other was almost useless. Emigrants are never so easily managed, or so able to undergo the fatigues and hardships of a new settlement, as the "old hands" (a name which emancipated convicts take to themselves). After my arrival, our force consisted of our two selves, a young friend who came with me to visit the country, the remaining carpenter, a millwright, a German, a blacksmith, four native boys, and a native cook. The old chief from whom we bought the land also settled near us with some of his tribe; and as for visits from other natives, not ceremonial, but vastly troublesome and expensive, we were scarcely a day for the first month or two without them. On finding we had

really settled upon the land, the greedy fellows determined to make the most of us, and though Mr. M – – – thought he had formerly satisfied all the real owners of the soil, hundreds of new claimants made their appearance on his arrival, demanding payment for a sacred or tabooed spot here, there, and everywhere, as being the burial-place of some father, mother, brother, or cousin – it did not matter how far removed. Knowing little of the language, their constant visits and demands were not only annoying, but somewhat alarming, as the claims were not always preferred in a very gentle manner, being frequently accompanied with threats to rob us and burn the houses, if the party were not satisfied. On one occasion an attempt was made to execute this threat. A body of natives landed one day in three or four war-canoes, performed their war-dance before our house, and made sundry speeches, which too significantly expressed their intentions.

Our men happening fortunately to be about the place, we called them into the house, and gave each of them, in presence of the natives, a double-barrelled gun to load. Having thus prepared ourselves, one of us went outside, and the natives, seeing we were not to be intimidated, came up to him, one after another, for the purpose of shaking hands. Their claim was then discussed in a friendly way, and a few presents satisfied them and secured their friendship. These after-claims are the most annoying thing that a new settler has to endure in New Zealand: some of them may be well founded, but the majority are merely got up for the purpose of endeavouring to obtain something from the Europeans, whom it is reckoned no sin to cheat in every possible manner. The expedients they resort to for the purpose of obtaining European goods are extraordinary and ingenious. If they take a fancy to an article,

they are never satisfied till they obtain it: but once in their possession, like the child's toy, it ceases to be valued. They are excellent traders, more overreaching and sharper than Jews themselves.

Shortly after I arrived, we examined the stream on which we purposed to erect the saw-mill; but I was sorry to find that Mr. M – – – had been quite deceived as to the existence of a fall, for we could discover none in any place within an available distance of timber. The millwright, however, fixed upon a part of the creek just at highwater mark, which he deemed would answer the purpose, by erecting a dam across. On his assurance that it was an eligible place, we at once set about cutting down the necessary timber for the water-wheel, and digging the foundation of the mill; occupations which gave full and sufficient employment to the whole of us.

In consequence of the repeated demands made by the natives, and the liberal manner in which Mr. M – – – , who alone knew enough of their language to treat with them, was obliged to satisfy their demands, we found that the stores, of which we brought a good supply from Sydney, were getting rather low; and as the dam which it was contemplated to erect across the creek could only be made by native labour, it was necessary to obtain another supply of native trade from Sydney, for the purpose of paying them, as well as for procuring provisions from them for ourselves and our men.

Having shortly after my arrival written to our agent in Sydney on that subject without receiving the goods or even a reply to my letters, it was deemed advisable that I should, as soon as possible, return to Sydney for the purpose of forwarding these supplies. I was the more disposed to agree to this arrangement, from having previously heard that the

Council of New South Wales had passed an Act, the object of which was to declare all our lands forfeited, and by right belonging to our Gracious Sovereign the Queen – although she manifested little favour or grace by such a general confiscation as that which the New South Wales Government contemplated.

Before leaving the Thames, I made a trip to a native settlement called Mate Mate, about a hundred miles distant, and situated near the head of the River Thames. Besides a desire of seeing the natives, I was also very anxious to procure a supply of provisions before leaving the place. We had previously sent a German, whom we for some time employed about the house, to Mate Mate, with a quantity of goods, under a promise that he would immediately send us some pigs and potatoes, which we expected him to purchase with the goods. Of Mr. Strass, who, though an excellent linguist, was a very simple fellow, we heard nothing since he had left us, which was about six weeks. With these objects I proceeded in a canoe with a native crew up the River Thames, and after three or four days' paddling against the stream, I found myself within nine or ten miles' distance from Mate Mate, but separated by an enormous swamp, which I had to cross almost to the middle in water. During various parts of the journey I had an excellent opportunity of seeing the valley of the Thames, the capabilities and extent of which are even greater than I at first thought. Along the whole of the banks of the river, and towards the foot of the mountains, the land is of an excellent description, and well adapted for agriculture, being in a great measure free from wood, although it still contains sufficient for all useful purposes. Beyond Mate Mate, this magnificent valley extends farther than I could see. Had the New Zealand Company's

agent settled here instead of Port Nicholson, the prosperity of their settlements would have been very different from what they are. On my return I wrote a short account of that district to Captain Hobson, being aware that he had no information regarding its capabilities, few Europeans having been in former years able to venture up the river, on account of the wars of the natives. When at the Bay of Islands, he informed me that he had forwarded a copy of my letter to the Secretary of State.

Mate Mate is a very large native settlement, situated in the heart of a splendid forest. It contains a population of about a thousand persons – simpler and less civilised than any natives whom I have seen elsewhere. Being far removed from the coast, they are not much visited by traders, the want of whom they much complain of; although in their case it seems to be an advantage, inasmuch as they themselves eat the provisions, which in other cases the natives give away for muskets and powder. The Mate Mateans are the worst-clad but the best-fed natives in New Zealand, having abundance of pigs and potatoes, which they do nothing but eat the whole day. They have two Pahs, the one occupied by the missionary, and the other, which is the largest, by the heathen natives. In the Missionary settlement they have erected an immense church. It is built of entire logs, from eighty to ninety feet in length, which the natives themselves have cut in the forest, and dressed with their tomahawks. In this chapel they have service performed morning and evening by the young chief of the settlement, a baptised native, whom the Bishop of New South Wales wished to ordain when he visited New Zealand: the missionaries, however, advised his Lordship to the contrary. He goes through the service of the Church of England with great reverence and propriety. I went to church one

evening, to see how the service was conducted. The young priest, or chief, was dressed like a European, with cloth coat and trousers, a pair of kid gloves upon his hands, and a pair of spectacles upon his nose, though he could see very well without them. After the service was over, his brother drove all the people out of the church with a switch. Whether that was the usual custom, or whether he thought they were annoying me by gratifying their curiosity in examining my clothes and personal appearance, I do not know. Before I left the place, I discovered that the dress and spectacles which the young chief wore had formerly belonged to Strass, whom they had succeeded in cajoling or intimidating, not only out of all the property that we had given him, but also out of all his own clothes. They had penetration enough to see that he could be easily imposed upon, and they certainly did so. They made him purchase a small piece of land at the rate of five or six pounds an acre; on this ground they erected a house for him, for which they charged him enormously. When the house was built, they came and lived with him; made him buy their pigs and potatoes at their own price, and then gave him every assistance in eating them. He was furnished with eight servants, whom he had also to feed. He gave himself out as a missionary when he arrived in the settlement; and having no wife, two chiefs, at the same time, proposed that he should form an alliance with their families. Being a missionary, he could only marry one wife, and he dared not offend the one by marrying the daughter of the other. Such was the perplexity in which I found our agent. He had thrown away all the goods we gave him – he lost his own clothes – he was even indebted to the natives – and had procured no provisions for us, with the exception of about ten young and small pigs.

In the heathen Pah there is a large mausoleum, erected over the grave of a great warrior chief, who formerly commanded the tribe. It is the largest and the handsomest piece of native workmanship I have seen in New Zealand, being carved all over with great care and labour, and ornamented with a variety of figures.

Almost immediately on my return, I proceeded to Coromandel Harbour, being the only place from which I could procure a passage to the Bay of Islands. At Coromandel Harbour I found a number of land claimants assembled together to consider what course should be adopted with regard to the subject of their lands, and the act of Sir George Gipps. That act, of which I saw the first copy at Coromandel Harbour, commences by asserting that lands purchased from or granted by the native chiefs of New Zealand to British subjects belong by right to Her Majesty the Queen, and form part of the demesne lands of the Crown. It also asserts the Queen's sovereignty over all the islands of New Zealand, and her right of pre-emption over all the lands contained in them and still in the possession of the aborigines. Notwithstanding this assertion of the right of Her Majesty, it is still graciously made known that persons who have equitably purchased lands from the aborigines prior to the date of the proclamation which prohibited the purchase of native lands in New Zealand, will, on proper inquiry being made into their claims by three commissioners appointed for that purpose, receive, on the recommendations of such commissioners, Crown grants for the same, but not for a larger quantity than 2560 acres in any case; the number of acres to be awarded according to a schedule attached to the act. Those who made their purchase in 1815 receive one acre for every fourpence paid to the natives; and so on in an ascending scale, gradually rising till the

year 1839, when the rate is fixed at eight shillings per acre. A scale of fees to be paid to those commissioners is also attached to the act, whereby the poor claimants are put to an enormous expense in proving their titles. As that scale is a curiosity, and an evidence of the tyranny and injustice of the Government of New South Wales, I will give you a list of the separate charges.

When the claim is lodged with the commissioners previous to the inquiry, £5 are to be paid; for every summons to examine a witness, 5s.; for every witness examined, 5s.; for every written document or paper produced, 5s.; for taking down the evidence of any witness, 5s.; for every 100 words after the first 100, additional, 2s. 6d.!! for every certificate granted by commissioners, of default, refusal to answer, or wilful withdrawing of any witness, £1; for any final report in favour of the party claiming, £5; when the extent of land does not exceed 500 acres, for every additional 100 acres, 10s. By this infamous scale, you will perceive that a party claiming not more than one acre of land, independent of payment to witnesses, and bribes to natives, to give evidence in his favour, or at all to appear before the court, which they will not do without good payment, would also have to pay to the Government about £12. To crown the infamy of the whole concern, the surplus lands, instead of going back to the natives, the parties alleged to have been injured, are strangely enough declared to be the property of the Crown. We are tried, because we are said to have stolen the natives' property; when our crime is proved, the property is taken from us, but instead of being restored to the natives from whom we stole it, it is kept by the Judge himself. Abominable and grossly unjust as this act is, with the exception of Mr. Hannibal M'Arthur, every one of the members of the Botany Bay Council approved of it. If their own large grants and

convict-gathered properties were dealt with in a similar manner, I scarcely think they would like it. Sir George Gipps has, I understand, made the question of New Zealand politics a matter of personal feeling, in consequence of a quarrel with rather a notable person in Sydney (a barrister), who, in defiance of Sir George Gipps's proclamation, and after its publication, purchased an immense tract of land in the Middle Island, from a chief who had been in treaty with Sir George Gipps for the same, and who actually received ten sovereigns from the Governor on the faith or in the hope of completing the purchase. Being aware of this, and anxious to thwart the Governor in every possible manner, although they both pretend to be Radicals, and were such great friends at one time, that Sir George Gipps recommended he should be made a member of Council, Wentworth purchased the land from the chief, and prevented his ever again going near the Governor. To punish Wentworth, and gratify the private feelings of Sir George Gipps, the Colony of New Zealand, and every man who owns land in it, must be sacrificed. We are, however, determined not to give in. At our meeting at Coromandel Harbour, we drew out a memorial to the Home Government, complaining of the injustice of the Government of New South Wales. We also drew out a protest, 2 in the name of the subjects of England, America, and France, against the right of the British Government to seize upon the sovereignty of a country whose independence she herself had so frequently acknowledged; and we, in an especial manner, protested against the right of the Governor of New South Wales to confiscate our properties. Both documents were being very numerously signed when I left New Zealand. An association for mutual protection was

also organised. As the intentions of the Government are becoming so manifest, we have the less hesitation in opposing them. At Coromandel Harbour I heard a great deal about the conduct of Major Bunbury, and the other agents sent among the natives by Government for the purpose of procuring signatures to the treaty for the cession of their independence. Bribery and every species of deception were practised, with the view of inducing the poor natives to part with their birthright. Many of them, indeed the most of them, however, to their credit, resisted every temptation. One chief at Coromandel Harbour told Major Bunbury, he would rather die than put his name to the paper. At the Middle and South Islands, being afraid that the French would anticipate them by taking possession, the mummery of signing a treaty was not gone through: the Colony was, in the old Spanish buccaneering fashion, formally declared to belong to the Queen of Great Britain – with this difference, perhaps, that no pretence was made of a gift or grant of the same from His Holiness the Pope. The claim of the Spaniards, in point of formality, was indeed better to America than that set up by England in New Zealand. The natives are already beginning to open their eyes, and to see the deception practised upon them. They are very uneasy under the feeling that the Governor should forbid Europeans to purchase their lands. That they will sooner or later rebel I am confident, if the present system be attempted to be carried out; for there are no people under the sun more jealous of any infringement upon their rights, or interference with their property, especially their lands, than the New Zealanders. Sir George Gipps and the New Zealand Council have an idea that the New Zealanders are like the unfortunate aborigines of New Holland, wandering savages without house, home,

or any fixed habitations; who, in their opinion, the sooner they were exterminated by themselves and their stockmen, the better. The speech of Sir George Gipps on the occasion of introducing the Robbery Bill tends clearly to prove that these were the ideas of the humane and enlightened Governor of Botany Bay. Having procured from his Attorney-General all the authorities on the law of nations, and reports of some decisions between the United States of America and some of the Indian tribes, all which, as a matter of course, went happily to prove that civilised countries had a right to plunder savages and to take possession of their lands, – thus backed with American law authorities, Sir George Gipps delivered himself of a speech which so much astonished his councillors by the profundity of its legal knowledge, that they, without a moment's hesitation, became converts to the doctrine that the New Zealanders are savages: this of course was taken for granted as a starting-point, and believed as truly as any of Euclid's axioms.

The New Zealanders being savages, it was then discovered and proved that civilised Governments had a right (whether by discovery or how was not condescended upon) to all lands belonging to such savages – therefore the British Government had a right to all the lands in New Zealand, whether in the possession of natives or Europeans. How fortunate is the Government that has such a man as Sir George Gipps for the Governor of one of its Colonies! So conceited was the Governor of Botany Bay of his speech, that he actually incurred the expense of printing it, for the purpose of permanently delighting his friends and admirers with his eloquence, learning, and justice; and I hear that Wentworth, the Botany Bay lawyer and patriot, is also about publishing a reply to it, in which

he promises to prove that England had no right whatever to New Zealand, either by the law of nations or by any other. He can certainly prove that whatever claim England might have had by virtue of Captain Cook's discovery, she has abandoned a long time since.

In the year 1835 it was publicly notified by the Governor of New South Wales, that "His Majesty had approved of an arrangement made by this (New South Wales) Government for complying with the wishes of the chiefs of New Zealand, to adopt a national flag in their collective capacity." In the same document it is stated that "the registers of vessels built in New Zealand, and granted by the chiefs, and certified by the British Resident, shall be considered as valid instruments, and respected as such in any intercourse which these vessels may hold with British Possessions." Independent of these circumstances, it is a known fact that all goods or produce imported into English ports was subject to a foreign tax or duty. And even the very instructions of the Marquis of Normanby to Sir George Gipps himself acknowledge the independence of New Zealand: – "On the other hand, the Ministers of the Crown have been restrained by still higher motives from engaging in such an enterprise. They have referred to the advice of the Committee appointed by the House of Commons in the year 1836 to inquire into the state of the Aborigines residing in the vicinity of our Colonial Settlements, and have concurred with that Committee in thinking that the increase of national wealth and power promised by the acquisition of New Zealand would be a most inadequate compensation for the injury which must be inflicted on this kingdom itself by embarking in a measure essentially unjust, and but too certainly fraught with calamity [too prophetic, I fear] to a numerous and inoffensive people, whose

title to the soil and to the sovereignty of New Zealand is indisputable, and has been solemnly recognised by the British Government. We retain these opinions in an unimpaired force," &c. And if so, by what right can their servants now deprive British subjects of lands and properties bought in a country and from a people at a time when "their sovereignity had been solemnly recognised by the British Government?" No more right, I should imagine, than they have to interfere with lands which a British subject may purchase in America or in France.

In the same despatch the Marquis of Normanby says – "I have already said that we acknowledge New Zealand as a sovereign and independent state," &c.; and further on, "The Queen, in common with Her Majesty's immediate predecessor, disclaims for herself and her subjects every pretension to seize on the ISLANDS of New Zealand, or to govern them as a part of the dominions of Great Britain, unless the free and intelligent consent of the natives, expressed according to their established customs, shall be first obtained." Very different, however, is the practice of Sir George Gipps and Captain Hobson from the above instructions. They are determined, right or wrong, to be Governors over New Zealand, and instead of obtaining the free and intelligent consent of the natives, the few who signed their treaty have either been bribed to do so, or influenced by their spiritual instructors, the missionaries; and two of the islands have been seized without asking or obtaining the consent of the natives (intelligent or otherwise).

While at the Bay of Islands, I waited on Captain Hobson on the subject of our lands, and mentioned to him that I had almost made up my mind to abandon them, and to discontinue the erection of the saw-mill; although I had spent so much money on both, that it might, perhaps, be wiser to

put up with the first loss than to continue laying out more money in the present unpromising state of affairs in New Zealand. He, however, advised me by all means not to abandon the erection of the saw-mill, as it would be a public benefit to the Colony, by reducing the present enormous charges of the sawyers. He also assured me that my case, and that of some other party who was at the same time erecting another saw-mill, would be made exceptions, and that the money laid out in improvements would be reckoned as part of the original cost. The Colony was at present, he said, under the Government of New South Wales, but he had no doubt that it would be an independent Colony very shortly, when he could, without reference to Sir George Gipps, settle my claim himself: in the mean time, he requested me to address to him a letter fully setting forth my claim, which he would forward to Sir George Gipps, with a strong recommendation from himself. I did so, and shortly after my arrival in Sydney sought and obtained an interview with Sir George Gipps, but to no purpose; for he was bent upon the ruin of every man in New Zealand, and could see no reason why an exception should be made in my favour. I left him thoroughly disgusted with his coarse manners, and indecent and profane swearing. The sight of a person connected with New Zealand seemed to have the effect of stirring up all the passions and ill-feelings of his nature, which appear to be considerable.

With the exception of a great deal more dissatisfaction among the settlers, and thorough hatred of the Government officers, I could perceive no other change at the Bay of Islands since I had been there before. Mr. Shortland was still at Port Nicholson, where he has made himself, as I expected he would, highly obnoxious by his rude and overbearing manner to all the settlers, who are quite as much

opposed to the Government as those in the northern end of the island.

Captain Hobson complained to me sadly of the manner in which he was left by the Governor of New South Wales, without a single officer who knew anything about public business, or in whom he could place any confidence. He had not even a legal adviser to give an opinion when required. He has, however, no want of other officers, although he is much at a loss how to employ or to prevent them from quarrelling with one another. He frequently despatches them in the Government vessel, on pretence of looking out for the most eligible spot for the capital, but in reality to rid himself of their presence for a time. Captain Hobson has taken up his residence at the house purchased from Mr. Clendon. The lands around it have been surveyed and laid out in streets, for the purpose of being sold in allotments, but I question very much if any buyers will be found.

The Government of New Zealand must have already cost much money, though I strongly suspect the money has been very injudiciously laid out. An immense sum has been spent upon useless stores, not at all adapted for that country – on horses, drays, and the importation of a body of mounted police, who cannot at the Bay of Islands find room enough to exercise their horses, the land around the harbour being very steep and inaccessible. I have been told in Sydney that the very same list of stores which had been some time ago furnished for the use of the settlement at Port Essington was repeated in the case of New Zealand, although no two countries in the world could be more dissimilar. Drays, carts, bullocks, horses, and even a body of mounted police, might be of use in Port Essington, where there are large and level plains; but any person acquainted

with the nature of the country at the Bay of Islands would destroy them in Sydney rather than pay freight for them to the latter place. Such is the manner in which public money is thrown away by the ignorant and reckless servants of Government, little thinking or caring how the people are ground down to the earth in order to raise from them the money which they thus squander away so mischievously.

Waitemata, a very good harbour in the frith of the Thames, is said to have been fixed upon as the place for the future capital of New Zealand. It is about thirty or forty miles distant by water from the Thames, where Captain Cook gave it as his opinion the capital of New Zealand should be established. As soon as the land is surveyed, the Government establishments are to be removed to the Waitemata, and the allotments are to be sold by public auction. The Government officers have in the mean time applied to Sir George Gipps for permission to select allotments for the purpose of putting up houses for the convenience of their families. This permission has been granted, on condition that the allotments shall not exceed a certain size, and shall be paid for at the average rate which the allotments in the block whereof they may form a part shall fetch at the public sale. If they select, as no doubt they will, the best allotments in every block, they will be gainers considerably by this arrangement, I strongly suspect, from the character of the officers, and the gambling in town allotments which exists in the neighbouring Colonies, that the indulgence will end in a gross job.

The Commissioners appointed to examine into the Claims to Land in New Zealand arrived at the Bay of Islands a few days before I left, and are immediately to open their Court of Inquisition. One of them is a full-pay Captain in the army, and now attached to one of the regi-

ments in New South Wales: his name is Richmond, and his appearance is rather unprepossessing. If I am not much mistaken, he is servile, and would undertake any job if well paid. – Another of them has been an officer in the Spanish Legion; a jolly, care-for-nothing - looking sort of fellow, to whom every service is alike if he live well and is well paid. He has served a good apprenticeship in Spain, which must eminently qualify him to act in his present capacity. – The Chief Commissioner is a broken-down Sydney lawyer named Fisher, who, on account of laziness and disinclination to work, was dismissed from a lucrative Government situation in New South Wales. Sir George Gipps deems him, however, good enough for New Zealand. The three are to form the Land-Claims Inquisition Court. The Chief Commissioner gets £600 a-year, the others 1 1/2 guineas a-day with travelling expenses. There is, therefore, little hope of their speedily settling the claims. Four years at least must elapse before they can inquire into and report upon the whole of them. Their reports must first be submitted to the Governor for approval, and then the lands are to be surveyed by Government. You may judge when their work will be finished, there being in all nearly a thousand claims, extending over the three Islands.

I have, since I arrived here, put in some claims in my own name, and in the names of such of my own and Mr. M – – – 's friends as are interested in our purchase, as some people have an idea that by dividing the claims, each claimant may get a maximum grant. This, however, is not very likely; but there is no harm in making the attempt, especially when a person is merely endeavouring to save his own property.

I have had very bad accounts from the Thames since

I arrived here. Our millwright or engineer has been drowned. Being left alone about the house, he helped himself rather freely to some spirits; after which he went to the creek to swim a log down the stream, when he fell in and was drowned, there being none near to rescue him. His death has been a great loss and expense to us. I had to come from the sheep station to Sydney to engage another in his stead, and at a much higher rate of wages.

The supplies which had been forwarded before I arrived here had been received at the date of my letter from Mr. M – – – , who informs me that after he had, by means of native labour, constructed a dam, it was unfortunately carried away by a flood. He is still determined on making another, on a different principle; but I have written to him, that in the present state of matters in New Zealand, I shall not consent to lay out any more money, and that he must endeavour to build the second with the supplies that he has received.

2 Vide Appendix No. II.

LETTER VII.

LETTER VII.

Printing Company. Land-Claims. Evil Effects of the Measures of Sir G. Gipps on the Agriculture and Commerce of New Zealand. Timber Trade destroyed by the Government. Treatment of Captain Clayton and Mr, Dalziel. Removal of the Seat of Government to Auckland. Sale of Russell abandoned. Sale of Auckland Allotments. Official Jobbing. Separation of the Colony from New South Wales. Rejoicings thereat. Legislative Council, first Sitting and Constitution. Governor's Visit to Wellington. Dissatisfaction of the Settlers with his Conduct while there. Town of Auckland, strangely laid out. Bank. Churches. Mr. Churton and the New Zealand Company. Arrival of a new Lot of Government Officers from England. Imitate Example of Botany Bay Officers. Old and New Registrar. Happy Expedient for serving the former. Mode of appointing Officers in New Zealand Choice of Auckland for the Capital. Its Eligibility, Comparison between Auckland, Wellington, and the River Thames. Superiority of the latter in point of Land. Central Position of Auckland. Facilities of Communication with the Interior. Beautiful and picturesque Scenery of Auckland. New Land-Claims Bill. Scheme of Mr. Swainson. Its Object. Interview with Mr. Shortland and the Governor.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, Jan. 1842.

You will perceive, by the place from which I date this letter, that I am again in New Zealand. With a mysterious fatality, we frequently cling the more fondly to that from which we have suffered most – perhaps under an apprehension that sooner or later it may become that which we expected it to be. I can scarcely on any other principle account for my being again in a country which has as yet proved to me nothing else than a source of vexation and loss. The proximate cause of my present visit to New Zealand, is an offer which was made to me by the Directors of a Joint Stock Printing Company recently established here, to undertake the editorship of a newspaper, the property of that Company.

Besides the promise of a fair salary, an engagement for two years, and liberty to conduct the paper without any restriction or control on their part, I was also induced to accept of their offer, as being the most likely means (by having the command of a press) to exercise some influence over the Local Government, and obtain perhaps a speedier and a more satisfactory settlement of our claims to land, which are still as far from being adjusted as they were when I wrote to you upwards of twelve months ago; and from the character and conduct of the Government, I see no prospect of any satisfactory or final arrangement until the subject is fully brought under the consideration of the Home Government. Captain Hobson and his officers set every principle of reason and justice at open defiance. They are so covetous of land for the Government, and have such an idea of the money to be made by selling it to the public, that they grudge the original settlers the possession of an acre of their own lands. But as I wish to give you as connected an idea as possible of the progress of affairs in this still unhappy country, I must bring up the narrative of Captain Hobson's Government from the date of my former letter to the present period.

I formerly alluded to the evil effects of the proclamations and acts of Sir George Gipps regarding the lands held by Europeans in this country, inasmuch as they were not only the means of deteriorating the value of these lands by making them unsaleable, but they had also the effect of completely stopping all the improvements that were being carried on – no person being willing to expend money on account of property the title to which was doubtful: so far the farming interests of the country were at once sacrificed. But you are, I dare say, aware that the majority of the Europeans in New Zealand (although they all held

lands from the natives) were engaged in commercial and trading pursuits in connexion with mercantile houses in the neighbouring Colonies, who trusted them in a great measure on the security of their landed possessions. Indeed, many of the parties engaged in business here were also acting as agents in the purchase of lands for the houses in the Colonies which supplied them with the means of trading; so that land was in a great measure the basis of the trade of the whole country. As a matter of course, when the Colonial merchants found that their own lands as well as the property of their friends in New Zealand were rendered valueless by the acts of the Government, their confidence in the country was gone, and with it the credit on which the prosperity of the traders depended. For some years back, the chief export of New Zealand has been timber in the shape of spars for England, and logs and sawn timber for the neighbouring Colonies; and although this trade, in connexion with everything else, had suffered greatly in consequence of the discredit thrown upon the titles to land, it might still have lingered on for some time, had not the Local Government, in their folly – or rather, perhaps, from a malicious wish to ruin every thing and every interest in the country – issued a proclamation prohibiting the cutting of any kauri in New Zealand under severe penalties. The Governor claimed all that timber, as he formerly did all the lands, for Her Majesty the Queen. Kauri being the only timber exported from the country, this proclamation, as might have been expected, at once put an end to this, the only branch of industry which they had not formerly destroyed. To convince the settlers that Government intended practically to carry out this measure, the Governor actually sent his workmen to the lands of a Captain Clayton, one of the most spirited and enterprising

settlers in New Zealand, and ordered them to cut down nearly the whole of the kauri on that land, which was sawn into boards and used for the erection of Government-house, and other public buildings. Captain Clayton's lands are within five or six miles of Auckland; they have been fairly purchased and duly paid for by him, but his title to the land has not even yet been inquired into, far less decided to be invalid: under these circumstances, it is rather difficult to reconcile the conduct of the Government with any of the acknowledged principles of justice. Where a Government or any set of men are thus permitted to interfere with private rights, it is certainly not safe to live. They have not only interfered with Captain Clayton's kauri in this manner, but they have also sold and surveyed lands belonging both to himself and to a Mr. Dalziel, on which there was no kauri. The titles to these lands had also not been inquired into; and if the Governor in that manner prejudge the claims, I see little use for any Commissioners or Court of Claims.

Beyond these and similar acts of petty oppression and public plunder, there is little remarkable to record in the history of the Government of New Zealand during the last twelve months.

The Government establishments were removed from the Bay of Islands to Auckland in January of last year. The Surveyor-General and some other idle officers preceded His Excellency by some months.

The first sale of town allotments, which was first advertised to take place on the 12th of March, was subsequently postponed to the 19th of April, both for the convenience of the Government officers themselves, as well as in the hope that more money would be obtained for the land by delaying the sale for a month. I may here remark, that

the sale of the land purchased from Mr. Clendon for £15,000 has been abandoned. The house and grounds are now occupied by the Police Magistrate; and the £15,000 might have been as well thrown into the fire as given for that rock, which will never benefit the Government or the Colony the value of one shilling.

Previous to the sale of town allotments, a number of persons had assembled in Auckland who had been waiting in the country ever since the arrival of Government in the hope of obtaining lands. The Government were so well aware of the anxiety of these parties to purchase, and so desirous to obtain as much money as they possibly could, that they not only limited the quantity exposed for sale to about thirty-eight acres, but they also raised the upset price from £80 to £100 per annum. Out of the thirty-eight acres thus exposed to sale, about six acres were previously selected by the Government officers themselves, taking care, as might be expected, to choose the most valuable allotments in every block – thus making a complete job of what was simply intended to be a matter of accommodation and convenience. One of the best bays in which the town was laid out was in this manner almost entirely selected by the Government officers, who in the first instance divided among themselves a much larger quantity than they were allowed to do by Sir George Gipps' instructions; and it was not until some of the intending purchasers complained to the Governor, that His Excellency reduced their selections to something like the proper quantity.

Besides the limitation as to the quantity offered for sale, another circumstance which tended much to raise the price of the allotments was the competition of the Government officers themselves, especially Mr. Shortland the Colonial

Secretary, Mr, Cooper the Treasurer, and Mr. Mathew the Surveyor-General. Independent of their selections as Government officers, they purchased upwards of eight acres at the sale – making in all about fourteen acres for the Government officers out of thirty-eight, and leaving the public only twenty-nine acres. As might have been expected, the allotments fetched enormous prices, so much as from £500 to £1,600 per acre. In consequence of the limited quantity sold, and the great demand for building allotments, several parties immediately after the sale subdivided their allotments into small sections, which they sold at immense profit.

Shortly after the sale, Mr. Shortland, the Colonial Secretary, and chief land-jobber in the Colony, sold his selection, for which he originally paid only £315, to a Mr. Porter for about £1,500. Immediately after the purchase, Mr. Porter was made a member of the Legislative Council. Whether the price of the honour thus conferred was included in that of the allotment, I do not know; but it must have been rather gratifying to the vanity of an old ship captain to find himself all at once raised to the dignity of a councillor, in a Colony where he had not been resident many weeks, and where he held no other lands than the allotment purchased from the Colonial Secretary.

On the 1st of September following, another sale of lands was held, consisting of small suburban allotments, about three acres each; cultivation allotments of the same extent, and what were called small farms, consisting of from seven to ten and twenty acres each. These lands sold extremely high, both on account of the quantity being very limited, as in the former sale, and because the Government officers were still powerful competitors, especially the Colonial Secretary and Colonial Treasurer: the latter was, indeed,

and I suspect with truth, accused of speculating in these purchases with the revenues of the Colony then in his keeping. It is even suspected that Captain Hobson was aware of that fact, and always allowed him to be three months in arrears of the public revenue. But be that as it may, it is well known that Mr. Cooper brought no money from Sydney, and yet he was the most extensive purchaser of land at all the sales. It may yet appear whence the money came. The upset price of the suburban allotments (in number twenty-three) was £20, and they sold at the rate of from £22 to £103 per acre. The cultivation allotments (being ten in all) were put up at £10 per acre, and were sold at from £14 to £21 per acre. Fifty-five small farms, of about ten acres each, were put up at an upset price of £3 per acre, and were sold at from £3 to £8 per acre. The latter were, however, so small in size, and of such inferior quality, that no person who knew anything of farming would ever think of purchasing them: so eager, however, was the desire to obtain land, that they were all greedily bought up. These sales impoverished the settlers very much; but they placed a great deal of money at the command of the officers of Government, who, in consequence, became so elated that they scarcely knew how to contain themselves. Thinking they had discovered an inexhaustible mine of wealth in these land-sales, they indulged in every species of extravagance. Various new offices were made, and new officers appointed, of which the Colony had not the slightest use. So much for the land-sales.

On the 3rd of May, 1841, in consequence of information received from the Home Government, a proclamation was published and publicly read, intimating that Her Majesty had been pleased to make New Zealand an independent Colony. On that momentous occasion, the Government

officers and some other landsharks, who were elated with their success at the late Government sales, invited His Excellency to a dinner at a small weather-boarded house called an hotel; and one individual at the Bay of Islands, in his vanity and anxiety to curry favour with the Government, invited all the grog-sellers at Kororarika, in the absence of better society, to dine at his house on the same occasion; and, to crown his folly and presumption, he caused a number of speeches to be published in the Government Gazette, but whether they were made before or after the dinner is doubtful. The name of this person is Thompson; he is of course an Irishman.

In consequence of the recommendation of Captain Hobson, the three islands of New Zealand are henceforth to be called New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster – names rather ominous of trouble and misgovernment.

On the 24th of May, the first sitting of the Legislative Council was held. This Council consists of six members, besides the Governor, who is the President, viz., the Colonial Secretary, the Colonial Treasurer, the Attorney-General, and the three senior Justices of the Peace in any commission to be issued by the Governor. The non-official members were Mr. Halswell, who did not own an inch of land in the Colony; Mr. Clendon, who made such a happy sale of his land to the Government; and Mr. Porter, who paid so dearly for the allotment of the Colonial Secretary. After the Governor addressed a speech to them, six bills were brought before them, which, of course, they passed. The first was to adopt in New Zealand the laws now in force in New South Wales; I suppose, because they had not the sense to form laws of their own. The second gave to the Governor of New Zealand the same powers which the Governor of New South Wales held under the Land-

Claims Commissioners' Bill. The third Act established Customs, which came into operation in July last: that is one of the benefits derived by the natives from giving away their sovereignty – they are now made to pay double for their tobacco. The 4th and 5th established Courts of Quarter Sessions and Courts of Request; and the 6th Act prohibits distillation. The latter Act will for some time remain a dead letter, as the Government have by their other deeds put a stop to the growth of grain, as well as to every other industrial pursuit in the Colony. New Zealand is naturally eminently adapted for the growth of barley, and as the people are permitted to drink foreign spirits not half so good as what they might produce in their own country, it appears to me very absurd that they should be prohibited from so doing. But the object of the Government is not to promote the prosperity of the Colony, but to obtain in every possible manner the money of the Colonists, and they have therefore imposed Customs' duties and prohibited Colonial distillation.

In the latter end of July, His Excellency Captain Hobson, attended by several of his officers, paid a visit to Wellington, the chief settlement of the New Zealand Company, where he made himself highly obnoxious to the settlers, by inducing some of the labourers they had brought out from England to leave that settlement for Auckland, where he engaged them at a high rate of wages, in the erection of Government buildings. This part of Captain Hobson's conduct can neither be approved for its wisdom or its good taste. Considering the feeling of jealousy, if not hostility, which had previously existed between the two settlements, he ought to have acted with much care and impartiality. I have no doubt he was advised by Mr. Shortland thus to annoy the Port Nicholson

people, by decoying their immigrants. This was done by publishing a notice in the Government Gazette, that His Excellency would employ at Auckland a certain number of mechanics, at a certain rate of wages, so much higher than that at Wellington (where the Gazette was published), that, as a matter of course, several persons were induced to leave the settlement. While at Wellington, the Governor appointed the former leader of the Radical and Opposition party, a Mr. Earp, to a seat in the Legislative Council; a circumstance which, instead of reconciling that party, has had the effect of rendering them still more desperate against the Governor, thinking, as they do, that their leader has been bribed, and made a member of Council with the view of weakening their influence in the settlement. Mr. Earp, who is at present here, seems on excellent terms with the Governor; but he has lost caste among his own party, whether deserved or not I cannot say: his conduct however in the Council, which is now sitting, will be a good criterion to judge by.

The town of Auckland, although so very recently established, contains a large population, from 1,500 to 2,000 persons, and every species of speculation seems to be going on with much the same recklessness as in South Australia and Port Phillip at their first formation. In point of extravagance in living and drinking, the Aucklandites are also much on a par with their neighbours. Indeed, it is in the nature of wild and gambling speculations to encourage extravagance; for money that is easily made is seldom valued. The Governor and the Government officers, instead of checking this propensity, are in reality the parties who encourage and foster it.

The houses of Auckland are as yet all built of wood, and congregated in one spot in the centre of the

town, on a small bay, which contains nearly all the allotments sold at the sale. The evil effects of the limited quantity offered for sale, and the high prices realised, are already manifest in the appearance of the town, which is full of ugly and narrow lanes, on each side of which are built small, wretched wooden houses, so close to one another, that if one took fire, nothing could save the whole town from being burnt down, as it must be sooner or later. These lanes have been made by parties subdividing and reselling their allotments, which many have done to great advantage.

By a strange and unaccountable blunder in laying out the town, there is not a single square house in the whole settlement. I do not believe there is a rectangle from the one end of it to the other. By a still stranger perversity, every street is made either to slant or curve in such a manner, that there is not a single allotment laid out at right angles with its street, nor a single street at right angles with a street – nor, as a consequence, a single house built upon a square. It is supposed that Mr. Felton Mathew, the distinguished Surveyor, who is a native of Bath, took the plan of that town, and, after improving it to his own taste, then applied it to Auckland, where (however well it might suit the fine brick and stone buildings of Bath) it does not seem at all to answer. The town of Auckland is at present situated in two small valleys, or bays, the one called Commercial – where the public have purchased allotments; the other, the finest of the two, is called Official, because the Government officers made their selections there. The two bays are divided by a low range, or rising ground. On the top of that range the Surveyor planted a pole, and from that pole, as a centre, he described a number of circles, to which he gave the names of qua-

drants, circuses, and crescents, which he still further distinguished by calling each of them after some particular friend or favourite. With the exception of the spot on the top of the ridge, there was not an inch of level ground occupied by those circles, or cobwebs, as they were properly termed. Every circle went down the one side of the steep hill, up the other, and down and up again on the opposite side; but still, as the Jew does Jerusalem, faithfully facing the pole, which they could not see. Wherever a street could have commanded a fine view of the harbour, it was purposely made a curve and called a crescent, though no regard was paid to the situation of the ground. These crescents, in order to be in character with the town – which is different from any other in the world, whether ancient or modern – were made with a row of houses on each side. The worthy Surveyor-general had such a horrid dislike to nature, that he determined, in every possible manner, to oppose it. Instead of paying some slight attention to the lay of the land, and availing himself of the level of ranges and hollows for the formation of straight lines, he invariably cut them up with curves and circles. If the side of a hill indicated its adaptation for a crescent, where the houses and inhabitants might overlook the valley below or the sea in front, its sides were either lacerated for the purpose of making a straight line, or, if a crescent was made, its back was to the sea or valley, and its face to the hill. A very large portion of the town has been laid out on a mud flat in front of the beach, which is all under the sea at high-water, and fortunately will not retain the eccentric figures of the Surveyor. Why the town should be laid out on these mud flats, while there is abundance of dry land in the vicinity, is more than any person but Mr. Felton Mathew can tell. Where he in-

tends to get money to fill in the sea-covered part of the town, I know not. Perhaps, like Canute of old, he had the vanity to think that it would not presume to touch any spot where he had drawn his lines or fixed his pegs. Mr. Mathew, like King Canute, is capable of entertaining strange ideas.

There is already a bank established in Auckland, a branch of one formerly established at the Bay of Islands. The directors are nearly all Government officers; it is therefore likely they will accommodate one another. The integrity of the manager, Mr. Kennedy, is the only security the shareholders have against the conduct of the directors. It is contemplated immediately to erect by subscription an Episcopalian and a Roman Catholic church. The Rev. Mr. Churton, who came out to Wellington at the expense of the New Zealand Company, and under engagement to act as chaplain at the Company's settlement, shortly after his arrival cut connexion with the Company and came up here, where he was warmly received by Captain Hobson, who at once gave him a salary as Colonial chaplain, and the right of selecting a town allotment like the other officers of Government. That Reverend Gentleman will occupy the Episcopal church when finished. At present he preaches in the Courthouse. The Port Nicholson settlers are of course rather indignant at the conduct of Mr. Churton in forsaking Wellington for Auckland, and very much displeased with the Governor for countenancing him. I could not ascertain the reasons why Mr. Churton left Wellington; but as far as preaching is concerned, they have not sustained a heavy loss.

While we had so many idle, useless, and expensive Government officers in the Colony already, I regret to say

that they have recently received a large addition by an importation from England, consisting of a Chief Justice, at a salary of £1,000 a-year; a Chief Commissioner of Lands, at £1,000 a-year; a Surveyor-General, at £600; several Assistant Surveyors, at £200 to £300; an Attorney-General, at £400; and a Registrar of the Supreme Court, at £300. With the exception of the last gentleman, all the others have followed the example of the Botany Bay officers by at once selecting allotments, although there is now no reason why they should not, if they wanted land, buy it like other people; but they are anxious to avail themselves of the opportunity of obtaining it cheap at the expense of the public.

Before the arrival of these officers, Captain Hobson, although there was no Supreme Court in the Colony, appointed as Registrar a countryman of his own, a Mr. Fitzgerald, who had formerly been a planter in the West Indies. The Judge, on his arrival, insisted on appointing his own friend Mr. Outhwaite to the office. Being a lawyer, and otherwise quite unobjectionable, the Governor was obliged to consent. He could not, however, abandon his own countryman, and the friend of his Colonial Secretary Mr. Shortland, who is reported to be about to marry Mr. Fitzgerald's daughter. In order to provide for him, the Governor fell upon the happy expedient of dividing the duties of the office into two: Mr. Outhwaite was made Registrar of the Supreme Court, and Mr. Fitzgerald Registrar of Deeds. Happy is the man who has such a friend as Governor! Captain Hobson, or rather his officers, have on several other occasions had recourse to similar expedients to serve their friends. Knowing nothing of the principles of government, and much less about the requirements of the country they govern, if they happen

by chance to hear that some other Colony has a certain office which has not as yet been established in New Zealand, and especially if there be a friend to serve, that office is at once created, and the friend is appointed to fill it. Protectors, police magistrates, harbour-masters, health-officers, Colonial chaplains, Colonial surgeons and aides-de camp are, among many others, instances of this new method of governing.

Much has been said by the Port Nicholson settlers and the friends and followers of the New Zealand Company against the choice made by Captain Hobson for the site of the capital of the Colony; but without entering into the motives of either party, and without prejudice in favour of either one or other, it must be allowed by any person acquainted with New Zealand, that the choice, if not the very best, is decidedly a good one. To make a comparison between this part of New Zealand and the Southern settlements, would be no less absurd than to compare the situation of Auckland as capital of New Zealand with that of Wellington for a similar purpose. After seeing both places, no person could hesitate one moment which to select. The only doubt that Captain Hobson could entertain, must be as to the comparative merits of Waitemate and the Thames; but unfortunately he never saw the latter place, which, though far before this or any other district of New Zealand in an agricultural point of view, has still the disadvantage of not affording the same harbour accommodations or facilities for commerce which the Waitemate so admirably possesses. It is true that a very small amount of labour and expense would render the Thames accessible to vessels of all sizes; but in its present state it will not admit ships drawing much water, whereas any vessel may enter the harbour of Auckland with perfect safety.

Auckland or Waitemate is what is generally called the Prince Regent's Inlet. The town is situated on the south side of the inlet, affording the means of access by land with the various districts in the interior. It is separated from the large harbour of Manakau, on the west coast, by a neck of land not more than three or four miles in breadth. The head of the Bay of Manakau, again, is in a similar manner separated by a small neck of land from one of the branches of the Waikato River; over that short neck of land the natives are in the habit of dragging their canoes across from the one river to the other. There are several districts of rich and fertile country both along the banks of the Waikato, and at the head of the Bay of Manakau. From the Waikato the communication is short and easy to Wangaroa and Kawia, and from Kawia to Taranaki, a very fertile district, near the foot of Mount Egmont. Wangaroa is, I believe, a very excellent harbour; and both Kawia and Waikato, though bar harbours, admit vessels of 200 tons burthen.

On the north side, again, the head of the river or harbour on which Auckland is situated affords a very short and easy communication overland with the various navigable branches of the Kaipara, on the west coast, where there is an immense extent of very rich agricultural land, together with abundance of kauri spars. On the east coast, the Bay of Islands is within a day's sail of Auckland, being about 100 miles north of it. Between the two there are various good harbours, such as Wangari, Wangamumu, Tutakoka, Mauranghi, and several others of minor importance: on each of these harbours there are large tracts of excellent land, on which extensive settlements might be formed. The numerous islands of the frith of the Thames surround the

entrance of the harbour of Auckland. These islands abound with valuable timber, not only fit for firewood, but much of it also for house as well as ship building. Nearly opposite to Auckland, on the east side of the frith of the Thames, is Coromandel Harbour; and about thirty or forty miles to the southward of it, at the head of the frith, is the great valley of the Thames, whose two rivers, the Thames and the Piaco, afford the means of communication with the interior, as well as with the east coast of the country; the Thames being only distant one day's journey both from Tauranga and Mercury Bay. Between the Thames and Auckland, again, on the west side of the frith, there are several large rivers, and some extensive plains of level country, such as Wakatiwai, the Weiroa, and the Tamaki. The latter river is so near the harbour of Manakau, being only separated by a low neck of land three quarters of a mile in breadth, that it would be a very easy matter to connect the east and west country by means of a canal. Viewing, therefore, the position of Auckland as regards the means of communication with the other districts, it must at once be acknowledged to be the most eligible spot in the country for the capital settlement: and the land in the immediate vicinity of Auckland, though not by any means the richest in that district, is nevertheless well adapted for agricultural purposes, and easy of cultivation, being either free from timber altogether, or very lightly timbered.

As far as scenery and mere beauty of situation are concerned, there are few places that can rival Auckland, commanding, as it does, so many and such varied views of land and water, both on the east and west coasts. Some of the low hills in the immediate vicinity afford the most

splendid prospects I have ever seen, and no town that I know gives so large a selection for sweet suburban residences.

The Legislative Council is now again sitting; but having so recently arrived here, I can scarcely give you an idea of their proceedings. They have introduced a new Land-Claims Bill, the object of which is to compel all the old settlers to abandon their own lands, and to accept of other lands situated near this settlement. This is a scheme of the Attorney-General, Mr. Swainson, who is a friend and a disciple of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Mr. Shortland is of course in favour of the measure, because by concentrating the population around this place, his own numerous allotments will increase in value. For every four acres of land that should be awarded to the claimants out of their property, they are only to be permitted to select one acre near this settlement: this, together with making it compulsory to accept that compensation, is what the settlers are annoyed at.

Before I had been a day here, Mr. Shortland sent me a message that he wished to see me. His object was to endeavour to make me a convert to his plan. Before I left, he made some hints which disgusted me so much with himself and his ideas of political integrity, that I shall never go near him again. I have no doubt, if I were to accede to his views and terms, that I might become one of the objects of Government patronage: but I trust I shall never require to sell my independence to an ignorant, unprincipled Government.

I also waited on the Governor shortly after my arrival, in company with a friend from Sydney; and as we were both much affected by the Bill now before the Council, we

requested, as a favour, that he would for some days defer the second reading, till we had time to consider it. He at once consented, and expressed a wish that I should, in writing, communicate my views to him, which, as a matter of course, I promised to do. I think poor Hobson would desire to do well; but he is led by the nose by that bull-headed and ignorant man Shortland. His intellect has never been sound since he had that severe illness, on his arrival at the Bay of Islands.

LETTER VIII.

LETTER VIII.

Land-Claims Bill abandoned. Defection of Mr. Porter and Mr. Clendon. Mr. Earp. Mr. Attorney-General Swainson's Ideas of Political Integrity. Dismissal of Mr. Earp from the Council. Enmity of the Government towards the Author. Quarrel with the Printing Company. Captain Matthew Richmond. Dissolution of Printing Company, and Purchase of Printing Materials by Government. Government Newspaper, edited by the Attorney-General. Trial before the Supreme Court. Judge Martin. Memorials and Public Meetings. Mental Irritation, Illness, and Death of Captain Hobson. His Character. Mr. Shortland succeeds. His Pretensions. Extravagant Expenditure of the New Zealand Government. Monetary Embarrassment. Attempt to negotiate a Loan. Quarrels with the Aborigines. Tauranga. Mongonui. Visit of Colonel Wakefield to Auckland. Arrival of Press and Types from Sydney.

AUCKLAND, May 6, 1842.

CIRCUMSTANCES of some interest as regarded myself, and matters of much importance as concerns this unfortunate country, have interfered to prevent my writing to you before now. In my last letter, I mentioned to you something about my own occupation in this place; I also gave you some account of the proceedings of the Government up to the same period. The plot is now thickening fast, and making every day more manifest the absurdity of entrusting to a set of ignorant and unprincipled men the important task of laying the foundation of the Government of a new and difficultly-managed Colony.

I explained to you, in my former letter, the objects of the new Land-Claims Bill brought before the Legislative Council – a measure which, though highly objectionable in every respect, the Government were bent upon carrying

through. After consulting with the various land-claimants, I addressed a letter to His Excellency, proposing a scheme which would at once and equitably adjust all the claims. The letter he caused to be read to his Council, but its suggestions were not approved of. Before the second reading of the Bill, the land-claimants from various parts of the country forwarded petitions against it, which were presented by one or other of the non-official members who on the division on the second reading voted against the Government, whereupon the Governor was induced to withdraw that Bill. But the framers of the measure, the Attorney-General, and Mr. Shortland the Secretary, were so enraged at the failure of their pet scheme, that they made no secret of their intention to introduce a second Bill, "which would be worse for the claimants than the last, and which would have the effect of causing them to repent of their opposition to the former." True to their word, the next Bill was certainly bad enough, being nothing more or less than that of Sir George Gipps, modified, but in a worse shape.

When the second Bill was brought before the Council, both Mr. Clendon and Mr. Porter were influenced by the Government to give up all opposition, and to approve of it. Various suspicions are entertained regarding the nature of the influence exercised; but it was, at all events, strong enough to turn the former opponents of the Government measure into its greatest supporters, and the bitterest enemies of the poor land-claimants, and of myself in particular, because I had animadverted, it may be rather severely, but certainly justly, on the conduct of these men. Mr. Earp alone stood true to his principles, and consequently incurred the odium of the whole party.

Being on very intimate terms with Mr. Earp, he was

in the habit of occasionally forwarding some communications for the newspaper. About the time the Land-Claims Bill was under discussion, he one day, at my request, (being unable myself,) wrote some strictures on the members of Council, himself among the rest, but embracing my views. I had never been in the habit of taking my manuscripts from the printer, and these among the rest were left with him, Mr. Earp not deeming it necessary to conceal that he was the writer.

The Government were much annoyed at the articles, and having either suspected or ascertained that they were written by Mr. Earp, Mr. Fitzgerald – a fitting agent – was sent by the Government to the printer of the paper – a low Irishman, who at once gave up the manuscript, which was found to be in Mr. Earp's hand-writing. When that circumstance became known, I demanded of the printer to give me up my manuscripts, which he did, with the exception of the one in question, which he told me he was induced by Mr. Fitzgerald to give up to him, having threatened him with an action for damages on the part of Mr. Clendon unless he did so. On condition that such action would be abandoned, the printer gave up the manuscript. After applying to Mr. Fitzgerald for the manuscript and an explanation of his conduct, I could obtain no satisfaction, but that of making it publicly known that he was not a gentleman – a fact well known and believed in the settlement long before then.

On account of these articles, and his independent conduct in the Council, in which he had been requested, in an address from all the inhabitants of Auckland, to continue to take his seat, Mr. Earp became so odious to the Government, that they took the opportunity of his absence, the day before he sailed for Port Nicholson, to pass a

resolution censuring his conduct, and declaring that after the publication of these strictures the other members could not sit in Council with him, Mr. Porter, who was formerly on the most intimate terms with Mr. Earp, proposed, and Mr. Swainson, the Attorney-General, seconded the resolution, in a speech little creditable to himself; for he gives as the chief reason why Mr. Earp should not have politically opposed Mr. Porter and his party, the fact of his having frequently partaken of their hospitality! Such is the idea that this lawyer forms of political integrity: a mess of pottage, according to his ideas, should purchase any man's support.

The Governor, as was intended, declared, that in consideration of the opinions of his worthy Council, Mr. Earp's name would be struck off the list of members. This intelligence was communicated to the offensive member as the vessel in which he sailed was leaving the harbour. The Government boat was sent after him, with a letter, intimating the resolution of the Council, and the decision of the Governor thereupon. I believe they were too cowardly to make it known to him before leaving the settlement.

After Mr. Earp's departure and dismissal, I became the marked object of the concentrated hatred of the Government, both because I exposed their measures in the paper, as well as on account of my uniting with the other claimants in getting up sundry petitions to the Home Government, complaining of the injustice of the Local Government. The only manner in which the Government officers could in the least annoy or injure me, was through the Printing Company, whose paper I conducted. I had formerly requested the Governor to remove my name from the list of magistrates; but instead of doing so, as if my resignation had been voluntary, as it was, he caused a

notice to be published in the Gazette, the effect of which was to make it appear that I had been dismissed. Perhaps Mr. Shortland had more to do with that notice than poor Captain Hobson, who was then scarcely able to attend to anything. The affairs of the Printing Company were under the management of four directors, three of whom were Government officers, and one of them was the obsequious Captain Matthew Richmond, the Commissioner of Land-Claims. Shortly after the quarrel with Mr. Fitzgerald, the printer one day returned to me the manuscript for the leading article of next publication, at the request, he said, of the directors, who desired him not to insert anything more from me till I gave them security that the Company should not suffer through any libellous matter that might be published. I knew that this was a mere pretence to get rid of me, and I took no notice of it. Some of my friends, however, who were anxious that the publication of the paper should not cease, went of their own accord and tendered the necessary security, which the directors could not help accepting, as one of them, Mr. Montefiore, the only business-man among them, was friendly towards me, and anxious that I should have an opportunity of making known the wants and wishes of the Colony. But this arrangement was not by any means satisfactory to the Government; for I could annoy them more than enough by merely stating the simple truth regarding their conduct, without running into libel or anything else. Their object was to get rid of me altogether, and they therefore immediately despatched the Government brig for their champion Captain Richmond, who was then at the Bay of Islands acting as Land Commissioner. That gentleman was only too glad to have an opportunity of showing his fidelity to the Government. He instantly

repaired to Auckland, and called another meeting of the directors, when he got them to agree that the paper should be merely continued as an advertising medium, until a general meeting of the shareholders could be called for the purpose of dissolving the Company. A notice was sent to me, that my services were no longer required as editor of the paper. The shareholders were mostly all Government officers, or persons who dared not oppose them, and the Company was consequently dissolved, the press and all the printing materials being purchased by Government for about £1,700.

A new paper was instantly published, and edited by Mr. Swainson, the Attorney-General, who, as a matter of course, abused myself in particular, and the land-claimants generally, in no very measured terms. The Government had now all they could desire – a press at their command, and one of their own officers to conduct a paper in which they might make it appear that the Government of New Zealand was the best under the sun; while the people had no means of making their grievances known, there being then no other newspaper in that part of the Colony; the paper published at Kororarika having been formerly stopped by Mr. Shortland, the Colonial Secretary, because it dared to question the conduct of the Government. The people of the settlement were so much impressed with the necessity of making an effort to change this state of things, that they almost one and all requested that I should procure a press and printing materials from Sydney for the purpose of publishing a newspaper, for which they were willing to contribute a certain portion of the expense. Being equally alive to the advantages, and even necessity, of having the means of making known the intolerable tyranny under which the Colony suffered, I acceded to their

request, and promised to make arrangements for the purchase of a press and type when they could be procured in Sydney.

As the Government officers had treated me thus unceremoniously, I saw no reason why I should not insist upon the fulfilment of their engagement with me, and having no other resource but an appeal to law, I brought an action against Mr. Shortland, the Colonial Secretary, and Mr. Mathew, the late Surveyor-General, and present Chief Police Magistrate, for the two years' salary. The case was tried before the last sitting of our Supreme Court. The Judge, Mr. Martin, I hope through ignorance, allowed them to place me (while attempting to recover a simple debt) on my trial, for libelling several officers of Government, for breaking my contract with the Printing Company by permitting others to write in the paper, as well as on a charge of having depreciated the value of the property committed to me. The Attorney-General conducted the case for Mr. Shortland. The Jury, however, without hesitation, acquitted me of all these charges, and found a verdict in my favour. But the Judge reserved what he called a point of law, for his own decision. This, as might have been expected, was given against me, and I was thereby only allowed one year's salary. The Judge is said, I know not how truly, to have written a letter to Mr. Shortland, in order to be forwarded to the Home Government, recommending the propriety of purchasing the press and type for the use of the Government, or more likely to enable his friend Mr. Swainson to astonish the world with his wisdom. It is a pity that offices of importance should be filled by inexperienced persons. I believe that neither the Judge nor the Attorney-General ever held a brief in their hands before they came to New Zealand. They were

both Radicals at home, and so procured their appointment to situations in this Colony, where they have now become what is called Tory. But I suppose anything is deemed good enough for New Zealand, where the people are supposed to be either aboriginal cannibals, escaped sailors, or runaway convicts from Botany Bay. We may, however, some day convince the British Government that they are somewhat mistaken in their estimate of the character of some, at least, of the European inhabitants of New Zealand.

The Governor and his Council having thus disregarded the wishes and interests of the land-claimants, and seeing that we had no chance whatever with Captain Hobson and his officers, we made every effort to induce the people of the settlement formally to petition the Home Government for his removal. A similar petition had some time before then been forwarded from Wellington, and we hoped that the two would have some weight with the Colonial Office, as we could not imagine that they would continue to support a man whose Government was not only obnoxious to every settler in the Colony, but exceedingly troublesome and expensive to the Home Government. Regarding the peculiar grievances of the land-claimants, we had already forwarded sundry petitions and memorials to the Colonial Office. We now requested the Sheriff to call together a meeting of the inhabitants, which, after consulting with the Governor and other officers of Government, he did – never for a moment supposing that we could be able to carry our object.

The meeting was very numerous, being attended by all the Government officers, the Government clerks, mechanics and labourers – in short, by every person whom the Government could influence to attend. Our friends also

mustered equally strong. The Sheriff took the chair. One of our party moved a resolution which we had previously prepared. Mr. Porter, the member of Council, and Mr. Thompson, who gave the dinner at Kororarika in honour of the Governor, moved an amendment. A discussion then arose as to how the sense of the meeting should be taken; the Government officers insisting that all the people should be made to walk out by one of the doors, giving their opinion as they went through. By these means they would have an opportunity of knowing and exercising their vengeance upon every person who opposed them. Our party objected to that arrangement, and it was finally agreed that the matter should be decided by a show of hands. A very large majority appearing to be in favour of our resolution, the Sheriff abandoned the chair. We then appointed another Chairman, and submitted to the meeting a memorial to the Secretary for the Colonies, expressive of Want of confidence in Captain Hobson, and praying for his removal from the Government of New Zealand. The memorial was agreed to, and instantly signed by every person present. It was afterwards forwarded through the Governor himself, who seemed to take the matter so much to heart, that he was for a long time thereafter indisposed, and under the necessity of taking a journey to the interior of the country, for the purpose of escaping from the annoying presence of people who, he felt, were no longer well disposed towards him.

On his return, another public meeting was held, to take into consideration the best means of alleviating the distress brought upon the settlement by the measures of the Government. At that meeting there was no opposition on the part of the Government, and a deputation was appointed to wait upon the Governor, to propose measures which, it

was hoped, would have the effect of setting matters to rights. The deputation was received by the Governor, but he would not consent to the adoption of any of their proposals. The breach which formerly existed between himself and the people became, in consequence, more widened than ever; and his own officers, instead of soothing his then irritable mind, took every opportunity of exposing him to fresh sources of irritation and annoyance. Even when his health and strength were nearly gone, he was imprudently advised to call a meeting of the inhabitants, to sign an address of congratulation to the Queen on the birth of one of the Royal Princesses, at which it was intimated that he was himself to preside. The people felt so annoyed at being dictated to in that manner, deeming it was intended as an insult to their loyalty, that they called a meeting of their own, where they passed a separate address, which was signed by nearly all the inhabitants of the settlement; and when the Governor's meeting took place, it was moved as an amendment on his address.

All these circumstances, added to the effects of his former illness, from which he never thoroughly recovered, together with an over-dose of some narcotic medicine administered by the mistake of one of the servants, produced such a depression of health and spirits, that after being for about a fortnight confined to his bed, poor Captain Hobson at last died. His death took place on the 10th of September.

Notwithstanding the injury he did to the Colony, many of the inhabitants attended his funeral. Captain Hobson was, I believe, a very good naval officer; he was kind-hearted, but rather apt to entertain prejudices; and although deficient in education, he had good natural abilities, and a judgment not by any means bad: but from weakness, and want of firmness, induced perhaps by his illness at

the Bay of Islands, his own opinion was invariably overruled by that of Mr. Shortland, and some of his other officers, in whose hands he was nothing more than a tool ever since he came to New Zealand.

Mr. Shortland is now acting as Governor, and will continue to do so until the vacancy is filled up. He has really the presumption to imagine that he himself will receive the appointment. He has certainly been very fortunate. He left England in the hope that Captain Hobson (with whom he unfortunately became acquainted in the West Indies, while commanding a ketch called the Skipjack) would procure him the appointment of Harbour-master at the Bay of Islands. As there was no occasion for a Harbour-master when Captain Hobson arrived in the country, he appointed Mr. Shortland to the office of Police Magistrate at the Bay of Islands, from whence he rose to be Colonial Secretary. How Captain Hobson could have expected that a person so very ignorant of business, and so totally destitute of the elements of an ordinary education, could have discharged the duties of Colonial Secretary, can only be accounted for on the ground of his own judgment having been, as no doubt it was, much impaired by his late illness. So strongly was Mr. Shortland recommended to the Colonial Office, and so great was the faith in Captain Hobson, that the appointment was at once confirmed at home, and the would-be Harbour-master is now Acting Governor of this unhappy Colony. He was some time ago married to a daughter of Mr. Fitzgerald, who, doubtless, gives him the benefit of his multifarious experience in the management of his Government. He is either so much ashamed of himself, or so much afraid of the people, that he has never ventured into town since he obtained his recent honours. He never walks from his residence to Govern-

ment-house without an orderly at his back. If he should happen to be confirmed as Governor, I should not be surprised if he required more than one soldier to protect him from the indignation of the people, by every one of whom he is so thoroughly detested, that they would willingly take the same means of getting rid of him which the New South Wales people adopted in the case of Governor Bligh. If Mr. Shortland is appointed Governor, I think you may expect to hear of his being forwarded to England by the settlers in some small vessel or other. Such treatment might have a good effect upon the Colonial Office, by teaching them that the settlers are not to submit to every ignorant and petty tyrant they may choose to send to them from England. 1 strongly suspect that the fear of something of this kind contributed to bring about the illness of the late Governor. What a situation for a man to place himself in by his cruel and unjust conduct!

On account of the extravagant and reckless manner in which the Government was conducted under Captain Hobson, the estimates passed by his Council amounted to upwards of £50,000 for the last year. And while so large a sum had been obtained from the sale of the Crown lands, the whole of which had been diverted by Captain Hobson from its original purpose, that of paying for the conveyance of emigrants to the Colony, and misspent upon maintaining the wretched system of Government which he had established in the Colony, it was discovered shortly before his death that the Colonial treasury chest was empty. An attempt was made to sell bills drawn upon the Home Government; but as no authority accompanied the bills, and as the Government of the Colony was known to be very profligate, no person would venture to purchase them. Under these circumstances, the Governor was advised to

send an agent to Sydney, with the view of negotiating a loan. This arrangement, which was agreed upon during the lifetime of the late Governor, was, after his death, approved of and acted upon by Mr. Shortland. Before, however, that agent was sent to Sydney, they determined on drawing bills upon the Home Government; but the obvious plan of negotiating their drafts through the local bank was deemed inexpedient, perhaps because it was thought better to give the benefit arising from such transactions to one of the Sydney banks. At all events, the Government would neither condescend to sell the drafts in such sums as the public required, say from £100 upward, which might have readily been done upon the spot, neither would they permit the local bank to do so for them, but sent them to an agent in Sydney. From their unhappy ignorance of business, however, that plan entirely failed, both because the agent was required by them to sell only at a certain premium, which they fixed, and which it might have been easily foreseen he could not obtain, and because the drafts themselves were drawn for sums so large as to render them even on that very account unsaleable.

That transaction, and a variety of other blunders, so completely destroyed the credit of this Government in New South Wales, that their drafts could not eventually be disposed of on any terms.

In this emergency, Mr. Cooper, the Collector of Customs, the oldest and most experienced of the officers of Government, was forthwith despatched to Sydney, for the purpose of obtaining money in any possible manner. That gentleman entered into preliminary arrangements with Mr. Boyd, the manager of the Royal Bank of Australasia; and the contract was ratified by Mr. Shortland, on the return of Mr. Cooper to the Colony; the terms of that extraordinary contract be-

ing, that Mr. Boyd should negotiate the drafts of the New Zealand Government at the unheard-of discount of 15 per cent., stipulating at the same time, in addition to that discount, that he should receive for every sum paid by him debentures on the revenues of this Colony to an equal amount. So that this Government, in order to receive £15,000 at 15 per cent, interest, actually agreed to make over to Mr. Boyd a sum of £30,000, for which amount this Colony became indebted to Mr. Boyd, and the Home Government, if they consent to the arrangement!

The impolicy of anticipating the revenues of a Colony by the issue of debentures is obvious, and has in other cases been severely reprehended by the Secretary for the Colonies. In this case, besides being highly impolitic, it was also illegal, inasmuch as it was not sanctioned, or even submitted to the Legislative Council, which alone could be presumed to have the right of adopting such an extreme measure. So well aware of the illegality of this contract did Mr. Shortland himself appear to be, that although the debentures had been executed, he nevertheless failed, when drawing for the first sum of £2,000, to forward to Mr. Boyd the stipulated debentures: perhaps he was trying an experiment, and so far succeeded. Mr. Boyd paid the £2,000, but intimated at the same time that he did so for the honour of the Local Government, though in future he gave Mr. Shortland unequivocally to understand that not a shilling should be advanced without the stipulated debentures. The £2,000 being very soon expended, and necessity requiring that more money should be procured, the Government now applied to the local bank, with the view of negotiating through it drafts upon Mr. Boyd to the amount of £3,000. But the directors of the bank, before entertaining such a proposal, required, as a preliminary step, to

be put in possession of all the facts regarding the arrangement made with Mr. Boyd. With this view, two of their number were deputed to wait upon Mr. Shortland, who satisfied them that the terms of the contract were fully complied with; in particular, that debentures equal to the amount to be drawn for would be forwarded to Sydney along with the drafts. On the faith of this assurance, the bank discounted Mr. Shortland's drafts on Mr. Boyd to the full amount of £3,000. To the great surprise of the bank directors, however, the first opportunity from Sydney conveyed to them the astounding intelligence of the dishonour of Mr. Shortland's drafts, because of the extraordinary fact, that the debentures had not, according to promise and contract, been forwarded to Mr. Boyd.

Two versions of the history of the debentures are now current, but I cannot say which is the correct one. The first is, that Mr. Shortland forwarded them to Sydney according to the arrangement made with the bank directors, but, after so doing, forwarded another letter by the same vessel, countermanding the order to deliver them to Mr. Boyd. The second version is, that after the debensures had been executed, and left with the Colonial Treasurer in order to be forwarded to Sydney, Mr. Shortland, by his own written letter, commanded that gentleman not to forward them.

Regarding the above transaction in a business point of view, the arrangement with Mr. Boyd was not only the most injudicious, but the most injurious to the interests of the Colony that could be entered into. The Colony is first of all brought into debt to pay the expenses of Mr. Shortland's Government to the amount of £15,000, for which 15 per cent, is to be paid; but the most strangely unaccountable part of the transaction is the promise of

handing over to Mr. Boyd, independent of the drafts for £15,000, an additional sum of £15,000 in the shape of debentures on the revenues of the Colony. What a character is such a transaction calculated to give the Colony, and Government of the Colony – being obliged to sell bills upon the British Treasury at a discount of 15 per cent., giving debentures upon the Colonial revenue as security besides!! I do not suppose the British Government was ever at such discount before in any part of the world. If anything could prove the absurdity of attempting to rule a Colony by means of a Government irresponsible to the people, this lamentable experiment at financing must be of itself sufficient to do so. Such a transaction could never have occurred, had the Colonists a Representative Government to control the acts of the Government officers.

Shortly after Mr. Shortland's accession to the Government, the natives began to manifest symptoms of displeasure not only towards one another, but also toward Europeans and the Government. The conduct of the latter was not at any time calculated to secure the respect and confidence of the natives, but under Mr. Shortland they unequivocally showed that he and his Government were held in contempt by them.

The first serious outrage on the part of the natives was committed at Tauranga, a place on the East coast, where they forcibly took possession of a whale-boat belonging to a European. Shortly after that event happened, Mr. Shortland being on his way to Port Nicholson to exhibit himself in his new capacity to his former friends, called at Tauranga, when the European whose whale-boat had been stolen complained to him of the conduct of the natives. After hearing the complaint, Mr. Shortland ordered the natives to surrender the boat, which they insultingly

refused to do. The pride of the Acting Governor was so offended at the disrespect shown to him by the uncivilised barbarians, that he instantly despatched the Government brig to Auckland for all the troops, he himself remaining at Tauranga till the vessel returned.

When the brig arrived at Auckland, the more sensible of the Government officers became alarmed at the idea of plunging the Colony into a war with the natives, and the Attorney-General was induced to write to Mr. Shortland, denouncing his conduct as illegal and unjustifiable. The troops were, however, conveyed to Tauranga; but the courage of the would-be great man failed him on their arrival. After remaining several weeks at Tauranga, where some quarrel or dispute arose between the Governor and the officer in command of the troops, they were ordered to Auckland, without producing any other effect upon the natives than that of increasing their contempt for the Governor, and diminishing the fear which they formerly entertained for the soldiers, who, while at Tauranga, were permitted to mix with the natives, and to engage with them in trials of strength, which, generally speaking, ended in proving the superiority of the natives. The expedition altogether cost about £2,000. The moment the military removed from Tauranga, the disaffected tribe made war upon the tribe on whose lands the soldiers encamped, and killed a considerable number of them. No notice, however, was taken of their conduct by the Government. Much about the same time, a very alarming quarrel took place between various tribes in the north end of the island, which, in spite of the efforts of the Bishop and Missionaries, terminated in a battle, in which several natives were killed.

Mr. Shortland was himself the sole cause of that unhappy quarrel, although he did not make the slightest

effort to prevent the bad consequences which resulted from his own deed. At a place called Monganui, there was a great number of European settlers previous to the arrival of the Governor. These parties had purchased lands from the resident chiefs, on which they lived in peace, and might have still continued to do so but for the interference of Mr. Shortland, who, on a visit to Kaitaia, a neighbouring settlement, for the purpose of obtaining the signature of the chief noble, Napera, to the treaty, was informed by that chief that his grandfather owned the lands of Monganui, but had been driven off by the resident chiefs or their ancestors. This chief, like every New Zealander, was anxious to make it appear that he was a great man, and after talking to Mr. Shortland of his other possessions, asserted his right to Monganui as well, which he offered to sell to the Government. Mr. Shortland at once concluded a bargain with him, thereby prejudging the claims of the Europeans while a court was being established for the purpose of inquiring into the validity of all titles to land in the Colony. A proclamation was instantly published, (every act of injustice is propped up by a proclamation in New Zealand,) announcing the fact that such a purchase had been made, and warning Europeans not to cut timber upon the lands. When the conduct of Napera became known to the resident chiefs of Monganui, they were, as might be expected, very indignant, and determined to maintain their rights. The hatred of the tribes gradually increased, until about three months ago, when the Commissioner of Land-Claims went to the settlement to hold a court of inquiry: they became so violent, that he was glad to leave the settlement without entering into the claims. Each party then mustered their forces among their friends and allies, and a battle took place, in which,

after several were killed, the Monganui chiefs, in imitation of their forefathers, gained a victory over Napera and his people, and that chief has been in consequence degraded from his rank. Various other outrages and robberies were committed by the natives about the same time, which were either altogether unnoticed, or compromised by a payment in land.

A furious old chief, named Taraea, perpetrated a horrible massacre at Tauranga shortly before the event which I have just referred to. On his return from Tauranga, he visited the house of some sawyers, who were employed by us at Thames. He and his men robbed them of various articles of clothing. I complained to the Governor, who directed me to the Police Magistrate. I procured persons who made depositions before him as to the robbery and the murder – I even offered to procure evidence to convict the native offender, but nothing was done by the Government.

A robbery was also committed at Kaipara and at Wangari. In the former case it was compromised by a payment in land, in the latter case it was left unnoticed. So that, independent of numerous just causes of grievance, the natives are encouraged to proceed to every species of excess through sheer contempt for the Government, and a knowledge of the imbecility of the tools to whom it is unhappily entrusted. What the end will be, it is not difficult to foresee. Wrong, oppression, and imbecility will in the end bring on a general insurrection, and one or other race will be exterminated.

Colonel Wakefield, the Agent of the New Zealand Company, has been recently in Auckland. He came up to pay his respects to Mr. Shortland (although formerly no great friends) the moment he heard of Captain Hobson's death. He has doubtless some deeper motive in coming to Auck-

land, but he keeps it a profound secret. In cunning he is more than a match for Mr. Shortland, but he is far from being possessed of the intellect or judgment for which he received credit when he arrived in the Colony. I hear he expresses himself as being much pleased with this settlement, as well as with the general appearance of the country. He is even obliged to acknowledge their superiority over Wellington, where he has made such a mess of the Company's affairs.

It appears to me, that what is called a cunning man is never fit to manage affairs properly for another party, because he invariably keeps them in the dark regarding his operations; and such, I am certain, has been the case with the Agent of the New Zealand Company. Had he honestly informed them of the facts of the case regarding his pretended purchases at Port Nicholson, matters might have been rectified long before now. As it is, this vainly-wise man has ruined both the Company, and the private individuals who were unfortunate enough to purchase their lands. I am greatly mistaken if he can make much of Shortland, whom he has persuaded to visit Wellington, where, I dare say, they will endeavour to work upon his vanity as much as they can. But the expectation of being confirmed as Governor will induce Shortland to be very careful how he acts in that matter, whatever he may promise.

I have recently succeeded, after sundry disappointments, in procuring a press and printing materials from Sydney, with which I publish weekly a small paper, to the annoyance of my friend Shortland, who issued orders to all the officers of Government not to take in the paper, on pain of suspension or dismissal from office. I care little about his threat, so long as I can contrive not to give him any hold

to institute an action for libel. It is easy enough to annoy him, and to make known the injury he has inflicted on the Colony, without committing oneself, however watchful the Attorney-General may be.

My friend Mr. Cormack some time ago left New Zealand for Sydney, with the view of proceeding immediately to England, commissioned by the land-claimants both here and in Sydney to represent their case fairly and fully to the Home Government. We expect much from his exertions in our behalf in England. I am confident the Home Government know nothing of the state of this country, or the mischief perpetrated by the local officers.

LETTER IX.

LETTER IX.

Wairau Massacre. Letter from Cook's Straits. Origin of the Quarrel. Rash and improper Conduct of Mr. Thompson, the Police Magistrate. Rauparaha and Rangihaeata. The Conflict. Remarks and Reflections on the Wairau Massacre. Captain Wakefield's Death. Evil Effects of being in bad Company. Proceedings at Wellington, on hearing of the Conflict. Proclamation. The erratic Police Magistrate. Patronage of Mr. Shortland. Importation of Parkhurst Boys. Injury to themselves and the Natives.

I should not so soon again write to you, but for the recent occurrence of a sad event in this Colony, the report of which will doubtless reach you in England very soon; and as you must in a great measure be ignorant of the localities of the various settlements, you may be under an apprehension that every part of New Zealand is threatened with a calamity similar to that of which I have with much pain to inform you.

I think I have in many of my former letters expressed fears, that the conduct of the Government and the New Zealand Company would sooner or later lead to some serious quarrels with the aborigines. This, I regret to say, has now happened – blood has been shed between the two races. On the 17th of June last, a fearful conflict took place between a party of natives and some of the principal officers and settlers of Nelson, the second settlement of the New Zealand Company, which terminated in the complete defeat of our rash and unfortunate countrymen, and in the death

and massacre of twenty-three of them, among whom were some of the principal men in the settlement.

To place you in possession of all the particulars of this most melancholy catastrophe, I will quote the following paragraphs from a letter which I received recently from Cook's Straits, which may be depended upon for its truth. I must however advise you, before so doing, that we are not in the slightest danger from the natives in this settlement; and we are not likely to be so, unless the Government wantonly bring on a general insurrection of the natives, which is scarcely to be dreaded, as the natives are a very patient people, and, generally speaking, give full warning before proceeding to carry their intentions into effect. My correspondent thus commences his report of the sad affray: –

"It is to be deeply regretted that the New Zealand Company have, from their first arrival in this country, been at variance with the natives relative to lands. Large tracts of country have been sold to respectable parties in England, who have come out to New Zealand to occupy them, and on their arrival they find that the lands they have bought have never been alienated by the natives; notwithstanding they are led on to believe that they are kept out of these lands by the natives, and so growing discord between the two races has been the consequence. In vain have overtures been made to the Agent of the Company to extricate the respectable settlers from the dilemma in which they have been placed by him, by remunerating the natives, and quietly giving the settlers possession of their lands; everything has been pertinaciously rejected. Recourse has in some cases been had to violence in order to obtain possession of native lands; and but for the hope the natives still cherish that the British Govern-

ment will do them justice, the Company's settlements would before this time have been crushed, because of their acting on this principle of forcibly taking possession of native lands. Oppressing an already oppressed people, has occasioned the whole of the late Wairau affray.

"It appears that as early as the month of March, Captain Wakefield, the Company's Agent at Nelson, was distinctly told by the chiefs Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, that they would not allow the Wairau to be surveyed, which in their estimation is equal to taking possession, stating that they had never sold that place. The same assertion was made by these chiefs to Mr. Commissioner Spain, who promised to go over to Cloudy Bay and examine the claim. But, in the face of these remonstrances, the Company's Agent persisted in having Wairau, neither regarding the opposition of the chiefs, nor waiting the decision of the Commissioner! A large number of surveyors were sent to the place, and commenced their operations.

"Some time after, the two opposing chiefs passed over to Cook's Straits, and, tired of waiting for the Commissioner, they remarked, it was of no use delaying any longer – they were not bound by their promises, as the Europeans had broken theirs by surveying, and were determined to take possession of the land. They went, therefore, to the surveyors, spoke to them about proceeding with their surveys against their repeated remonstrances, and again requested them to desist. Finding their request disregarded, they carefully took everything out of the surveyors' huts, placed them in their tents, inquired of them whether everything was removed, and then they set fire to the huts, observing that they had a right to do what they pleased with their own property, on their own lands, against obstinate, unjust, and oppressive Europeans.

"The surveyors, thus stopped in their work, proceeded to Nelson, and procured from the Police Magistrate, Mr. Thompson, a warrant against the two chiefs for arson. The Government brig, which was then at Nelson, was pressed into the service; and, to make sure work of it, upwards of forty men were armed, who, with the Magistrate, the Company's Agent, and the principal gentlemen of Nelson, proceeded to Wairau for the purpose of arresting the two chiefs.

"On their way to the residence of the chiefs, the armed party met a native named Puaha, and his younger brother, who speaks pretty good English – pressed them into their service, abused and threatened to shoot them as relations of Rauparaha, but agreed on detaining them as guides to the residence of the old chiefs. However, in passing through some wood, the natives made their escape, arrived at the residence of the chiefs the night before the party of armed Europeans, and apprised them of what was going forward.

"The following morning, the Europeans arrived at the small creek called Inainarino, on the opposite side of which were Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, who rose and said, 'Here I am – here I am: what is there with me, that you are so hostile in your appearance?' Mr. Thompson told him that he must go with him on board the brig, to be tried for having burned the huts of the surveyors: to which the old man replied, 'This is my land, and not yours; the huts the men put up there were mine – the materials and land both belong to me, and have not been sold to you. I have not burned anything of yours: if I had burned a hut or any property of yours, there would have been some reason for your hostile appearance, and in your request that I should be judged by you; but I am

not going aboard that vessel to be tied up like a slave for nothing.'

"At this honest and manly rebuke, Mr. Thompson flew into a dreadful passion, and said he must come, and if he did not, he would fire upon him. Rauparaha said, 'No, do not fight; let us settle it quietly and equitably, but do not fight: what if it does detain us two or three days? and I agree with you in that time to give up Wairau.' Mr. Thompson then turned round and said something to Captain Wakefield – called the constables, and laid hold of Rauparaha's hand; who, suspecting his purpose, instantly withdrew it. At this, Mr. Thompson stamped and foamed at the mouth with rage, and again threatened he would order his people to fire; when Puaha, a nephew of Rauparaha, rose with a Maori Testament in his hand, and said, 'We profess to be guided and bound by the precepts of this book; let not blood be shed, but let us settle the matter quietly.' The Magistrate pushed away with his hand this reasonable native Christian, rejected his proposals, knocked the book out of his hand, using such abusive language as I shall not repeat. He then said, 'Where is Rangihaeata?' who came forward and said, in an indignant tone, 'What do you want with me? Have I gone to England or to Port Jackson to rob you of land? Are you going to tie me up and make a slave of me, after having robbed me of my lands, and because I say they are mine, and have asserted that right by burning down the huts you built of rushes and wood belonging to me? Is this your boasted equity, to come and steal my property, and then bring an armed force to manacle me? Have I stolen a single nail, that you should come and imprison me? Have I injured a European, or touched anything in his tent, although pitched upon lands you are plunder-

ing me of? May I not do as I please with my own blankets? You and your own people are the robbers, and not me: go and manacle them. I will not go with you. If Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke were here, I would go; but I will not trust myself with you, who are destitute of all justice to us natives.'

"Rauparaha, knowing that Rangihaeata was hasty in his temper, told him to sit down and let Puaha and himself settle the matter. He sat down, when Rauparaha again addressed Mr. Thompson, and said that 'they were willing to enter quietly into the subject on the spot, but they would not suffer themselves to be degraded by being handcuffed.' The warrant was then produced, and the only explanation given to them of it was, 'The Book of the Queen: make a tie Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, for burning Pakiha's huts:' after which, Mr. Thompson ordered his men to advance, some of whom said, 'No, no; there are a great many natives.' 'Oh,' said Mr. Thompson, 'there are plenty of our men, and plenty of guns.' Mr. Thompson and Captain Wakefield left the natives, again requested from them a canoe to recross the creek; as soon as they had regained the canoe, word was given by the Police Magistrate to fire upon the natives; one gun was first fired, and instantaneously followed by a volley upon the natives, three of whom fell-one man named Ahita, younger brother of Rauparaha, among the number. Then, and not till then, Puaha jumped up and said, 'Stand up for your lives and seek a payment!' and old Rauparaha, taking leave of the 'bright world,' addressed his people to fire upon the Europeans, several of whom fell, and so instantaneous was the onset of the natives, that the Europeans had not time to recross the creek; and so unexpected was the attack upon the natives, who had only nine guns to defend themselves with,

that they made the charge upon the Europeans with sticks and a few hatchets with which they were clearing the land. It was found that some of the guns were loaded with pebbles instead of balls; and it was not until they wrested the guns from the Europeans whom they pursued, that they were in a condition to defend themselves. On the first charge, some of the Europeans retreated precipitately to the first brow of the hill-side, threw away their guns in the first panic; others kept up a brisk fire upon the natives. Rauparaha, who is an old man, was outrun by the younger; but being anxious to stop the effusion of blood, he called out to those before him, when half-way up the first hill, to spare the gentlemen; his wife also hurried Puaha over the creek for the same purpose. They were both, however, too late: a son of Te Ahita, the chief killed, had overtaken Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thompson, while the former was calling out to Rangihaeata for quarters, and Te Ahita's people cut them down immediately. The fray was going on all this time on both sides. The Europeans were still firing, and as many as were caught were slain; and judging from native calculation, from the firing of the first European gun to the end of the melancholy and disgraceful affray, very little more than five minutes elapsed; the Europeans say a quarter of an hour."

The above is, I believe, a true statement of this lamentable case; and whatever sorrow and regret we may feel for the unhappy fate of our own countrymen, we must feel almost an equal amount of sorrow and shame for their conduct – not one part of which can we approve of, or even help condemning. In the face of the remonstrance and opposition of the natives, and when the Commissioner was so soon about to investigate the cause of dispute, it was clearly wrong and unjustifiable to take forcible possession

of the lands. The conduct of the natives in burning the huts or houses, seeing they made such a nice distinction in not touching or destroying any European property, will scarcely admit of blame. Who would stand quietly by and see strangers seize upon his possessions? If civilised men would not submit to such a thing, we need not be surprised that men, comparatively speaking, barbarian, should feel indignant at such treatment. From all that I can ascertain, there is much reason to believe that this was not the only instance in which the agents of the New Zealand Company have attempted to seize upon and to occupy lands which they had not purchased from the natives. They cannot, however, be half as much blamed in this lamentable affair as the Government. The conduct of Mr. Thompson, the Police Magistrate of Nelson – the representative of Government in that district – has been unquestionably the means of bringing about the fatal conflict in which he himself lost his life. There is only one way of accounting for the part he has acted in that affair: as far as he is concerned, no more blame can be attached to him than to any other lunatic, for such he was to all intents and purposes, and such he was well known to be, even to Mr. Shortland; but instead of removing him from his place, Mr. Shortland showed his great want of judgment, by conferring upon the unfortunate man the additional appointments of County Judge and Protector of Aborigines. How far it was consistent with law and propriety to combine these offices, I will not pretend to say; but circumstances have sadly proved that poor Mr. Thompson was incompetent to discharge the duties of either.

In contemplating the circumstances attending this truly disastrous affair, it would be almost a consolation, at all events some excuse for the feeling of displeasure, perhaps

desire of revenge, which will most likely be excited on account of the horrid death which our countrymen have received at the hands of the New Zealanders, could we discover that the latter were in fault.

But were the natives responsible for the exercise of those principles of conduct and action by which civilised men are supposed to be guided, we cannot discover that in any part of this transaction they are to blame. Their opposing the occupancy of the land was right, perhaps even legal; and the burning of the huts, viewing their erection in the light of trespass, was far from unjustifiable. Their returning the fire of the agents of the Government and Company's armed force was justifiable, both by the law of nature and by the customs of civilised nations, and perhaps even by the law of England itself, which allows every man the right of defending himself when threatened with danger to his life. The Police Magistrate and Protector of the Aborigines had illegally collected and armed a body of men for the purpose of executing a civil writ. It is questionable whether, under these circumstances, (even if the alleged crime had been committed,) the native chiefs might not refuse to surrender themselves. The demand was illegally made, and the warrant was illegally executed. Had Mr, Thompson and the other agents in this unhappy affair survived their own folly and madness, there is little doubt that they should be tried for a capital offence, and by the law of England they would unquestionably be found to have forfeited their lives. They were illegally under arms in the discharge of a civil duty; they had without sufficient provocation made use of their arms, and took away life; they did not attempt to justify their conduct by reading over the Riot Act, though it would be as intelligible to the natives as the rest of their conduct. But how deeply humiliating

to think and to feel that a poor New Zealander with his Bible in his hand should beseech our countryman not to commit this fearful outrage! What a reproof does his conduct offer to our boasted civilisation!

As soon as the natives had sufficiently cooled to reflect upon the effects of the fatal struggle in which they were engaged, they became alarmed lest the Europeans should seek to be revenged on account of the deaths of so many of their friends and relatives; they therefore the following day crossed the Straits in their canoes and betook themselves to a strong and fortified Pah called Manewatu, where they still wait the intentions of the Europeans.

It is impossible to account for the cowardly conduct of our own countrymen on this occasion, or to conceive how so many Englishmen would allow themselves to be beaten by a handful of badly-armed natives. It is said that the natives (who are the greatest cowards in the world) were retreating after the first volley was fired; but when they saw the Europeans ascending up the hill-side, they returned to the fight. Had even the eight or nine gentlemen stood by one another, I am confident they could have beaten all the natives: but the truth is, that they never intended fighting; they merely made the demonstration with the view of frightening the natives into terms; but the impetuosity of Mr. Thompson, and the wantonness of the men to whom they had given arms, involved them in the sad conflict before they had time to reflect, I am induced to believe in the truth of this opinion from the fact of Captain Wakefield having, on a former occasion, and by a similar demonstration of force, succeeded, at a place called Massacre Bay, in intimidating the natives to accept of his own terms. It is reported that after the men had fled, Captain Wakefield and some of the other gentlemen surrendered themselves to

the natives, who at first promised quarter, but that Rangihaeata finding that one of his wives had been killed, became so enraged, that he with his own hand and tomahawk killed all the gentlemen. This, however, is denied by the natives.

Among the Europeans who had saved themselves by a timely flight, was a stout Scotchman, fit to kill a hundred natives if he had a particle of courage. I saw this person a few days ago; he told me that he saved himself by rolling down from the top of the hill into a woody gully, which his great rotundity enabled him to do with much facility. He, however, was merely a passenger in the brig, and was therefore not called upon to fight; but the being in bad company nearly cost him his life, as from his large size he became a conspicuous object to the natives, who were anxious to get hold of him. He, with several others, succeeded in finding his way to the brig, which after taking them aboard immediately proceeded to Wellington. The heartlessness of the master of the brig in thus withdrawing the only hope of safety to any others that might have been wandering about the woods and shores, is deserving of the strongest reprobation.

On the arrival of the brig at Wellington, the inhabitants were thrown into the greatest state of alarm. Several of the gentlemen of the place volunteered to go over to Cloudy Bay, in the hope of saving any of their friends who might have still survived; but the wind proving unfavourable, two days elapsed before they accomplished their object, and the natives had then fortunately abandoned the scene of strife. Had this not been the case, it is more than likely that more blood would have been shed.

The latest accounts from Wellington and Nelson repre-

sent both the Europeans and natives as being in the greatest state of alarm and excitement, each daily expecting to be attacked by the other. The Europeans had organised themselves at each settlement into a militia, and were regularly under arms, and occupied in erecting fortifications, business and every other occupation being entirely abandoned.

Dr. Evans, from Wellington, has been here on a visit to Mr. Shortland. It is said that he made application for some of the vacant offices at Nelson, and that his application was not entertained: at all events, he is very wroth with the Government, of which he speaks in no measured terms.

Mr. Shortland has very foolishly published a proclamation, both in the English and native Gazette, requesting all Europeans who occupy lands disputed by the natives immediately to remove from the same. The effect of that proclamation will be, that the natives in Cook's Straits will immediately commence annoying the settlers, if they do not forcibly remove them from their lands, every inch of which is disputed. The proclamation will be regarded by the natives in the light of an authority, if not a request, to act in that manner.

There seems never to have been anything like a proper Government established in the Southern Settlements. Every police magistrate looks upon himself as the representative of Sovereignty. A Mr, M'Donough, an erratic personage of this description, is at the present moment issuing proclamations and appointing officers as if he had been Governor of the Colony, If things go on much longer in this manner, the Government will fall to pieces. Mr. Shortland is really quite unfit to keep it together. He has sent his obsequious friend, the late Land-Claims

Commissioner, Captain (now Major) Richmond, to Port Nicholson as police magistrate, and as the shadow of Mr. Shortland's own shadow of Royalty. I am much mistaken if Captain Richmond do not increase, instead of diminishing, the excitement which now unhappily prevails to the southward. But he has tact enough to humour Mr. Shortland, and to be a great favourite; and being so, he is qualified to fill any situation.

The patronage which Mr. Shortland has continued to exercise since he became Acting Governor is really astonishing, considering the Government, and the short time he has been acting as Governor; but it is yet more remarkable that, with all that patronage, he should still have so few, if any, friends in the Colony. I took the trouble, the other day, of looking over his appointments in the Gazette, which, including ten persons appointed to the commission of the peace, amount in all to the number of seventy.

The Home Government a short time ago manifested their regard for the native and European population by sending to them one or two importations of juvenile delinquents from the Penitentiary of Parkhurst – doubtless expecting that our large surplus morality would be more than sufficient to absorb all the vice and crime of the young and accomplished offenders. Such conduct on the part of the Home Government is deserving of the severest condemnation, in whatever light we view it. To pour such a flood of crime and villany upon the poor and simple natives, is certainly a novel and a strange method of attempting to advance their civilisation. To the European settlers it is at once a flagrant violation of the promise that New Zealand should never be made a penal settlement; and to the unfortunate boys themselves it is fraught with

the most baneful consequences. In a country like New Zealand, where they are necessarily free from all restraint and control, every hope of further amendment is at once cut off from them. By the Europeans they have been received with the utmost jealousy and suspicion. The convict stigma will for ever be attached to their names. The majority of them will, I doubt not, betake themselves to the native settlements, where they are likely to be highly appreciated both for their smartness and their youth.

The effects of this intercourse with the natives cannot but be in the highest degree injurious. Being cut away from their own countrymen, they will, as a matter of course, endeavour to revenge themselves for the indignity of their treatment by setting up the natives to commit depredations upon the Europeans, and perpetrate every species of crime with the ingenuity which they themselves so eminently possess. I sincerely trust the friends of the aborigines and of the poor boys themselves will, for the good of both, make every effort to prevent any more of them from being sent to this Colony,

LETTER X

LETTER X.

Government of Mr. Shortland. Mr. Shortland's Object. Mr. Cooper, the Collector of Customs, a Defaulter. Attempts on the part of the Government Officers to uphold Mr. Cooper. Cooper's Conduct and Character. Continued Excitement in the Southern Settlements; increased by Major Richmond's Conduct. State of the Colony and Government under Mr. Shortland. Arrival of Captain Fitz Roy. Address to the Governor. Levee. Native Addresses. Mr. Shortland takes offence, and is by his Friends persuaded to resign. Promise of Justice to the Old Settlers,

April 6, 1844.

As Mr. Shortland's reign has come to an end since the date of my former letter, and as the advent of a new Governor promises a change for the better, I have now a little more pleasure in keeping up the periodical record of New Zealand events which you requested me to furnish, than I have had for a long time past. It is alike painful to the reader and the writer to be constantly occupied with a tale of misery and misfortune, and New Zealand has certainly furnished nothing else since the arrival of the British Government. May we not now fondly hope, that her misfortunes and misgovernment are past? The new Governor bears an excellent name at home, and he promises well here. But before entering on the subject of the new Governor, I suppose you will expect me to finish the remaining history of Mr. Shortland's Government – a task which I ardently wish had devolved upon a person who esteems the subject more than I have reason to do Mr. Shortland, or any person who has done me so much injury as he has.

The administration of Mr. Shortland has been more remarkable for the mischief of doing nothing, rather than doing too much. He appears to have been quite satisfied if he could succeed in keeping the machinery together, however badly it may have worked. His chief occupation has been, by all accounts, to concoct (with the assistance of his Secretary, Mr. Connol, and another clerk named Leech, formerly an uncovenanted servant of the East India Company, who affects to have acquired merely useful information on every subject) various schemes for the government of the Colony, which he duly forwards to Lord Stanley, doubtless expecting that the multiplicity of his despatches, and the extra trouble given to the clerks at the Colonial Office, would be a certain recommendation for the office of Governor of New Zealand. In this, however, he has been much mistaken. I strongly suspect that his own statements, if compared with one another, would be sufficient to show his unfitness for the office. He is said to have written to the Home Government that he could govern the Colony for £20,000 a-year. At the end of the year, however, his own published statement of expenditure amounted to upwards of £60,000 for the twelve months; and yet he would deceive the Home Government by promising that he could manage with £20,000.

In some of my former letters I once or twice made mention of a Mr. Cooper, who acted first as Treasurer and then as Collector of Customs in this Colony. That person, than whom no other has more injured the Colony, was, some time ago, discovered to be a defaulter to a large amount – I believe upwards of £4000. This will account for Mr. Cooper's speculations in land and other jobs. How much he may have spent of the public money, it is impossible to find out; and, but for the accounts from the out-sta-

tions, and his falsifying the entries for these in the Custom-house books, he never would have been detected. To show the want of morality, the disregard of public duty, and absence of proper feeling which exists among the Government officers, I need only say, that for several months after they knew of Mr. Cooper's delinquencies, he was not only permitted to manage the Customs, having still the books in his charge, but he was actually visited, associated with, and treated by Mr. Shortland and the Government officers as if he had been the best and most respectable character in the settlement.

It was at first supposed that he had merely defrauded the revenue to the extent of £1500; and such was the feeling in favour of Mr. Cooper, (I suppose because he was a rogue and a Government officer,) that Mr. Shortland entertained a proposal made by Cooper and the other officers, that they would endeavour to raise among themselves a thousand pounds, to be paid towards liquidating the public robbery. If that sum had been raised, Mr. Cooper would have kept his place, and been an honest man. His friends, however, were unable to raise the money; and, after various other schemes were tried, it was at last deemed advisable that Mr. Cooper should, like an honest man, tender his resignation, which was accepted by his friend Mr. Shortland.

Instead of following the usual course of enforcing the rights of the Crown by the immediate attachment of Mr. Cooper's property, that person was persuaded, by means of certain representations (such as a promise of a recommendation to the Board of Customs in Cooper's favour, for an annuity!) to confess judgment for a nominal sum of £2500. The means by which that judgment had been obtained not proving satisfactory even to Mr. Shortland

himself, it was not deemed proper to enforce it. In fact, the parties, as they well might, appeared ashamed of the whole transaction, and the judgment was thrown aside. A new arrangement was then entered into by Mr. Shortland with Mr. Cooper, whereby the latter was permitted as a private individual to sell his real and personal property, with the exception of certain lands mortgaged to Mrs. Hobson, the widow of the late Governor, for whom Shortland himself acted as private agent. After due notice, the properties were accordingly sold by public auction, the purchasers being at the time assured by parties instructed by Mr. Shortland, that the Government was fully aware of the sale, had consented to it, and would concur with the seller, Mr. Cooper, in a title to the purchases. Upon these terms, all the properties for sale were purchased – three and six months' credit being allowed the parties to complete the purchase. It would appear that by a private arrangement with Mr. Cooper, the proceeds of the sale were to have been paid into the Treasury, on behalf of the Crown. The necessities of the Government, however, were gradually becoming more urgent, so that it was an object to obtain the full amount of the purchase-money before the expiration of the term of credit, and a request to that effect was made by Mr. Shortland to certain of the purchasers; but, strange to say, Mr. Cooper, the seller, refused to execute the necessary deeds – -conduct which was altogether unexpected by the purchasers, who being thus unable to assist Mr. Shortland, were obliged to await the expiry of the credit, when they could be in a condition to compel Cooper to give the necessary conveyance. It would, however, appear that Mr. Shortland's tact and ingenuity were not yet exhausted. Regardless of promises and contracts with the purchasers, he bethought him a second time of making the judgment

available, with a view to the resale of the land, to obtain better prices, as well as immediate possession of the money. A petition to that effect was presented to the Supreme Court, a copy of which being, as a matter of form, served upon Cooper; but, strange to say, the purchasers – the parties really interested – not only had no intimation of this scandalous proceeding, but instructions were given that the utmost secrecy should be preserved towards them and the public. As evil deeds, however, cannot be kept secret, one of the purchasers became aware of the circumstance the evening previous to the motion being made in Court, and immediately prepared an affidavit embodying all the facts of the case, with the view of opposing it. Mr. Swainson, the Attorney-General, appeared in Court in support of Mr. Shortland's petition; and from the exhibition he made, it would seem that he was certainly anything but comfortable in the place he occupied. The counter-affidavit being read, he looked perfectly paralysed and utterly unable to make the slightest reply to it; and the petition of Mr. Shortland, as a matter of course, was at once refused by the Judge. Can you fancy anything so truly infamous as the conduct of the Government in the above case? Had Cooper been a poor man, or any other than a Government officer, instead of being treated with so much mistaken and criminal kindness, the very instant that his guilt was detected he should have been, not permitted to resign, but dismissed; his property should also have been immediately seized by the Crown, and he himself should have been committed to take his trial: but, instead of that, he holds his head as high as ever, and impudently exhibits himself in every public place. The number of persons whom he has taken in is extraordinary. There is scarcely a poor clerk in the Customhouse whom he has not robbed of from £200 to £500.

Indeed, it is now quite evident, that all the appointments in the Customs, and many other places besides, were given to those who manifested the greatest symptoms of being easily taken in. Shortly before he was detected, he gave an immense party at his house to all the officers of a French man-of-war in the harbour, as well as to all his friends in the settlement. It is said that the expense of that entertainment could not have been less than a hundred pounds. It arouses a person's indignation to find that such vagabonds as these should be placed in situations of trust and responsibility, where they have it in their power to do so much evil as these parties have perpetrated in this Colony. This man, Cooper, was the right-hand friend both of Captain Hobson and Mr. Shortland, and was one of the main channels through which Government power and Government patronage were dispensed.

The excitement at Nelson and Wellington is still unabated; but the natives are remaining quiet. The European inhabitants are occupied with nothing else but public meetings, by means of which they manage to keep up the alarm and excitement as much as ever.

Major Richmond's conduct at Wellington has tended to make matters still worse. The proclamation system was commenced immediately on his arrival. He denounced the conduct of the settlers as rebellious, and required them, under pains and penalties, to disband and to give up their arms, which, I believe, they did with much reluctance.

Notwithstanding Mr. Shortland's anxiety to be made Governor, I think, upon the whole, he must have felt satisfied when he heard of the arrival of the new Governor, for I be was evidently bringing the Government to a crisis. Without money, credit, friends, or confidence, a few months more and New Zealand would have been without a Go-

vernment. As it was, the authority was so divided between himself and his various police magistrates, that it was difficult to tell who was at the head of it: and as for the people, they were, at the various settlements, all but in a state of open rebellion. The Southern Settlements were especially annoyed, because they were so disappointed in their expectations of Mr. Shortland, whose vanity they had plied so well with dinners and balls while at Wellington, that they calculated on getting everything they wished from him: but Mr. Shortland was himself as soon as he left Wellington – all his promises were forgotten, and the old King Log system of doing nothing was strictly adhered to.

Captain Fitz Roy, the new Governor, arrived in Auckland on Saturday the 23rd of December. The vessel had no sooner cast anchor, than Mr. Shortland assembled all the officers of Government in their uniforms, for the purpose of visiting the Governor. As their boat was, however, leaving the beach, they were met by the Customs boat, with a message from Captain Fitz Roy, that he did not intend landing till the following Monday. This notice was given in such a manner as to convey the idea that he did not till then desire to be troubled with the presence of Mr. Shortland and the Government officers.

One of the gentlemen, Mr. Shepherd, the Colonial Treasurer, took the hint, and properly returned in the Customhouse boat: but Mr. Shortland was not to be deterred from his purpose, so he went aboard the vessel with his retinue of parasites, who were all very civilly but coldly received by the Governor, who doubtless knew the character of many of them even then.

Before the hour appointed for the landing of the Governor, a meeting of the inhabitants was held, for the purpose

of agreeing to an address to be presented to him as soon as possible, embodying all our grievances. The meeting was well attended, and some of Mr. Shortland's friends, headed by a notorious character of the name of Hart, recently escaped in a piano case from Sydney, and assisted by a crackbrained person named Folwasser, a brother-in-law of the Rev. Mr. Churton, who also resided with notoriety for some time in New South Wales, made an effort to oppose the address, because they deemed it improper so soon to complain of grievances. The address was, however, carried by an immense majority, and, when presented, was extremely well received by the Governor, who went over each paragraph seriatim, and promised, as far as lay in his power, to remedy every cause of complaint.

On landing, at twelve o'clock, the Governor and his family were received by all the inhabitants and a large body of natives. After addressing a few words to the inhabitants, he was in procession attended to Government-house, where, after the usual oaths of office were administered to him, he held a levee. As the parties were introduced, Mr. Shortland, who stood near the Governor, made some remarks to him in recommendation of his own favourites: he was of course silent when any other was introduced. The Governor spoke to each person as he passed him.

Among the parties introduced to the Governor were several natives, whom he addressed at great length through the Chief Protector, Mr. Clarke, informing them of the anxiety of the Home Government to benefit them, for which purpose he said he had been sent to them. After this address, the natives handed to him two well-written native addresses, embodying the subject of their numerous grievances since the establishment of British authority.

They particularly dwelt on the injustice of preventing them from selling their lands to Europeans, as well as that of the Crown resuming the surplus lands of the old settlers, or land-claimants. The subject of Customs, especially the duty on tobacco, was also dwelt upon. These addresses were read in English by Mr. Clarke, who was instructed by the Governor to inform the chiefs that he would do all he could to adjust their grievances; that he was requested to assure them, that the Queen of England sought no benefit to herself from their lands; that she had sent a Governor to them for the purpose of preserving peace and order, and teaching them to grow up in the habits and arts of civilised life. With regard to the surplus lands, he disclaimed on the part of the Crown any intention of reserving them – they would revert to the natives themselves. The other subject – the liberty of selling their own lands – he hoped would also be granted to them. He was required to report upon it, and if proved to their benefit, the right would be conceded; in the mean time, Europeans would as soon as possible, under certain regulations, be permitted to rent lands from them. The natives having so far received favourable answers to their various questions, appeared highly pleased, and left with the impression that they were immediately to be permitted to sell their lands – for they have no idea of the difference between the promise and the fulfilment of the same, especially if the party concerned be a European. I feel quite certain, unless the Governor almost immediately permits them to sell their lands, that they will be more discontented than ever. They have been so anxiously looking out for his arrival, and so fully impressed with the idea that he was immediately to remove all restrictions, that they will not rest quite so satisfied unless he do it. They have much pa-

tience, but, like Europeans', it wears out in time: and they are now so destitute of all European commodities, in consequence of the prohibition to sell their lands, that they are extremely impatient of any delay, and will feel exceedingly disappointed if the Governor do not immediately fulfil his promise.

When the press of the crowd was over, and although I was never a favourite with the New Zealand Governors, I deemed it a duty to attend on the occasion. As I passed, my name was, like that of the rest, mentioned to the Governor. But Mr. Shortland, of course, said nothing in my favour. He was rather mortified, however, to find that the Governor detained me longer than any of the rest. He spoke of the paper of which, he said, it was no use concealing that I was the editor; that he had read several numbers of it in Sydney and during the passage, and that he highly approved of the sentiments it contained; that my views regarding the natives agreed exactly with his own. In short, he bestowed so much praise upon my humble efforts, that I felt somewhat doubtful as to my own identity, having for so long a period been accustomed to feel that I was deemed by former authorities as being the enemy of all order and good government.

I took the liberty of shortly congratulating His Excellency upon his arrival in the Colony – upon the sentiments which he had that day addressed to the natives, which were to myself particularly gratifying, as they held out the speedy accomplishment of many objects which I deemed essential to the welfare of the Colony, and which I had so long and almost so hopelessly advocated. His Excellency again adverted to the value of a properly-conducted journal, and the benefits arising from an opposition to public

measures, when that opposition was conducted with calmness and propriety.

My old friends, and even some persons who would scarcely look at me before, came up to me and shook me by the hand after the levee was over.

While the Governor was addressing me, Mr. Shortland looked like a tiger. Every compliment paid to me by the Governor he took as a personal insult to himself, although I am quite convinced that nothing of the kind was ever intended by the Governor. He might not even be aware that Shortland bore me the ill-will he did. He merely spoke as he felt at the time, without reflecting that it was calculated to wound Mr. Shortland or any other. Shortland, however, took it up as an insult, and after allowing one or two days to elapse, he was persuaded by his friends to address a letter to the Governor, demanding an apology. The letter was, I believe, very uncourteously expressed – so much so, that the answer to it could not necessarily be such as Mr. Shortland would relish. After some further correspondence, Mr. Shortland, being all the while under the advice of Mr. Spain and other parties, who, though apparently friends, were really anxious to get rid of him, was at last requested to attend at Government-house, when the Governor delivered him such a lecture as he is not likely to forget in a hurry. I understand that he was in a sad state, and manifested much more softness than a person would readily give him credit for. In the evening of that day he called another meeting of his false friends, when Mr. Spain, who himself expected to obtain his situation, so seriously impressed upon him the propriety of resigning, that he did so the following day, to the joy of all the people in the settlement.

If Captain Fitz Roy should never do any other good to the Colony but that of getting rid of Mr. Shortland, he is certainly entitled to the gratitude of the Colonists; for no man ever injured a place more than Shortland did New Zealand. I do not say that he wished to do so; but his great inexperience and natural disposition rendered him eminently disqualified for any public situation. He and his family are, I understand, immediately to proceed to England, by the vessel which brought out the new Governor. I wish him well anywhere out of New Zealand. As a public man, I hope his like will never visit our Colony again.

I must inform you, that on presenting the address to the Governor, he manifested much sympathy with the land-claimants, whose case he said he had thoroughly studied both in England and during the passage. He gave us to understand that much discretionary power had been given to him by the Secretary of State as to the manner in which he should deal with the land-claimants, and that while he could not afford relief to past sufferings, he would endeavour to do all he could to administer justice. He also repeated to us the promise he gave the natives regarding the removal of the restrictions on the sale of their lands. We also brought the subject of the removal of Customs under his consideration; and on that subject, as well, his remarks were highly satisfactory: so that, if he carry out his present intentions, we are likely to receive benefits from the change.

He intends shortly to visit the Southern Settlements, to inquire into the unfortunate Wairau Massacre, and, if possible, to allay the unhappy excitement which there prevails among the Europeans, which, I fear, it will not

be any easy matter to accomplish, for they seem as much as ever bent upon being revenged upon the natives, and will not be satisfied if they are not punished. But had the Governor the right, he has not the power of doing so.

LETTER XI

LETTER XI.

Mr. Shortland's Successor. The Governor's Decision regarding the Wairau Massacre offensive to the Nelson Settlers. Quarrel with the Natives in Auckland. Issue of Government Debentures. Satisfactory Settlement of the Land-Claims. Partial Acknowledgment of the Rights of the Aborigines. Legislative Council, a Mockery. Advantages of a proper Representative Government. Business of the Session. Estimates. New Taxes. Native Trust Bill. Partiality and Injustice of the same. Native Lands. Post-Office. Character of the new Governor. Mrs. Fitz Roy. Charitable Institutions. Captain Fitz Roy's Visit to Sydney injurious to the Colony. Mr. Freeman, Bishop Broughton, and Mr. Churton. Major Richmond and Sir George Gipps.

July 20, 1844.

I concluded my last letter with Mr. Shortland's dismissal from office. His place has been filled by Dr. Sinclair, a surgeon in the Navy; for whom, whatever his abilities may be, it is easy, under all circumstances, to give more satisfaction than Mr. Shortland has ever done. The latter is, I trust, before now in England, where he will most likely endeavour to convince them at the Colonial Office that he has been very harshly treated. He may, however, be very thankful if he escapes being brought to trial for his abuse of his trust while in the Colony. He ought at least to be made to pay out of his own pocket the loss which the Colony has sustained through his blundering arrangement with Mr. Boyd of Sydney, as well as by his unjustifiable and blameable conduct towards the defaulter Cooper. The mere dismissal of a Government officer who has done much injury to the public, is very small compensation for that

injury: but so long as Mr. Shortland's pocket is untouched, he will care little about anything else.

Shortly after the date of my last letter, the Governor proceeded to the Southern Settlements, chiefly with the view of ascertaining on the spot the truth regarding the late massacre at Wairau. So many conflicting statements had been published, both by the friends of the European sufferers as well as by the friends of the natives, that it was impossible for him to decide which of the parties was most to blame. Under all circumstances, it was necessary that something should be done, as the fears of the natives – the threatened vengeance and excitement of the Europeans, tended to keep up a most unhappy state of feeling throughout the Colony. After hearing the reports and statements of the Europeans, Captain Fitz Roy appointed a meeting with Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, the two principal chiefs engaged in the conflict. The chiefs met him at the appointed place, and gave him a full and particular account of the whole transaction, and the circumstances which led to it – an account which bears truth upon the face of it, and is in substance much the same as that which I gave you in a former letter. On hearing the native account, the Governor gave them his opinion and decision, which were highly satisfactory to the natives, but extremely offensive to the Europeans. His opinion was, of course, that the Europeans were much more to blame than the natives throughout; but that the natives had behaved very ill in taking the lives of the gentlemen whom they had captured after the conflict was decided in their favour. He also decided, under the circumstances, that no further notice should be taken of the matter; that he would at that time forgive both parties, but if any bad conduct occurred in future, it would be visited with much severity. When His Excel-

lency visited Nelson after coming to this decision, the settlers manifested much displeasure at his not bringing to trial and punishing the natives. So offended were they, that nearly all the magistrates in that district resigned their commissions. To a person, however, who can view matters more coolly than the Nelson settlers, who must be expected to show feeling under their severe loss, the decision of the Governor must appear wise and proper for various reasons.

It may be true that English law would require that both the surviving natives and Europeans who were engaged in the unhappy conflict should be put upon their trial. In the case of the Europeans, it would be easy to do so, and some of them, if not the whole of them, might be convicted of high crimes; but the case was very different with the natives – the Governor could neither bring them to trial, nor could he, if they were found guilty, inflict punishment, in the present state of the Colony, with so little military force at his command. To attempt under such circumstances to enforce the law would be a criminal absurdity; but supposing he had the power to enable him to bring the natives to trial, I am convinced that an impartial jury would be obliged to acquit them. The Southern settlers are of a different opinion, and they are now as inveterate against Captain Fitz Roy as they had been in former times against Captain Hobson and Mr. Shortland. Nothing but the extermination of the natives could give them satisfaction. Time may, however, bring them to their senses: they have vastly injured the natives and the Colony by the unnecessary alarm and unnatural excitement kept up by them, which have been the means of causing several persons to leave the Company's settlements.

During the absence of the Governor, we had a threatening of something similar to the Wairau troubles at Auck-

land. As in the other case, it was occasioned through the ignorance, incompetency, and rashness of some of the Government officers. It is really astonishing, when we consider the character of the majority of the parties who fill responsible offices in this Colony, that we should have hitherto escaped so well; but we owe it all to the patience and kind feeling of the natives towards us.

A chief man belonging to the tribe in the vicinity of Auckland, much addicted to theft, was detected stealing a blue cloth cap from the stock of one of our merchants. He was handed over to the police magistrates, and finally tried before the County Court, when he was found guilty and sentenced to some months' imprisonment. Several natives attended the trial; but, after judgment was delivered, they all left the Court-house, with the exception of two, who went up to the prisoner, took him by the hand, and began to cry over him in the usual native fashion. The Sheriff (Mr. Berry), who had been previously warned that the natives meditated a rescue, permitted the prisoner to remain with the natives until the rest of them had time to return, which they did, brandishing their tomahawks and clubs. In the face of the Judge and the Sheriff, they pulled the prisoner out of the dock, and bore him away in triumph. Besides the Sheriff, there were also several constables and other Europeans in the Court-house at the time, who actually offered their services, and who could have easily prevented the natives from rescuing the prisoner; but Mr. Berry, the Sheriff, had neither the courage to act himself, nor the judgment to order the rest to do so. He was only a short time before appointed to the office, and more because he was a friend of Mr. Shortland than from any fitness for the proper discharge of its duties.

The alarm was immediately given to the Commander of the Forces, Major Bunbury, then Acting Governor, who very promptly, but injudiciously, went at the head of the whole detachment in pursuit of the natives, whom they did not succeed in overtaking till they reached their Pah. The prisoner was demanded; but the natives declared that he was not there. The Major, thus finding that the natives set him at defiance, would have proceeded to extremities; but he discovered in time that he had no authority to act, he and the magistrates, as usual, having neglected to issue the necessary warrant. Under these circumstances, he was under the necessity of withdrawing his forces, after manifesting some personal bravery, or rather temerity, in grappling with a native, taking from him and breaking an old musket which he in derision pointed at the gallant officer himself. The natives appeared quite prepared to fight, and regard the conduct of the Major in withdrawing the troops as the effect of fear.

To convince the inhabitants of the gallantry of the military, a slave, a young boy the son of the chief, (neither of whom were concerned in the rescue,) together with two or three canoes, were in the evening brought up to Auckland. The slave and the young chief were, improperly, handcuffed and placed in confinement during the night. They were, however, released in the morning, and returned to their tribe full of indignation at the treatment which they had met with.

During the whole of the next and following days, the inhabitants of Auckland were in the greatest alarm, many of them hourly expecting to be attacked by the natives. This alarm was chiefly caused by Mr. Mathew (the Police Magistrate) and the Commander of the Forces themselves, who gave it on the information of some person who had met

a body of natives, who acted upon his fears by informing him that they meant to attack the town. While the magistrates and many of the inhabitants were thus feeding their fears and cleaning their muskets, another tribe of friendly natives in the vicinity of the town held one or two conferences with the rebel tribe, and succeeded in convincing them of the propriety of giving up the prisoner. The Chief Protector and Colonial Secretary, on being made aware of the inclination of the natives, also paid a visit to the chief of the tribe, who at once promised that the prisoner would be delivered up at a certain hour the following day – which was done. He expressed his regret for the conduct of his tribe in attempting the rescue, and said if he had any idea that it was so serious an affair in the eyes of the Europeans, that it should not have taken place. Instead of attacking the Europeans, it appears that the poor natives were sadly afraid that the Europeans would attack them, and with the view of being able to defend themselves, they sent messages to some of their friends to come to their assistance.

The above will give you an idea of what mischief and trouble it is possible for rash and imprudent men to involve a community in, and how much more gravely an offence committed by a native is deemed than that by a European. Had Europeans committed a similar crime, it would have excited little fear or notice; but a native who did it in ignorance of our laws, and believing it to be a trifling offence, must be pursued with all our military forces.

Until the return of the Governor from Port Nicholson, he had neither time nor opportunity of making himself fully acquainted with the unhappy state in which his predecessors had left both the Colony and the Government.

The expenditure of the latter was about fifty or sixty thousand a-year, and a debt requiring immediate payment, amounting to upwards of seventeen thousand pounds, was left to be provided for by the new Governor. The revenue of the Colony could not meet a third of the expenditure, and the Treasury was without a single shilling. The Government creditors were principally officers of Government, shopkeepers, and tradespeople in Auckland, neither of them in a condition to remain long out of their money. The credit of the Government was completely destroyed by the want of confidence in the late Governor, and by a despatch of Lord Stanley's, which had by that time reached the Colony, wherein he stated that he would take every means of making it publicly known that any drafts drawn by Mr. Shortland on the Home Government would not be honoured. Whatever confidence Captain Fitz Roy might have had that the Lords of the Treasury would under the peculiar circumstances of the Colony pay his orders upon them, he was through the misconduct of his predecessors placed in so unhappy a position that no person in the Colonies would purchase the bills of the New Zealand Government. At one time he purposed applying to the local bank for a loan; but the means of that bank were so limited, that they could not, consistently with their own interests, afford much relief to the Government of New Zealand. The only other course left to the Governor was the one which he adopted – that of issuing debentures bearing interest at five per cent, for a sum of fifteen thousand pounds, being the amount of the loan for which Mr. Shortland had negotiated with Mr. Boyd of Sydney. A paper currency is, generally speaking, bad; but in the then state of New Zealand the evil could not be avoided – the debts of the Government and Government officers were so great to the

inhabitants of Auckland, that many of them would have been ruined if they were not paid. The debentures were therefore issued, but not being a legal tender, they immediately fell so much in value that it was deemed necessary, at the ensuing Legislative Council, to pass an Act making them a legal tender. This was simply an act of justice (however objectionable on the general principle) to the natives, who were obliged to take them as payment for debts from the Government, and who without such an act would not be in a position to meet the demands upon themselves. Another very good effect of this measure is, that it has very much limited the consumption of foreign goods, which will not, generally speaking, be so readily given for debentures as for cash. The people are, in consequence, thrown more upon the resources of the Colony, and, in truth, more economical than they otherwise would have been.

Independent of the embarrassment of the Government, Captain Fitz Roy soon discovered that the general state of the Colony was anything but favourable. The case of the land-claimants in particular demanded his earliest attention. These unfortunate persons had been for the last four years treated with the greatest injustice and cruelty. Neither Captain Hobson nor Mr. Shortland had the moral courage to decide upon their claims; being, as they were, so well convinced of the iniquity of the act by means of which they declared their titles invalid, they were afraid that any decisions made in accordance with it might not meet with the approval of the Home Government. The unfortunate consequence of that vacillating conduct was the suspension of all industrial pursuits on the part of the settlers, who were day after day wasting their means in idle expectation. Captain Fitz Roy manifested much

feeling as well as regard for the interests of the Colony by the very prompt, decided, and equitable manner in which he set about arranging these claims, into the merits of every one of which he entered with extraordinary patience, perseverance, and minuteness. His decisions have, in every single case, been approved of by the parties interested, who are now either occupying their own lands, or exchanging them for others in the neighbourhood of Auckland, which he has, under certain regulations, permitted them to do. For every acre that they are found entitled to by their own claims, they receive, at their own option, credit at the Treasury equal to one pound, which credit is to be expended within a certain period in the purchase of Government land near Auckland, sold by auction at an upset price of one pound per acre. Many of the claimants have availed themselves of the liberty to exchange, which has been the means of very much increasing the population of Auckland.

While the Governor was thus alive to the special case of the land-claimants, he did not for some time appear fully to appreciate the universal depression which prevailed in the Colony, through the fatal impolicy of the former Government. He appeared to think that the circumstances of the settlers generally were much more prosperous – or, rather, not so desperate as some persons would make it appear they were: this is evident from the attempt he made in the ensuing Legislative Council to impose additional taxes on the people of the Colony. But, before I treat of the proceedings of the Council, I must inform you that he has in part conceded and acted on the principle that the natives are entitled to sell their own lands to whom they will. Previous to his return from Port Nicholson, and doubtless in consequence of the promise held out to the natives on

his arrival in the Colony, several persons had made purchases of land from the natives in the vicinity of Auckland, which they and the natives were extremely anxious the Governor should sanction.

A proclamation was shortly afterwards issued, intimating that the natives would be permitted to dispose of lands in certain districts and under certain regulations, to the purchasers of which lands the Government would grant Crown titles on the payment of a fee of ten shillings per acre. This limitation, and the demand of such a fee as ten shillings, gave much dissatisfaction to the natives, and I am much mistaken if they will not before long compel the Governor to permit them to sell their lands unconditionally, and without exacting any fee; for they will soon be made aware of the fact of the Government making such a large profit by the sale of their property. They are now so fully alive to their own interests, and so sensible of the inability of the Government to oppose them effectually, that they will proceed to violence if they are restricted in the sale of their lands.

On the 16th of May, the Governor called a meeting of the Legislative Council, for the regular despatch of business. Before his departure for Port Nicholson, a former meeting sat for a day or two to pass acts necessary for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Wellington, where a Judge had been recently, and unnecessarily, appointed. Since the death of Captain Hobson, the Colony was governed without any meeting of Council, not even as much as for the passing of the annual estimates. The people were not troubled with even the mock form of asking them to consent either as to how the money should be raised or spent. All that could be raised was collected, and twice the amount would have been spent if it could have been obtained.

Mr. Clifford, from Port Nicholson, was appointed to fill Mr. Earp's place in the Council. The other two non-official members, Mr. Porter and Mr. Clendon, who never had the confidence of the people, and whose circumstances were such as not to admit of their holding their appointments, were, in consequence of a certain expression of public feeling against them, induced to resign. My friend Mr. Brown and myself were requested to accept of the vacant seats in the Council; which, after some consideration, we did.

I confess I was somewhat surprised, notwithstanding the stake I had in the Colony, that I should have been selected by the Governor to sit in the Council, being, as I was almost all along, the head of the opposition to the former Government. In consequence, and because I was convinced I could not consent to certain measures which I knew were to be brought before the Council, I had much reluctance in consenting to fill one of the vacant places; but as my friend Mr. Brown had already consented, and as his opposition to wrong measures would be strengthened by my own, I told the Colonial Secretary, who spoke to me on the subject, that I would accept of a seat in the Council, but upon the express understanding that I was free to oppose the Government, in and out of Council, as I felt inclined, and as I might deem it my duty to do. No further pledges were asked or given on either side. My enemies, and even some of my friends, when they heard that I had been appointed a Member of Council, at once made up their minds that both Mr. Brown and myself had been bribed by the Government – that we would no longer oppose their measures, however arbitrary or unjust they might be. The proceedings in Council, however, soon convinced them that our consciences were

not so venal as they expected, nor our opposition to the measures of Government exclusively based upon our own self-interest. Whatever my own and Mr. Brown's fitness or unfitness may have been, the Governor at least deserves credit for impartiality and fairness of conduct in appointing persons who were certainly the most likely in the settlement to give him opposition. I believe he simply acted on the principle of making the Council, as far as he could, and as far as the non-official members were concerned, as near as possible an approach to a representative body. The constitution of such a Council, however, unfortunately precludes the possibility of its ever being regarded by the people with any confidence. The majority is always in favour of the Governor, in spite of the non-official members; and the latter, whoever they may be, are, from the fact of their being the nominees of the Governor, never regarded by the people as being in the least responsible to them. A Governor with such a Council is really not to be envied, and the Home Government make a sad mistake in not permitting the people of every Colony to select the non-official members. A Colonial Government constituted like that of New Zealand can never, even under the wisest and best Governor, obtain the full confidence and respect of the people, who, by being excluded from all political privileges, cease to feel that interest which they ought to do in public measures. If a part of the responsibility of Government devolved upon the people, they would more cheerfully assist the Governor or the Government in their difficulties than they are inclined to do at present. They would also be much less disposed to find fault, seeing they had a certain share of the blame themselves, if certain measures did not turn out according to their expectations.

The members of a Colonial Legislative Council would also feel much more satisfaction in devoting their time and attention to the affairs of the public, when they knew that their conduct would meet with the approval of the people; and the people themselves would have much more confidence in their own members than in those selected by the Governor, seeing the tenure of their office depended upon the satisfaction they gave their constituents. The necessity for an immediate change of system is more urgent in New Zealand than in any other Colony. Without a proper Representative Government, it is utterly impossible for any Governor either to heal present dissensions or to continue long to give satisfaction.

One of the first measures brought by the Governor before the Council was an Act authorising the issue of debentures to the amount of £15,000, and constituting such debentures a legal tender throughout the Colony. Mr. Brown was the only member who opposed that measure.

The next important measures proposed to the Council were the estimates for the year, amounting to upwards of thirty-five thousand pounds, and some Bills imposing taxes upon land, houses, cattle, and dogs. As the passing of the estimates on the scale proposed by the Governor involved the necessity of new taxes, the non-official members agreed among themselves that they should make a stand on the subject of the estimates. While the amount proposed by the Governor contemplated a great reduction in the expenditure of the Government, it was nevertheless much larger than the official members could in conscience consent to be raised from the people, whose circumstances were so much reduced by the late misgovernment of the Colony. The revenues of the Colony were calcu-

lated at £25,000 per annum, and the Governor proposed, by means of additional taxes, together with the seven thousand granted by the Home Government, to make up the deficiency, as well as to pay part at least of the debt. It is quite certain, from the manner in which these measures were proposed, that the Governor had not at the time (whatever he may have now) a very correct idea of the great poverty of the settlers, and their utter inability to pay even the taxes which then existed. In order to convince him of the true state of things, it was proposed that a certain number of the most respectable of the settlers should be examined in evidence before the Council on the state of the Colony. His Excellency consented to this, while he still persisted in the opinion that the people could and should contribute more than they did towards the maintenance of the Government. The Bill for the appropriating of the Revenue was therefore pressed through the Council, the Governor and the official members being the majority: all that the others could do was simply to move amendments on the various items, and to record their votes upon the minutes of the Council. The amendments proposed by the non-official members, if agreed to, would have reduced the expenditure of the Government to £20,000 – a sum, under all circumstances, large enough for the state of the Colony to be able to raise. During the passing of the estimates, there was necessarily much discussion, and many opinions offered – perhaps remarks made – on both sides, which might have been at the time felt offensive; but however disagreeable the opposition might have been to the Governor, it is fair to say that out of the Council the members were never made to feel that they and the Governor were not agreed. In that respect Captain Fitz Roy manifested a very different spirit from the former

Governor, who carried his resentment to the utmost against every person who offered opposition to his Government.

After the estimates were passed, each of the non-official members entered a protest against them, setting forth the reasons of their opposition. Although Captain Fitz Roy thus persisted in carrying these measures against the votes of the non-official members and the wishes of the Colonists generally, every allowance must be made for his conduct under the very peculiar circumstances in which he was placed by the Home Government, who had sanctioned most of the useless establishments in the Colony, as well as the large salaries which many of the officers were receiving. He was also, by his instructions, particularly and absurdly prevented from reducing the salaries of any officers whose appointments had been made or approved of by the Home Government. In such an unhappy situation, it was, perhaps, very natural that he should make a strong effort to keep together the Government over which he presided. But the strongest justification of his conduct is the fact, that he could not then have been fully aware of the utter inability of the people to maintain such a Government as that which had been so foolishly established in New Zealand. The non-official members were fully aware of the difficulty of the Government; but they were also quite satisfied that the people already contributed as much as they could in the shape of taxes, and equally satisfied that the Government of the Colony was both expensive and unnecessarily large for the population. They were, therefore, the more anxious to give opposition, in the hope that the Governor might be induced to break up establishments which the Home Government had not given him the means of supporting, and that he would remodel them in accordance with the requirements and

means of the Colony. They objected, particularly, to the large expenditure on account of Protectors and Surveyors (which was directed to be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of lands) being defrayed from the ordinary revenue. As far as the natives were concerned, the money spent on Protectors might as well have been thrown into the fire. The Survey department, equally useless to the Colony, is kept up at an expense of six or seven thousand pounds. There were no sales of land, and no person could tell what the department was maintained for – unless to correct the blunders which the former Surveyor-General had made in laying out the town, which was the chief employment of the surveyors. All the country lands surveyed under Mr. Ligar would not, if sold for cash, realise sufficient to pay the expense of his department for one year. There was, therefore, no reason whatever why the Colony should be taxed for the support of an establishment which was really useless, and, even if required, quite inefficient. From one of Mr. Ligar's own surveyors I obtained a statement of the work performed during one year, from which it would appear that every acre surveyed cost upwards of twenty shillings. With all that expenditure, not a single line of road had been laid out, and not one attempt at a trigonometrical survey of the country, or any effort made to explore the interior. Mr. Ligar pocketed his £600 a-year, and his expenses for himself and his horse; and his assistants were either idle or resurveying the town, and their men, it is said, occasionally trenching or delving the allotment of the Surveyor-General,

The police and judicial establishments were also objected to, as being both useless and too expensive for the circumstances of the Colony. One of the Judges received a

thousand, and the other six hundred a-year. The Court over which they presided only sat during one day in every six months, and the amount of property upon which they decided would not, during twelve months, amount to half their own salaries. The expenses of the judicial establishments, including sheriffs and gaols, amounted in all to the sum of £5,585 – a pretty sum for deciding upon one or two civil cases during the year!

The police and police magistrates were equally expensive, being kept up at a cost of £5,102 8s. to the Colony. The institution of paid police magistrates is a most unnecessary expense in a place like New Zealand, where the more respectable portion of the settlers, by being placed in the commission of the peace, might well discharge the duties of the present police magistrates. This is but one of the many other evils that have been entailed upon us during the dependence of the Colony on New South Wales. In penal settlements like that Colony, it might be necessary to have paid magistrates, for the purpose of punishing convicts; but having no convicts in New Zealand, there was surely no occasion for inflicting penal institutions on the Colony. It was sufficient evil to have received from Sydney all the first officers of Government, without transporting along with them the principles of the vile Government under which they lived.

The expense of collecting the revenue of Customs was rated at upwards of £4000, while the revenue collected was not more than £12,000 a-year; and smuggling was being carried on in every part of the Colony as effectually as if such an establishment was not in existence. Indeed, the whole revenue would not be sufficient, in such a country as this, effectually to prevent it. As the Go-

vernor was then determined on keeping up that obnoxious source of revenue, the non-official members wished that it should be reduced so that no more money should be spent upon the establishment than was necessary for the mere collection of the revenue.

An old Colonial brig, which was formerly bought by Captain Hobson at upwards of £4,000, was still maintained, at an expense of £1,500 a-year. That vessel had never been of the slightest use to the Colony, except in affording the Government officers the means of taking an occasional excursion on the water. It was therefore proposed that the brig should be sold, and a small cutter substituted, which could be well kept at an expense of not more than £500 a-year: but the Home Government in their wisdom had provided for the payment of the expense of the Government pleasure-boat, and the Governor would not therefore consent to any alteration. A sum of upwards of £2,000 was asked for two Commissioners of Land-claims, the time of one of whom, Mr. Spain, who had been inflicted on the Colony (because of electioneering services done to Lord Palmerston) at a salary of a thousand a-year, had then expired. His salary was objected to, as being too high. His contract having been only for two years, it was argued that his salary should at least be reduced, if his services might not be altogether dispensed with. The other Commissioners had been four years employed, and what either of them had done it would be difficult for any person to tell. Mr. Spain was altogether employed during the two years in inquiring into the Company's claims, and his decisions were neither satisfactory to the Company nor to the Government. But the Governor was still of opinion that the

Colony was benefited by the unhappy agitation kept up by these Commissioners, and the vote was consequently carried in their favour.

The Government of New Zealand, on a small scale, shows the monstrous absurdity, and even iniquity, of our English system of tyrannising over the people in our Colonies. In New Zealand one man may extort from the people as much money as they have, and, after so extorting it, he may spend it as he likes – the people have no control over him.

The estimates having been thus disposed of, numerous petitions were got up in various parts of the Colony against the proposed taxes on lands and houses. The evidence before the Council on the state of the Colony had also the effect of unequivocally proving the poverty to which the settlers had been reduced by the former misgovernment, and their consequent inability to pay anything in the shape of direct taxes while so much of their means was indirectly taken from them by the Customs duties. Twenty thousand pounds, or at the rate of thirty shillings per head, was the utmost sum the non-official members thought it possible to extract from the Colonists. The amount proposed to be raised by the Governor would tax the settlers upwards of forty shillings per head – a much larger sum than is paid by any of the oldest Colonies, with the exception perhaps of New South Wales. All this was represented to the Governor, together with the evil effects that would attend the imposition of the new taxes. He, in consequence, abandoned the house and land taxes, and substituted for them an ad-valorem tax of five per cent, on all goods imported into the Colony, British as well as foreign, in addition to the former Customs duties.

As far as the Government was concerned, the latter was

undoubtedly a much more practicable and convenient scheme, however injurious in its effects to the Colony; but it was a sad redemption of the pledge given by Captain Fitz Roy, on his arrival in the Colony, that he would as soon as possible abolish the Customs. This measure was even more strongly opposed by the non-official members than the former taxes; but they could only, as in the case of the estimates, record their votes against it and enter their protest on the minutes of the Council, which they did. It is but justice to them to state, that they went even much farther. Seeing the determination of the Governor to impose new taxes, they suggested, with the view of finally abolishing Customs, that a small and equable property-tax should be imposed for a year or two, in addition to the existing Customs duties, which should be abolished so soon as the direct taxes would raise an amount equal to the revenue then derived from the Customs.

The necessities of the Government were, however, so great and urgent, that the Governor very likely felt it his duty to obtain money in any way he could. I am, however, much mistaken if the plan he has adopted will not in the end produce the effect which he seemed to have been so anxious to avoid, and the Colonists so desirous to accomplish: I mean the total abolition of Customs. Every man in the Colony will now, on principle, and as a matter of duty, evade the taxes by smuggling in every possible manner. The natives are also likely to give very great trouble, and to become much dissatisfied, when they are told that the high prices they are obliged to pay for European goods are consequent on the proceedings of the Governor. They even now, and with justice, attribute much of their misery and suffering to the establishment of Cus-

toms, which has had the effect of driving away from their harbours the vessels to which, in former times, they were in the habit of selling their produce; in exchange for which they obtained European goods and manufactures in great abundance. Whatever the Governor and his advisers may think of the success of their scheme, I feel quite convinced in my own mind that it will not only end in disappointment to the Government, but in permanent good to the Colony. When matters arrive at such an extremity as this measure is certain to bring them to, we may safely expect a change for the better. A small amount of injustice, and even oppression, may for a long time be endured; but when the burden is made heavier than the ability to bear, it is certain to be shaken off in some manner or other. Violent oppression is sure to call forth violent opposition.

Perhaps the most important measure in its effects upon the future prosperity and happiness of the Colony which was brought under the consideration of the Council, was a Bill for the management of what are called native reserved lands. You are perhaps aware that a tenth part of all the lands purchased by the New Zealand Company has been set apart and reserved for the benefit of the natives. A tenth part of all lands purchased under the new regulations is also similarly reserved. The surplus lands of the old settlers, and any lands that the natives themselves may choose to grant, together with all property left to native half-caste children, will fall into the management of this trust.

The natives of New Zealand may at the present time be said to consist of four classes; viz. Those who are still heathens, and perhaps the most numerous; – 2. The followers of the Church missionaries; – 3. The followers of the Wesleyans; – and 4. The followers of the Roman

Catholic priests. As a matter of course, each of those classes has an equal claim upon the property thus bequeathed for their general good, and each ought to be equally represented by the trustees; and the disposal of the property should be so definitely fixed, that no one sect should obtain any advantage over any other. The Native Trust Bill, however, I am sorry to say, provides for nothing of the kind. The management of the trust is so ambiguously expressed and so undefined, that the trustees may convert the property to any purpose they choose. From the disinclination of the Governor and official members to make the slightest change in that part of the Bill which refers to the management of the property, as well as their determination to confine the trust to the Episcopal Bishop, the Governor, the Attorney-General (a bigotted Churchman), the Protector of Aborigines (an old Church missionary), and the Chief Commissioner of Land-Claims (who, if he be anything at all, must be a member of the Church of England), there is every reason to suspect that the funds of the native trust will be devoted to the exclusive maintenance of clergymen of the Church of England, and to the propagation of their doctrines. In that trust the Bishop has obtained the command of one of the most powerful engines that a priest could wield for sectarian purposes. That the Bishop will use it as such, there cannot be the slightest reason to doubt.

Every effort was made by myself and the other non-official members to give an equal advantage to all classes, both by defining the objects of the trust, as well as by endeavouring to counteract the influence of the Bishop by including the names of parties connected with the other sects in the trust; but our efforts were quite unavailing. In this, as well as in every other case, the Government

had the majority, and decided against us, leaving us to protest, as in former instances.

I must say, that the parties concerned manifested a most extraordinary apathy. Neither the Wesleyans nor the Roman Catholics took that interest in the measure which one might have expected. With the exception of Mr. Clifford, none of the non-official members belonged to either sect. Our opposition was, therefore, founded simply on a principle of justice, and unbiassed by any predilection for either party. As the Bill must, however, be approved of by the Home Government before it can be acted upon in the Colony, it is to be hoped that both the Wesleyan Society and the parties connected with the Roman Catholic Mission may succeed in effectually opposing its approval at home. If they do not, the sooner they remove their various establishments from New Zealand, the better for themselves and the natives. I apprehend much evil and injury, both to the Colony generally and the natives in particular, from that infamous measure. The intolerance and bigotry of the Bishop are so great, that, with such powers as this Bill gives him, it will be impossible to keep him within bounds.

An Act for the establishment of Municipal Corporations was brought before the Council, and passed, on the full understanding that it should not come into operation unless the Government placed sufficient lands at the disposal of the corporate town as would enable them to raise sufficient funds for the maintenance of such corporations. On the promises of the Governor to that effect, the Bill was passed. It is astonishing how willing the Government are to grant municipal privileges, and how reluctant they are to grant the still more useful privilege of a proper Representative Government.

The only act of the Council likely to benefit the Colony was a resolution on the subject of lands, wherein the members unanimously expressed their opinion that the system of selling the Crown lands at an upset price of twenty shillings an acre was injurious to the best interests of the Colony. They were also agreed in opinion that the natives should be permitted, under certain regulations, to dispose of their own lands to private individuals. The expression of such an opinion may perhaps have the effect of opening the eyes of the Home Government to the absurdity of the system which has hitherto been acted upon in the Colony, and perhaps induce them (while it may be an act of grace) to concede to the natives the right of managing their own affairs, which they are well able to do.

The subject of the Post-office, an intolerable nuisance, was also brought under the consideration of the Council, and made a matter of complaint to the Home Government. It appears that in England they have established certain regulations and charges which they extend to and enforce in all Colonies where there is no regular post-office. New Zealand, which has been made the subject of so many experiments, though by a local ordinance, passed before the English Act, in possession of a regular post, was still brought under the operation of the Home regulations, and placed under the management and superintendence of the General Post-office. The effect of that change has been, that we are nearly cut off from all communication with England and the neighbouring Colonies. Our newspapers, which we used formerly to receive without any charge, cost us now a penny, and if they come through a local post-office twopence each. The same with all papers sent put of the Colony.

These are some of the principal measures transacted by our Colonial Legislature, which, in consequence of some disturbances with the natives, both at Taranaki and the Bay of Islands, was rather suddenly closed, the Governor being anxious to visit in person the disaffected settlement. If these disturbances turn out as serious as I fear they are likely to do, I will in my next write you more particularly. Having given such a long account of the proceedings of the Council, perhaps it may be expected I should say something about the conduct of the new Governor out of Council, and what benefits he is likely to confer upon the Colony. With the exception of the taxes, Captain Fitz Roy is rather a favourite in this settlement: his industry and attention to business are very great. He has also a very correct sense of justice, and has exerted himself, in every possible manner, to rectify the mistakes, blunders, and injustice of the former Government. When time and a more intimate acquaintance with the country will have removed some misconceptions and prejudices which he has received in England, and especially in Sydney, he will, I hope, turn out a good Governor. Convince him that a thing is wrong, and it is at once redressed. In that, as in many other respects, he is very different from his predecessors. His views on penal policy, and the treatment of the natives, in particular, are, with some exceptions, enlightened. He appears exceedingly anxious to do all that he can to promote the prosperity of the Colony. Several useful and extensive improvements have already been commenced, and some of them completed, since his arrival in Auckland. Among these are a landing-place, or wharf, and a place for watering ships, which he has finished at very little expense. It is remarkable that his predecessors, although both of them sailors, never attempted either of

those important undertakings. When they would neglect to construct a landing-place for their own personal comfort and convenience, you may fancy how they must have attended to other matters. Three hundred pounds are in reality all the money they have ever devoted to improvements, and that has been spent in unnecessarily lowering a street, whereby they have injured private property to three times the amount: and even that improvement was left to be finished by the present Governor. In a social point of view, Captain Fitz Roy has been an immense acquisition to the Colony. He, and Mrs. Fitzroy in particular, have done much to heal the animosity and bitterness of feeling which the former Governors so successfully generated throughout the settlement. Mrs. Fitz Roy is establishing various schools and other useful and charitable institutions in the settlement; and she is doing it in such a manner as not only to benefit the poor, but also the higher classes, by enlisting in the same cause all the other ladies of the settlement. Instead of spending their time in gossiping and scandal, as is too often the case with the wives of Government officers in all new settlements, the greater part of the Auckland ladies are now engaged in superintending schools, visiting the poor and destitute, and providing for their comfort and relief. The good that Mrs. Fitz Roy has already done is remarkable, and, if longer in the Colony, there is no doubt it will be still more so. She is extremely religious, compassionate, and kind-hearted; and, in consequence, she is beloved and esteemed by every person in the settlement.

Captain Fitz Roy's visit to New South Wales, on his way to this Colony, I am certain was anything but advantageous either to himself or the Colony. He appears to have been in many respects completely led astray both by

Sir George Gipps and by the meddling Bishop of Botany Bay. Through the strong recommendation of the latter, a person of the name of Freeman, a clerk in the Secretary's office, a most disreputable and dissolute character, was all but indicted on the Colony as Colonial Secretary. His character was so notoriously bad, that despite the pious recommendation of his former teacher, Bishop Broughton, and the sympathy and interest created in his behalf by the Auckland Episcopal parson, Mr. Churton, the Governor was obliged in less than two days to abandon the moral protege of the parsons, whose beaming eyes were so insensible to the crimes of their friends.

Many of the old useless officers have been continued through the recommendation of Sir George Gipps, one of whose old favourites, the obsequious Major Richmond, has been appointed Superintendant at Wellington, where he is likely to be as useful as if he were in the moon. It is infamous to see poor people's money thrown away on useless, cringing favourites.

LETTER XII.

LETTER XII.

Effects of the new Taxes on the Aborigines. The Chief Heki. Serious Quarrel with the Natives at the Bay of Islands. Interview with the Chief. Satisfactory Settlement of the Quarrel. Abolition of Customs. Direct Taxation. Removal of the Restrictions on the Sale of Native Lands. Regulations rather defective; how remedied. Claim of the Old Settlers of New Zealand for Compensation from the Government. Improved Prospects of the Colony. Class of Emigrants for whom New Zealand is best adapted.

It is a common remark, that important consequences frequently follow apparently trifling events; and such has been the case in regard to an event – the disturbance at the Bay of Islands – to which I slightly referred in my last as the reason why the Council was so suddenly dissolved. I then little expected that that disturbance would have terminated as it has done, in so much real good to the Colony, in being an immediate and perhaps chief cause of liberating New Zealand from the odious Customs, as well as from the no less odious and impolitic restrictions on the sale of the lands of the natives. Being, therefore, so important in its effects, and so promising of ultimate prosperity and peace to the Colony, you will doubtless expect that I should give you a full and particular account of the disturbance, as well as of the grave results which have attended and sprung from it.

In all my letters I have more or less referred to the increasing poverty and growing disaffection of the natives, because of the unjust and oppressive measures of the

Government. The increased Customs duties, as well as the exaction of ten shillings for every acre of land sold by the natives, may be stated as the real or remote cause of the disturbance at the Bay of Islands, however simple the exciting cause may have been.

At the Waimate, near the Church Missionary Station, there resides a young chief named John Heki, formerly a follower of the Missionaries, but now returned to heathenism. Heki is related to the celebrated warrior Honghi, and is in many respects like him. He is reckoned a great warrior, and a person strongly possessed of a love of power, with a desire to exercise influence over his own countrymen, and he felt annoyed at the submission of his country to a foreign power, he himself having taken such an active part in persuading the Northern chiefs to declare their independence on a former occasion. He was also naturally jealous and suspicious of the British Government, who had so soon deprived him of the power of which he was then possessed. To add to his annoyance, the very flagstaff which he had with his own hands cut in his own forest and planted before the house of the British Consul, and on which he delighted to see the New Zealand flag waving, was by Mr. Shortland and Captain Hobson removed without his consent from that place, and planted on the opposite side of the harbour, near Kororarika, on his own land too, and used for the purpose of hoisting signals for the arrival of ships. As a matter of course, he felt this as an insult; but he also found that since his own flagstaff had been removed, nearly all the vessels had ceased to frequent the Bay, and trade and European goods were in consequence becoming daily scarcer, dearer, and more difficult to be obtained. He was also told by the Europeans that so long as that flagstaff remained where it was in the

service of the Customs, so long would goods continue to be scarce and dear. The Customs and the flagstaff were to his mind the mysterious representations of the oppression of his country, and believing that the existence of the one depended upon that of the other, he determined that the offensive flagstaff should be cut down and removed. It is reported that some Americans urged upon him the propriety of thus acting, giving the removal of the unfortunate flagstaff, and the imposition of Customs, as a reason why their whalers had ceased to visit the country.

The increased duties, affecting, as they did, blankets, tobacco, guns, and gunpowder – -chief articles of native trade – had doubtless a very powerful effect in exciting the Maori patriot to execute his long-meditated scheme for the redemption of his country. He still, however, wanted an ostensible cause of quarrel, without which he could not with propriety act. But where there is the desire to act, a reason will be found, and such soon presented itself to Heki. A native woman, formerly a slave in his tribe, but lately living with or married to a disreputable person named Lord at Kororarika, forgetful of her allegiance to her chief Heki, during some conversation with another native woman called him by the insulting name of "a pig," which, on being reported to him, much aroused his indignation. Being determined to revenge himself upon the woman, he repaired to Kororarika, robbed her husband's house, and carried herself off as a captive. The husband afterwards arranged for the redemption of the native woman by promising to give Heki a cask of tobacco. As the tobacco was not, however, forthcoming, Heki returned to Kororarika with about 130 followers, and finding that Lord was unable to give the promised tobacco, the chief and his friends decided that the other

European residents should be made to pay Lord's debt – in accordance perhaps with native customs, which frequently visits on the whole tribe the sin of any individual belonging to it. The inhabitants, as a matter of course, refused to comply, and the natives threatened to help themselves. There were, however, few depredations committed.

This occurrence took place on Friday the 6th of July. After remaining for two days almost in possession of the town, they departed early on Monday morning, and proceeded towards the flagstaff, the object of their peculiar dislike, which they cut down and carried off in triumph.

This unceremonious visit so much alarmed the Europeans, that they immediately communicated with the Government, and demanded protection against the repetition of such outrages by the natives. The matter was justly regarded in a very serious light by the Governor, who instantly forwarded to the Bay of Islands as many soldiers as he could spare, and chartered a vessel to proceed to Sydney for additional troops.

Prom the apparently general feeling of discontent which prevailed among the natives, it was not deemed advisable to make any effort to punish Heki and his tribe until the arrival of the troops from Sydney.

A detachment of troops, consisting of 160 men, was sent as soon as possible from Sydney; and when the news of their arrival at the Bay of Islands had reached Auckland, the Governor, Colonel Hulme (Commander of the Forces), and Captain Bennett, R. E., proceeded to the same place in the Government brig. The Hazard sloop-of-war was also despatched at the same time, with a portion of the troops that were in Auckland.

His Excellency arrived at the Bay of Islands on the 26th of August. On the following day, all the troops were

embarked, for the purpose of being landed at a place called the Kidi-kidi, from whence it was intended that they should travel to the Waimate, the nearest place to Heki's residence, where they could safely and conveniently encamp, and wait the results of any negotiations with the natives.

While the vessels were proceeding towards the Kidi-kidi, the Chief Protector, and some of the missionaries, who were deputed by the natives, waited upon His Excellency to inform him that they were extremely anxious that the troops should not be landed – that the Governor would withdraw them to Russell, and give the principal chiefs an opportunity of meeting him on the following Saturday at Waimate, when they hoped matters might be arranged to their mutual satisfaction.

The troops accordingly returned to Russell, and the Governor in the mean time visited and held meetings with the principal resident chiefs of the Bay of Islands, who, notwithstanding their jealousy of and distrust in the Government, still manifested a friendly feeling towards the European settlers, and entreated that peace might be maintained. The cause of the disturbance they plainly but forcibly stated to be their present extreme poverty and depression because of the restrictions on the sale of their lands, but more especially the injury which they had sustained since whalers and trading vessels had ceased to visit their ports; in consequence of which, they were now unable either to dispose of their surplus produce, or to obtain those articles of European trade and manufacture to which they had been accustomed, and which they could so easily and cheaply obtain before the establishment of Government and the imposition of Customs.

Independent of these apparent and real causes of dis-

content, it was also quite evident that a systematic opposition to the Government had been set up by means of some designing and evil-disposed persons, especially French and American, who represented the ulterior views of the Government to be that of enslaving the natives, and taking possession of all their lands. So far had this feeling operated on the minds of the natives, that they were actually deceived into the belief that if they again erected their own flag and destroyed that of the Government, the French would assist them in obtaining and maintaining their independence. It was under the influence of this feeling, and not simply because of an insult from a native woman, that the chief Heki pulled down and destroyed the flagstaff at Russell.

Captain Bennett, who had been sent to Waimate to report on the practicability of marching troops to the settlement of Heki, had by that time returned to the Bay of Islands, and given it as his decided opinion that it was quite impossible for troops to travel any distance into the interior, in consequence of the forests, the thick bush, and the absence of all roads; circumstances which would enable the natives, if they availed themselves of them, as doubtless they would, to set any number of troops at defiance. That being the case, and seeing the wide-spread discontent, the extreme wretchedness of the natives, the justice of their cause of complaint, and determination to resist, it became at once apparent that one of two courses must be adopted – either to conciliate their good-will, by the exercise of justice and kindness, and the removal of the causes of discontent, or to enter upon a cruel and useless warfare, which, in the circumstances of the country, must, in the first place, be attended with much loss to our troops, and could not, in all probability, be terminated but

by the destruction of the aborigines, the ruin of the Colony and the European population. The Governor, therefore, it may be hastily, but wisely, adopted the first course, previous to entering upon any negotiations with the discontented chiefs – believing that it would have a much better effect to perform an act of justice voluntarily, than to appear (as might otherwise be the case) to yield to the wishes of the discontented chiefs through fear of their power. The Governor accordingly called together the principal European and native inhabitants of the Bay of Islands, and informed them that it was his intention, without delay, to abolish the Customs, so that all vessels might, as formerly, visit the Bay of Islands.

After these proceedings at the Bay of Islands, Captain Fitz Roy, according to promise, proceeded to the Waimate, and, on the following morning, held a conference with the disaffected chiefs; at which, after explaining to them the nature of the offence committed, together with the folly of attempting to oppose the Government, whom they insulted by cutting down the flagstaff, he concluded by admonishing them as to the propriety of being for the future peaceable and well-behaved. He also referred to the kindness of the people of England towards them, in the fact of their sending missionaries, ministers of religion, and others among them, both to instruct them and to maintain order and peace in their country. For the offence committed by Heki, he would insist upon their giving him some consideration – not by way of payment, but as an acknowledgment that they were in error. Several of the chiefs then addressed the Governor, and the payment which he demanded was at once given. They all expressed their high sense of the benefits likely to result to their country from the abolition of Customs, but

they were still anxious on the subject of the restrictions on the sale of their lands. The Governor having also promised to do all he could for the removal of that grievance, the chiefs were much gratified, and pledged themselves that peace and good behaviour should be maintained among all the tribes. Heki also wrote a letter to the Governor, expressive of contrition, and offering, at his own expense, to put up a new flagstaff at least as good as the one he destroyed.

Every person interested in the prosperity and welfare of the Colony must feel the most sincere satisfaction at such a happy termination of a quarrel which threatened to assume a very serious aspect. To Captain Fitz Roy are justly due the thanks and gratitude of every right-minded man in the Colony, for the determined manner in which he has acted in that emergency. A man of weaker nerve might have shrunk from incurring the responsibility which must naturally attach to the adoption of a course which may be called extreme – perhaps a stretch of power; but let any sober-minded man for one moment consider what the effect would have been had he acted differently. Viewing the matter altogether apart from humanity, let us for a moment contemplate the effects of a war with the natives upon the prosperity of the Colony. It is true that in the end we might reasonably expect that the natives would be subdued by our superior forces; but, in the mean time, and especially from the character of the country, and the insurmountable obstacles which it opposes to the progress of troops, and to all regular military operations, there would be very little prospect of acting against Heki and his allies with any success. Our troops might find their way to his Pah and destroy his houses or huts, but they could never take his person; neither

could they protect any of the out-settlers from the oppressions of the natives, a war with whom would have the effect of endangering the life of every European in the country, and even destroying the Colony itself for many years to come. But it would also have the effect of entailing on our country the shame, the disgrace, and the great sin of destroying another race of aborigines. Who can at the present moment hear of the cruelties, the outrages, and the murders perpetrated by the French at Tahiti, without feeling in his heart that he would rather abandon New Zealand for ever than be the means of subjecting its inhabitants to a similar fate? England has come to the New Zealanders avowedly to bless them with the light of civilisation and knowledge, and to impart to them the happiness which results from the practice of religion; and it is to be hoped the day may never arrive when they shall be made to feel the edge of the sword, instead of the influence and spirit of Christianity. Civilised France may riot and madden on the blood of the innocent Tahitians; but it were better that the name of our country should perish among nations than that Christian England should again imbrue her hands in the blood of another aboriginal people.

Captain Fitz Roy, instead of conciliating the natives by the performance of an act of justice, the removal of the cause of complaint, might very likely have raised himself more in the estimation of a few persons in the Colony had he adopted a different course. He might perhaps have, for a time, saved a little revenue by keeping up the Customs; but the attempt to do so would cost England a thousand times the amount before the natives could be subdued, and his own name, and that of his country, would be hatefully remembered as the destroyers of the aborigines

of New Zealand. He has acted differently, and I earnestly hope the Home Government will approve of his conduct; but if they should not, he has at least the satisfaction of knowing and believing that the Christian people of England will. The only matter in which Captain Fitz Roy may have erred, is the sending away the troops to New South Wales. It is true that he was required to do so when peace was restored; but their presence would have a good effect upon the natives, and might prevent further outbreaks among them, which it is more than likely may take place, until they are convinced of our physical superiority.

On the 19th of September, the Governor called another meeting of the Legislative Council, for the purpose of legally carrying into effect, by means of a local ordinance, the promise which he had made to the natives regarding the abolition of the Customs. After much earnest and friendly deliberation, an act, a copy of which I enclose, was unanimously agreed to and published. You will, on perusing it, perceive that it not only abolishes Customs, but also makes a very near approach towards a system of fair and direct taxation, without an inquisitorial examination into the state of men's affairs. It is a combination of the three primary objects or subjects of taxation – life, income, and property. It scarcely, or, at all events, very slightly, affects the first. The second, as being partly the result of industry, or the use of the mental and bodily faculties engaged by means of the existence secured to us, - and partly the proceeds arising from property, is a little more affected than life: the income part of the tax is, in fact, heavier than the poll. The third, or property, of whatever kind, bears the main burden of the tax, as fairly and as equally as it is possible to make it do, without an

exposure of a man's circumstances. And the happy combination of the three serves to throw that mantle of obscurity over the state of men's affairs, which it is deemed, it may be justly, so necessary to do in a new Colony, where credit, enterprise, and energy form, generally speaking, the largest portion of the stock-in-trade of most people. And, to preserve still further the inviolability of that principle, the rate of composition is so moderate, that no man of ordinary means can suffer by paying it. To Captain Fitz Roy and Heki the Colonists are deeply indebted for having thus emancipated the Colony and the commerce of the country from the iron yoke of Customs and Customs' officers, and for having broken the bars and opened wide the gates of the dungeons in which Free Trade has hitherto been bonded and enchained. Free Trade will now sally forth from New Zealand, her happy home in the Pacific, and travel over and through the lovely islands which "gem the Southern Ocean's brow," to collect her pearls, her spices, and her richly-fragrant oils, for the purpose of depositing them in her own sanctuary in New Zealand.

As the people are by that ordinance made to pay directly for the maintenance of Government, it is but reasonable that they should expect immediately to obtain those representative institutions which are enjoyed by their fellow-subjects both at home and in the other Colonies. "Taxation and representation are inseparable;" and it is contrary to the Constitution of our country that the people should be taxed without being represented. The Property Ordinance forms an excellent basis for a qualification. All rate-payers should have one vote for the poll part of the tax, and additional votes according to the amount paid above the lowest rate. All rate-payers, whether natives or Europeans, should be entitled to vote: and the repre-

sentatives might be elected from a certain class, such as those who paid £5 or upwards in the shape of direct taxes. The sooner the Government consent to such an arrangement, the better for themselves and for the Colony.

The inhabitants of Auckland manifested their appreciation of the conduct of Captain Fitz Roy by presenting him with a handsome address, signed by, I believe, every person in the settlement. Whatever the Home Government may say, he has at least the approbation of the Colonists. The address you will find published in one of the newspapers which I have forwarded to you.

Shortly after the passing of the Act for the abolition of Customs, Captain Fitz Roy also redeemed his other promise to the natives, regarding the removal of the restrictions on the sale of their lands. On the 10th of October he published a proclamation (a copy of which I forward herewith), intimating that he would, on the part of the Crown, consent to waive the right of pre-emption over certain lands belonging to the aborigines, and issue Crown grants, at the expiration of twelve months, to parties purchasing such lands, on the payment of one penny for every acre so purchased. As to the propriety and policy of acting as Captain Fitz Roy has done, no one who knows anything at all about the condition of New Zealand can have the slightest doubt. The natives would not any longer submit to be oppressed as they had been; they would have fought for their rights, and they would either obtain them or die in the attempt. I am, however well aware that the New Zealand Company and the advocates of the Wakefield system will be very much opposed to the new system of selling land in New Zealand -but surely their interests and prejudices cannot for one moment be argued as any reason for continuing a system

so manifestly unjust and oppressive as that which was in operation in this Colony since it became a British Possession. I should like to know what right the British Government had to make money by the sale of the property of the natives. Were not their lands their own, and even guaranteed to them by treaty? But, independent of that, the Wakefield system is altogether inapplicable to this Colony. We want few or no European labourers, with the exception, perhaps, of some domestic servants. We have abundance of native labour, and they have surely a preferable claim for employment. Why should they and their interests be sacrificed to introduce useless and idle paupers from England, Scotland, and Ireland? If the Home Government are anxious to get rid of such people, let them pay for their deportation, and not extract money from us and the natives of New Zealand to bring such people to a country where they are not wanted. The only thing that I can find fault with in these regulations is, that they are somewhat deficient in details, which may, to a certain extent, injure the good that they are otherwise calculated to confer upon the Colony. But that is a matter easily remedied. The fee is also rather low: a shilling would have been little enough for the trouble given to the Government. I know that there will be much trouble and confusion, because of the imperfection of the regulations in regard to details. Parties will be very apt to be taken in by the natives, who will readily sell the same lands over again; and there is nothing in the regulations to prevent or to punish them for doing so. That might, however, be remedied, either by giving Crown titles to the natives themselves in the first instance, or by appointing an officer, a protector, or any other person, without whose consent and knowledge the arrangement for

the purchase should not be made. The certificate of such officer should accompany every request to the Governor for the waiving of the right of pre-emption; and the certificate should state that the real owners of the land had consented to the purchase. Some arrangement of that kind is necessary, both for the purpose of preventing our own countrymen from being taken in by the natives, as well as to prevent the natives from quarrelling with one another, because of one party selling land belonging to another, which they are not unlikely to do. The operation of the regulations will doubtless suggest these, or similar improvements, to the Governor. It is an important matter that this principle of justice to the aborigines, for which we have been so long contending, has at last been conceded.

Nothing tends so much to show the injustice and iniquity with which the former Government have treated the old settlers than the fact of Captain Fitz Roy being obliged, in the manner I have mentioned, to adopt a course of policy in every respect different from that pursued by them. And if any people ever had a claim upon a Government for compensation, the claim of the old settlers of New Zealand must certainly be a good one. For four years we have been kept out of our lands – subjected to every vile insinuation and insult – our means wasted before iniquitous Courts, constituted solely with the view of robbing us of our lands; and when they could not help discovering that these lands had been fairly purchased, we are only entitled to hold one acre of land for every eight shillings paid to the natives. We who have explored and made the Colony have been ruined. We pay eight shillings for every acre of land. Our expenses and improvements are not counted in that sum. Further, is there any notice taken of the

four years that we have been kept out of them? In addition, we are required to pay very heavy fees for every Crown grant which we receive for such lands; while a party who may have arrived but yesterday may reap all the benefit of our experience, and purchase lands from the natives at any price he can, the Government merely requiring that he should pay them one penny for every acre when a Crown grant is issued. It is true that it is now much more expensive and troublesome to purchase lands from the natives; but the gross injustice is nevertheless too manifest not to be felt.

I believe it is the intention of some of the land-claimants to apply to Parliament for compensation, which I sincerely hope will be granted to them. They have certainly sustained much injury and injustice at the hands of the Government.

That, however, is a question with which Captain Fitz Roy has nothing to do, and altogether distinct from the measures which he has adopted, and which are in themselves not only highly just, but imperatively required by the circumstances of the Colony, which has now every chance of being tested by its own worth.

For the Colony, Captain Fitz Roy has now done all that the most sanguine could have expected, and he is therefore deserving of the thanks of all the settlers. In a mercantile and commercial point of view, he has placed New Zealand on high vantage-ground over all the other British Colonies. He has done for her what Sir Stamford Raffles did for Singapore, and I doubt not the results will be equally beneficial and satisfactory. But much as the freedom of trade and the effects of unrestricted commerce must be prized and valued, I am decidedly of opinion that the liberty to purchase native lands at a reasonable rate

will be found to act as beneficially, if not more so, in permanently establishing the prosperity of the Colony, as the other measure itself. In a new Colony, the utmost possible encouragement should be given to the cultivators of the soil; for they are truly the national husbandmen, from the land of whose sowing must eventually grow the harvest of the country's prosperity. The proper means of encouraging such persons is by affording them cheap and good land, and thereby saving to them their money and their labour, each of which is scarce and valuable in a new country. The opposite plan has unfortunately been pursued by the former Government of this Colony, as well as by the Governments of the neighbouring Colonies: what the effects have been, it is scarcely necessary to say; – they have, in truth, been not only such as to prevent the settlers from seeking to induce others to emigrate to the Colonies, but have also in many instances been the cause of compelling the disappointed settlers themselves to leave the scene of their misfortunes in despair, disgust, and misery.

I trust that on New Zealand, at least, a new era is now about to dawn. The present Governor has alike emancipated her commerce and her agriculture from the fetters of ancient custom, prejudice, and ignorance; and if the country do not now advance in prosperity, it must be either because the Colonists want industry and enterprise, or because the Colony itself is intrinsically worthless. The past and present efforts of the settlers preclude the possibility of entertaining the first idea; and experience, observation, and intimate acquaintance with the soil and climate of New Zealand, forbid our doubting for a moment the capabilities of the Colony. The sources of profitable industry are certainly more varied and numerous in New

Zealand than in any other Colony belonging to Great Britain, and hold out the strongest inducements not only for the investments of the large capitalist, but also for the employment of the labour of the poorest man.

While our rich and recently-discovered mines of every kind, our sperm fisheries and our spar trade, afford the most inviting prospect to the man of capital, our fertile plains, and, above all, our genial climate, mark New Zealand as being eminently the Colony to which persons of moderate means should emigrate. To the man of capital and small income this Colony specially recommends itself, – to that class, in fact, who, from the smallness of their means, are unable to compete with the large speculators in the neighbouring Colonies, but who are anxious, by obtaining an independent footing, to avoid the disagreeable alternative of remaining in comparative poverty at home, or coming to the Australian Colonies to seek a heartless employment under others. Such persons, with their £300 or their £1,000, will find it an easier matter to establish themselves comfortably and respectably in New Zealand than in any other country: their money will not only go farther now in the purchase of land, but it will actually go farther in making that land available than it would do even in the North American Colonies.

The settler in New Zealand has a great advantage not only in the cheapness of the land, – which can now be obtained, according to quality and situation, from 2s. to 30s, per acre, – but he has also a decided advantage over the North American settlers in the fact that the land will produce all the year round: spring, summer, autumn, and winter alike favour the operations of the agriculturist. Our easy water carriage along the coast, and by means of navigable rivers from the interior, afford equal if not greater

facilities than Canada itself, as far as Colonial markets are concerned. The pastoral and never-to-be agricultural Colonies of New Holland insure a certain and a remunerating foreign market for the surplus produce of the farmer.

There is a class of persons, neither farmers, nor, properly speaking, large capitalists nor mercantile speculators, to whom New Zealand ought to be peculiarly attractive at the present moment: I mean small proprietors of land in the mother-country – persons whose estates yield them from £800 to £1,000 a-year. These persons, by selling their property at home, and purchasing, with a small portion of the money so obtained, large tracts of land in this Colony, might found estates which in a few years would put them and their families in a position not to envy their more wealthy neighbours at home, with whom their pride now induces them to keep up an expensive and useless rivalry. Persons of that description, and the younger sons of the aristocracy, have now in reality, but not under the New Zealand Company, a tempting prospect in coming to New Zealand. The few thousand pounds of their fathers' properties which the unnatural laws of primogeniture have pitifully bestowed upon them might, if properly laid out in this Colony, where pride of birth and title are no barriers to honest industry and exertion, restore them to that place and standing in society which circumstances, and not nature, have denied them at home. Free trade would also invite to our shores a numerous host of half-pay officers, pensioners, persons possessed of small annuities, and invalids from the East and West Indies. Free trade will supply them more cheaply than at home with all the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life. Our delightful and salubrious climate insures to them long life, and health, if already in the enjoyment of the latter blessing; and to the

invalid from whatever cause, our cold, hot, and tepid mineral springs and baths afford the best, the almost certain prospect of renewed health and strength.

I shall, however, in a future letter more particularly refer to the resources of the Colony, and would only further remark, that to the New Zealand Company, or any other Association formed for the systematic Colonisation of New Zealand, the late regulations regarding the sale of native lands afford the greatest facility for extending their operations, setting them, as it does, at once free from the interference and trammels of the Local Government. 3

3 For the Property Act and the Proclamation, see Appendices Nos. III. and IV.

LETTER XIII.

LETTER XIII.

Capabilities of New Zealand. Curse of Misgovernment. People driven away from the Colony. South American Emigrant. Indian Officer. New Zealand preferable to any other British Colony. New South Wales compared with New Zealand. Great superiority of the latter. New Zealand compared with the North American Colonies; its superiority. Perfect Freedom from Fevers and all Epidemic Diseases accounted for. Indian Invalids. Hot Baths and Mineral Springs. Mineral Springs near Auckland, the Thames, and the Piaco. New South Wales Emigration Traps. Sheep Farming an unprofitable Occupation in New South Wales. Agriculture. Cheapness of Living. Facilities for the Establishment of New Settlers. Pig Hunting. Grazing. Sheep and Cattle Farming. Causes of the Failure of Colonists and the Prosperity of Colonies. Exports of New Zealand. Copper. Manganese. Copper Mines of Kauwau and the Great Barrier. Timber, Spars, Fish, Flax, Oil, Whaling, Dyewoods, &e.

In all my former letters I have avoided offering many remarks on the natural capabilities of this country, or on the prospects it held out to intending emigrants. However well I thought of New Zealand myself, I could not, in its then sadly misgoverned state, invite or induce any persons I cared for to come to this country, when I knew that by so doing they would be merely adding to the number of the discontented and wretched, which was already large enough. I could have easily furnished you with long and pleasing reports of the climate, soil, and natural productions of New Zealand – such an account as would at once lead you to believe it was a highly-favoured country, and eminently adapted for becoming the residence of a numerous European population; but what would be the advan-

tage? I should have felt in conscience bound to warn you, and every other person, to avoid it, as all its fairness and beauty was little better than that of the Dead Sea apple, or like a paradise under the dominion of the Spirit of Evil. The curse of misgovernment has hitherto been experienced in this country with such a blighting and withering force, that nothing could prosper under it. Every door and every fountain of prosperity was sealed and dried up by an ignorantly jealous and narrow-minded Government, who could not bear to see any person prosper under their rule; who fancied, in the ignorance of their power, that the people were made for the use of the Government, and not the Government for the benefit of the people. This opinion was never cherished with intenser bigotry by the Stuarts themselves than by Captain Hobson and his Lieutenant, Mr. Shortland, who have driven many hundreds from the Colony, because they thought the lands too valuable to be then sold. A friend of mine came here from South America with £5000 of cash, Which had been entrusted to him by parties in South America, with instructions to purchase lands for them in New Zealand. That gentleman made every possible effort, but in vain, to induce the Government to accept of his money. He travelled over the country at much expense, and fixed upon various spots, which he offered to purchase at the Government price; but his offer was rejected by the enlightened Government of New Zealand, and the consequence has been that the money was returned to South America. Another gentleman came here from India, and finding the climate to agree so well with his health, he was extremely anxious to become a settler; but so jealous were the officers of Government of any monied competitor in the land-jobbing market, that they actually refused that gentleman the liberty of even pitching

his tent on a certain piece of ground which some of them wanted to purchase, and which they were afraid that gentleman would bid for at the sale. He became, in consequence, so disgusted with the conduct of the Government, that he left Auckland altogether and settled at Nelson, where he unfortunately lost his life in the fatal rencontre with the natives. I could cite hundreds of similar cases, in which persons highly delighted with the country, and anxious to settle in it, have been driven away by the Government officers. Knowing these facts, how could I invite any person to come here, so long as the same system of misgovernment was in force? A change has, however, come over the state of things, and I have now no reluctance in speaking of the numerous advantages of New Zealand, and the very good prospect which it holds out to industrious and well-behaved emigrants.

As far as I am concerned myself, I should on various accounts prefer New Zealand to any other British Colony, whether African, Indian, American, or Australasian. In point of salubrity and pleasantness of climate it is infinitely preferable to any one of them, and certainly much more adapted to the European constitution, being, as it is, free from all extremes of heat or cold. At certain seasons of the year, the New South Wales and the other Australian Colonies are certainly delightful, with their clear sky and their dry and pure atmosphere; but they, at other times, suffer dreadfully from heat and scorching hot winds. Their winters in the interior, at least, are also much more severe than those of New Zealand. Snow is never seen in New Zealand, excepting on the summit of one or two high hills in the heart of the country, and even frost is seldom if ever experienced in the neighbourhood of Auckland. In some parts of the interior, there is occasionally during the

winter a slight hoar frost in the morning; but it immediately disappears on the rising of the sun. It is very different, however, with New South Wales: I have in the interior of that country experienced cold as severe, to my feelings at least, as I ever did in England. In winter the snow frequently covers the ground till twelve or one o'clock, when the sun comes out for a few hours with intense heat, so that in one day you may experience the effects of all the seasons. If any climate in the world deserves to be called temperate, it is that of New Zealand, which may properly be called one eternal spring. To show the mildness of the winter, I need only mention that we have no fall of leaves, all the trees and plants being evergreen: that the heat of summer is moderate, you will readily believe when I state that I have myself without any inconvenience worked in. the open air during every day of a whole summer, and at work which would be deemed very laborious at home.

The difference between this country and the American Colonies is still greater, both as regards the heat of summer and the cold of winter. The New Zealand emigrant needs no provision against the long and snowy winter, like the unfortunate being who betakes himself to the frigid heart of a Canadian forest. The same coat (or no coat at all, if he likes) may be used summer and winter. He is put to no expense in the purchase of fur and greatcoats to preserve the heat of his body during the day, or fire-stoves and extra blankets to prevent his freezing at night. You will at once see that such a climate, besides the immense saving in fuel and clothing to the poor emigrant, has also the still greater advantage of enabling him to work all the year round; so that the labour of a workman will be at least twice, if not three times, as valuable

in New Zealand as it is in Canada, seeing that he can only work three or four months in the latter.

In speaking of the climate of New Zealand so favourably, I should not however conceal from you, that certain persons, generally speaking not long resident in the Colony, complain somewhat of the rain in winter, which they consider rather heavy, as well as of the frequency of smart gales of wind. The rain will certainly be felt rather disagreeable in a country where the houses are not very good, where the country is without roads, and the streets of the towns badly paved; but I am quite convinced, from the nature of the soil of the country, that a practical agriculturist would say that there is very little rain more than is required for a vigorous vegetation. The gales of wind, on the other hand, I look upon as the greatest possible blessing, tending, as they doubtless do, by purifying the air, to render the country so extraordinarily healthy as it is. Our perfect freedom from fevers and all endemic and epidemic complaints, I altogether attribute to that cause. On coming to the country, nothing so much astonishes us as the accounts of the salubrity of the climate, especially the total absence of fever. I could not understand how such large swamps and so much stagnant water as are found in various parts of New Zealand could exist without generating fever. As that disease is, however, unknown in the country, it must be solely accounted for by the existence of these periodical gales of wind. The banks of rivers, the lowest grounds, and even the very neighbourhood of swamps and stagnant water, are not more sensibly unhealthy than dry and elevated situations. So remarkable was the immunity of Europeans from disease in this country, that the natives began to suspect they were charmed, and wondered if they died at all: and even yet,

although the European population is so numerous, most of the deaths happen either from drowning or from the effects of intemperance.

The accompanying tables, 4 the result of four years' observation, will convey to you a correct idea of the equable and temperate climate of New Zealand. They are published in a Report of the Auckland Agricultural Society, written by Dr. Johnson, the late Colonial Surgeon. From the first table you will perceive that the greatest summer heat is seldom above 70, and only one year out of the four as high as 78. During the winter, the thermometer is seldom lower than 50, the range being limited by 30 degrees. The second table, showing the number of dry and rainy days, is equally favourable, giving upwards of 300 days without any rain, 110 slightly showery days, and only from 30 to 50 absolutely wet days. So that, taking our climate all in all, you must admit that it is highly favourable. On that score, then, there is every encouragement to settle in New Zealand. I must, however, remark, that Dr. Johnson's tables refer to the climate of Auckland, which, on account of its being situated on a narrow neck of land, exposed alike to the easterly and westerly winds, is perhaps not quite so good as that of some other parts of the country. There is less rain, both at the Thames to the southward, and at the Bay of Islands to the northward, than at Auckland; but the heat of summer is very likely a little greater at these places.

For invalids, especially from India, I do not know of any country that promises more than New Zealand. For, independent of the climate, which is in itself the very best, there are also other strong inducements held out to in-

valids from liver complaints, rheumatism, and dyspepsia, in the cold and tepid baths and mineral springs which abound in the country, the most celebrated of which are in the interior, at a place called Rota Rua, where there are not only hot and tepid springs, but rivers, and even lakes, of every temperature, and of various chemical properties; some being strongly alkaline, some powerfully chalybeate, and others sulphureous. These lakes have been from time immemorial the resort of the native sick, from whatever disease. The evidence of many Europeans has recently confirmed that of the natives regarding the great efficacy of these springs in the cure of various complaints.

A similar hot spring has recently been found in the vicinity of Auckland, at a place called Mauranghi. It is now much frequented by invalids. Mr. Robert Graham, the owner of the land around the spring, is building several cottages near it for the accommodation of persons who wish to benefit by the use of the waters. There are similar hot springs at the Thames, the Piaco, and various other parts of the country.

Taking the climate and these healing springs into account, the inhabitants of New Zealand have little more to ask as far as mere health is concerned. But, however healthy a country might be, that would still not be sufficient to induce immigration to come to it, unless other advantages could also be held out.

With an emigrant, I am well aware that nothing has a greater effect than a true report of the wealth accumulated by parties resident in the Colony or country recommended to him. What else induced so many persons to emigrate to New South Wales? Not, certainly, the society of that Colony; neither was it the climate, for hot winds and brickfielders are not very conducive to health or enjoyment.

It was simply and solely the well-got-up statements of the wealth made by many of the settlers by means of sheep-farming and managing convicts, that decoyed so many, to their ruin, into the traps of Botany Bay sharks. A more ingenious system of infamous deception has never been practised in any country than that which the felons and philo-felons of New South Wales had recourse to for decoying gulls from England: but however well their schemes may have at first succeeded, and however numerous the list of unfortunate persons they have "victimised," they are themselves now eating the bitter fruits of their own labour. In New Zealand we have as yet no characters like the plutocracy of Botany Bay, to whose ill-gotten wealth we can appeal as evidence of the richness or goodness of the Colony. Misgovernment, and the curse of being temporarily connected with a penal settlement, have effectually prevented the New Zealand settlers from practising such deception: perhaps the infancy of the Colony may also be another reason why there are so few monied men in it. But if we cannot speak in such encouraging terms as the New South Wales people were wont to do of the facilities for making fortunes in our Colony, we can at least point out sources of comfort and happiness never to be arrived at in the other. We might even succeed in convincing some people that the natural resources of New Zealand, whatever the wealth of the present inhabitants may be, are far greater and far more permanent than those of the penal Colony, with its herds of wild cattle, and its expensive flocks of sheep, which now, alas! since the withdrawal of convict labour, will not yield as much as will pay for their keep. The Golden Fleece of New South Wales has lost its convict value. Their wool is somewhat like the deep-sea fisheries of England: neither the one nor the other

will pay if the bounty be withdrawn. If the stockholders of the Colony make fortunes, the people of England must pay for the growth of the wool, as they did in former years for the fishing and curing of ling and cod.

Fortunes will never again be made by farmers in New South Wales; and it is even more than likely that the export of wool will just as fast decrease from that Colony as it formerly increased. While forests and native dogs require that the labour of one man should be employed in watching every three or four hundred sheep, it is not likely that sheep-farming can be made a profitable occupation. While the price of labour continues as high as it was when I resided in New South Wales, I am quite certain that a man cannot adopt a more certain or a more speedy means of losing money than by investing it in sheep in that Colony. New South Wales has been brought to its present deplorable state because the produce does not pay interest for the capital invested in the field of production, independent of the labour required to produce it. The New South Wales people have been acting in direct opposition to a political axiom, the truth of which they were till too late fatally blind to.

The fields of production in New Zealand are varied, extensive, and permanent, offering means of profitable investment for any amount of capital and labour. To the large capitalist, her rich mines of copper, tin, and manganese afford the greatest promise; her spars, timber, and flax, are equally inviting to the mechanic and the commercial man. But the class of emigrants that I should most desire to see settled in New Zealand are neither men of very large capital, nor persons purely commercial. New Zealand is peculiarly adapted for men of moderate means, who would be content to become tillers of the ground,

and to enjoy the comfort and independence which would be certain to result from the labour of their own hands.

Climate, soil, and situation render New Zealand preeminently adapted not only for becoming a pastoral, but an agricultural and densely-peopled country. This, however, is a statement which, I am well aware, a stranger, and even an experienced farmer from the mother-country, might at first sight be disposed to doubt. The coast line of New Zealand looks certainly rather uninviting, though not so barren and rugged as that of New Holland, or even many parts of England itself; and the soil on some, even of the low and bad lands, would appear not so rich as that of England; but the subsoil and the climate will more than compensate for this apparent defect. The English farmer can scarcely at first be made aware of the vast influence of heat and moisture over the growth of all vegetable productions; he is apt to estimate by what he has seen a similar soil produce at home, where all the skill and ingenuity of the farmer are exercised in counteracting the effects of an unpropitious climate. It may, however, be asserted with safety, that land in New Zealand similar to that which in England on account of cold and wet, and in New South Wales on account of too much heat and drought, would be quite unproductive, will in this country, owing to the genial warmth of the climate, and the moderate and steady supply of moisture, produce the richest crops. Wheat will grow abundantly and luxuriantly in our lightest ferny, and even sandy soils; in fact, in soils which in either of the other two countries would be absolutely useless. I confess that I have myself been agreeably disappointed in my expectations and estimates of such soils. Lands which some years ago I should have considered utterly unproductive, I have since then seen yielding excellent crops of

wheat and grass; but the New Zealand Colonist has no occasion to run the risk of cultivating such soils (though even they will not fail him).

On the banks of our large rivers, such as the Thames, the Kaipara, the Waikato, the Hokianga, and various other rivers, valleys, and plains, he will find alluvial soils, consisting of a mixture of vegetable and clayey deposits, which will equal in their adaptation for wheat the Carse of Gowrie itself. I have recently seen some wheat grown in the vicinity of Auckland, at a place called Wayori, and at Mata Mata, in the interior, which equals the best samples from Van Diemen's Land. The average return of wheat in the vicinity of Auckland, where the agriculture is still in its infancy and very imperfectly carried on, may be stated at from thirty-five to forty bushels per acre.

But it is not on wheat alone that the New Zealand farmer may found his hopes – barley, maize, oats, and hops thrive equally well. The soil in many parts of the country is peculiarly adapted for barley, although it is only beginning to be extensively cultivated by Europeans. The character of the soil, especially of the lighter or ferny land, would certainly favour the idea that barley will before long become one of our principal crops. Very light and poor soil in the vicinity of Auckland is said to have yielded from fifty to seventy bushels per acre; and an excellent judge has stated that it was the best malting grain he had ever seen – not excelled by any produced either in England or Scotland. Maize has been for a long time extensively and successfully cultivated by the natives; but from their bestowing no care in the selection of proper seed, it has deteriorated in quality. Several experiments have been made on the cultivation of hops, every one of which has been highly successful: and I have

little doubt that, in a few years, the Colony may be in a condition to export large quantities of that much-esteemed plant. Clover, and all the European grasses, succeed well. Clover, in particular, spreads so fast whenever the fern is cut down, that I have no doubt the whole country will ere long be completely covered with it, and become, like its prototype Ireland, really deserving of the name of the Green Island. That essential article of food, the potato, is now as much the property of New Zealand as of Ireland itself; and every other field or garden vegetable, or root, will thrive equally well. One great advantage, however, which New Zealand possesses over England or Ireland, in regard to vegetable productions, is the fact that while the New Zealand settler can with equal success cultivate all the productions of the mother-country, he can also cultivate some which will not thrive at home; among which are the Kumara, or sweet potato, and the Taro, both highly nutritious and pleasant to eat; they are extensively cultivated by the natives, and are now indigenous to the country.

With respect to fruits, we have again a decided advantage over England, and indeed over all the neighbouring Colonies: for while we can grow all the fruits of temperate climates in as great perfection as can be done in England itself, we can also produce many fruits which peculiarly belong to tropical countries, and which the more severe climate of England must for ever exclude from the list of its native fruits. New Zealand is in this respect more favoured than any of the Australian Colonies. The vine, the fig, the orange, and the olive will thrive in New Zealand in as great perfection as in New South Wales; and the apple, peach, pear, plum, gooseberry, strawberry, currant, &c, in much greater.

Indeed, it is well known that several of these, and the most admired in our native land, such as the gooseberry and strawberry, will scarcely bear in New Holland, while in this country they flourish amazingly. Pumpkins and water melons have been for many years cultivated by the natives, who, in their season, supply them cheaply and plentifully to the Europeans. Whatever faults we may be disposed to find with New Zealand, it cannot for a moment be asserted that one of them is unproductiveness, or want of fertility. On the contrary, I believe that every man who has visited the Colony must have been much surprised both at the cheapness and abundance of our provisions. England never yet formed a Colony in which, during the third or fourth year of its formation, living was actually cheaper than in the mother-country itself; but this is in truth, and happily for us, the case in New Zealand. We can at present purchase pork, potatoes, bread, and the other essential articles of living, cheaper than could be done in Ireland itself. We may not, however, take any credit to ourselves, or to the providence of our rulers, on that account. The country and the industrious natives deserve it all. But for the productiveness of the country and the industry of the natives, we should have been by this time starved out of the Colony (instead of being, as we are, enjoying the necessaries and many of the comforts of life in great abundance and cheapness) in consequence of the obstacles which have been by the foolish Government thrown in the way of the settlers. What would have become of the European population of New Zealand, had they been, with such a Government, placed in any other country but this? Had we been placed in South Australia, New South Wales, or even North America itself, with our small and limited means,

and with our unjust and oppressive Government, we should have literally eaten ourselves out in less than twelve months. But, thanks to our fertile country and to our industrious native population, we have lived until we got rid of the one, and have the certain prospect of being enabled to procure and cultivate land from which we may not only abundantly produce for our own consumption, but also supply the wants of the neighbouring Colonies. New Zealand, although, for reasons which I shall hereafter state, eminently adapted for men of large capital, is still really and truly the poor man's country. Let any man with two hands and ordinary strength procure but the land to work upon with half food, (the other half he can procure for himself from the bush and the sea,) for the first six months, and if he be not the laziest creature that God ever made in the shape of a human being, he is an independent man, as far as mere living is concerned. If he merely till the ground, sow the seed, and gather the produce, the climate and the soil will do their part. The facilities for obtaining food are perhaps greater in New Zealand than in any other part of the world. To convince you of this, I will mention a circumstance which was told to me the other day by a gentleman who was travelling in a certain district of this country. At the house where he resided, the last of the pork had been consumed at breakfast – a circumstance which not a little disconcerted my friend, who could see no immediate prospect of procuring another supply in time for dinner, knowing as he did that his host had no tame animals about his place. The latter, however, took the matter very coolly, and after breakfast unobservedly leaving his guest, he took his gun in his hand and walked to the bush, from whence he returned in a few minutes, and proposed that the boat should be launched

upon the river. After so doing, and pulling a short distance, they landed on one of its banks, where they found a large bush pig in the agonies of death, after receiving the contents of the settler's gun. The pig was instantly conveyed to the house, and a portion prepared for dinner. In the mean time, an additional supply of food was procured by a few minutes' fishing in the river. In short, when the settler wanted fish or meat, he had merely to take his dog or gun and procure the one from the bush, or his boat and fishing-line to obtain the other from the river. So abundant are the wild pigs in almost every part of the country, that a person merely requires to keep a good dog, and to take the trouble of catching them, to obtain a certain supply of pork. At our station on the Thames, we have, for upwards of three years, derived our chief supply from that source. I do not know of anything more exciting than a regular good pig-hunt. Some of the old boars will set any number of dogs at defiance. Independent of the real and substantial advantage of this so cheaply procured food, it will at all times afford the New Zealand settler an excellent recreation to follow his dogs through the pig-grounds. Pigs are frequently to be met in herds of fifteen and twenty; but the males and females are seldom found in the same herd. The wild boars occupy the low grounds during the summer; but when the winter arrives, they betake themselves to the hills, and the females take their place on the plains. The flesh of the wild boar is rather strong, but that of the female is exquisite – more like mutton in flavour and taste than English pork.

Although New Zealand has been looked upon from the first as a highly productive country, both on account of its climate and soil, it was however by many persons, espe-

dally by those from New South Wales, declared as not being by any means adapted for becoming a pastoral country: but experience, and a more intimate knowledge of the interior of this island, have completely changed our ideas on that subject. The pasture is certainly not the same as in New South Wales. We have not the same apparent amount of grass, nor such extensive and level plains; but our pasture is notwithstanding of a description far superior, and far more nutritious, than that of New South Wales. On our very poorest pasture, sheep, cattle, and horses not only thrive well, but even fatten in a very short period; and the quality of our beef is far finer than that of any of the neighbouring Colonies, Cattle and sheep grazing will, I am confident, become in a short time a favourite and a profitable occupation, both with our native and European population; and, but for the vast impediments thrown by the late Government in the way of every species of enterprise, we should have had thousands of sheep and hundreds of cattle depasturing upon the numerous and extensive grassy plains in the interior. That the rearing of sheep will be a profitable occupation in New Zealand, requires only to be tried on a proper scale in order to be proved; and now that land can be obtained so reasonably, there is every prospect that wool will become one of the most considerable of our exports. The sheep-holder has many things to contend with in New South Wales which are foreign to this country – such as dry seasons, dear provisions, a long and expensive land-carriage, a high rate of wages, and, above all, native dogs, which make it necessary that his flocks should be small, and each attended by one man. The climate of New Zealand is equable, and perfectly free from droughts. The natives would act well and cheaply

as shepherds. Our splendid rivers afford an easy and a cheap communication with the interior. A boat, or a large canoe, would suffice to carry three dray-loads of wool at once. Our flocks might be as numerous as we choose. We have no foxes, native dogs, or animals whatever that could harm; and if some of our pasture does not at first sight appear so well adapted for sheep as it is in New South Wales, we have at least this great advantage, that the more it is eaten and tramped by sheep and cattle, the better will it become, and the faster will it grow. Land, in fact, which, the first year, would only support a given number of sheep or cattle, will, the next, afford pasture for a third more. In New South Wales it is quite different: there the pasture becomes in the end completely eaten out, and lands which, in the early stage of that Colony, were reckoned the best grazing districts in the country, are now worthless – the old grass has been eaten off, and nothing else has supplied its place – -hence the necessity of constantly moving still further and further into the interior, The cow pastures, for instance, where nearly all the cattle in New South Wales used at one time to graze, are now so nearly exhausted, that scarcely one good herd could find sustenance in the whole district. This, however, will never happen in New Zealand. Even where there is no appearance of grass – nothing, in short, but fern and scrub – if sheep and cattle are allowed to run on such lands, grass will immediately make its appearance. The land has, in New South Wales, too much sun, and, in this country, too little, the fern being so high and so close as to prevent its invigorating rays from acting upon the ground. The moment the fern is removed and the ground is being acted upon by the heat and light of the sun, the grass will instantly make its appearance, as

all must have observed who have paid any attention to the subject.

In the foregoing remarks I have merely cursorily noticed the effects of climate, which, from the geographical position of New Zealand, must be acknowledged to be highly favourable to agricultural pursuits. Our climate is much the same as that of Spain, Sicily, Italy, the shores of the Mediterranean, and China, in the Old World; and in the New, the rich valley of the Mississippi, Buenos Ayres, and Chili, are nearly in the same latitude: but over every one of these we have an advantage, both in our insular situation and the varied aspect of our land, which affords an endless succession of mountain, hill, plain, and valley. The climate of New Zealand is without exception the very best in the whole world; and not only the very best and most pleasant to live in, but also the very healthiest; for if ever there was a country where disease (mere ordinary natural disease) is unknown, it is certainly this. New Zealand, as I have said already, has, properly speaking, neither summer nor winter – it is one never-ending spring: "there is no decay, no seared or yellow leaf;" nature is for ever smiling and in bloom. In the dead of winter, the Manuku, and many other plants, have their modest and beautiful flowers. Flora is never without the crown; the wreath of flowers is always gratefully presented by some member or other of our lovely woods. Winter and summer insensibly but kindly embrace one another; they are, in fact, twin-sisters, who have blessed the country with all that man could desire. I am almost ashamed to acknowledge the superior advantages of New Zealand, while I cannot conceal that notwithstanding these advantages, I myself, and nearly every other settler, have been ruined. Some will scarcely believe the two stories. They cannot believe in

paradise and misery at the same time and in the same place; but it is the fact in New Zealand. We are in the finest climate and in one of the finest and richest countries in the world, and yet we have been ruined and made poor and miserable. Bread is before us, but the stone has been given to us for food. All the resources of the country have until lately been placed within iron chest and under iron lock, and we could scarcely see how we were to escape from this infamous imprisonment of industry, energy, and enterprise; but it is the inherent and distinguishing characteristic of Englishmen, that the more they are oppressed, the more ingeniously, perseveringly, and successfully will they meet, oppose, and overcome the difficulties which are placed in their way. This has been very much the case with the New Zealand settlers. For the first year or two of our oppression, we could see no means of escaping the overwhelming rapacity of our Government. We fancied that we were for ever prohibited from acquiring lands in New Zealand, except at the enormous and unheard-of price of one, two, ten, and twenty pounds per acre. Constant complaint, increasing agitation, and a change of Government, have recently altered our prospects. We can now obtain lands in any quantity, of any quality and description, at a cheaper rate than in any other Colony; but we have suffered many years of oppression and misery before we succeeded in opening the eyes of our rulers.

With regard to the failures in New South Wales and this Colony to which you make reference in yours, there appears to me to be nothing either peculiar or unaccountable. In the history of almost all modern Colonies, we discover (independently of the effects of bad government) two circumstances to the existence and operation of which may be traced the majority of those periodical convulsions

or monetary embarrassments, failures, and consequent miseries, which too commonly occur in such countries. The first of these belongs to the settlers themselves, and the other to the Colony. The one the settlers carry along with them, and the other almost invariably meets them on their arrival in a new Colony. I mean by the first, that desire on the part of the settler to obtain and to possess, at any sacrifice or expense, the comforts, if not the luxuries, to which he has been accustomed at home. He is not only unsatisfied unless he can procure all these and perhaps many more in the new country, but if the Colony do not itself produce or supply them to his taste, he must procure them from the mother-country. He will spend his own means, and even incur a heavy debt, rather than forego them. – The other circumstance to which I refer is the fact that few of the Colonies have an exchangeable commodity to give in return for the necessary and unnecessary supplies which they thus obtain from the parent country. The Colonists are, in short, always paying away money with the one hand, and, generally speaking, receiving nothing in the other. The inevitable consequence is, the occurrence of such convulsions as are at the present time upsetting the order of things in the neighbouring Colonies. The debt in time becomes so large, that the lender and the borrower cease to entertain hopes of its ever being discharged. The former presses the latter, and the latter becomes bankrupt; – much individual misery and suffering are the necessary result. But the Colony, apart from the individual sufferers, is in the end the gainer. The settler, it is true, is ruined – the debt is never paid to England, but the money is not all lost. Too much of it is certainly spent in unnecessary and expensive articles of consumption, such as wines, spirits, &c.; a small portion

has, however, been expended in cultivating and improving land: this is not lost to the Colony. It is true, the Colony sustains for a time a certain amount of discredit; but confidence will again be restored and again destroyed, as may be seen in America, where this principle is almost converted into a regular system. Every canal, railroad, wharf, and almost hotel, in that country has been constructed by means of English capital. The companies or individuals to whom such moneys have been lent, as a matter of course, fail; but the undertakings on which they have expended their means cannot be exported from the country to pay the debt – they remain, and so far America or the Colony derives a benefit. But this, after all, is both a slow and a dishonest way of establishing or advancing a Colony, and has its origin, generally speaking, in the two circumstances stated above – expensive and extravagant habits on the part of the settlers, and the absence of proper natural exports in the Colony. But even in the absence of the latter, if the settlers would accommodate themselves" to circumstances, and exercise industry and frugality, they might, at least in a country naturally so productive as New Zealand, avoid becoming the subjects of such a disgraceful and ruinous system.

Under proper management, New Zealand might be made to produce all that is requisite to a man's necessary, comfortable, and luxurious existence, and even made extensively to minister to the wants and luxuries of other countries. I have already treated of our means of supplying the wants of the inhabitants of the Colony; I will now apply to New Zealand another test of a country's greatness, by referring shortly to her mineral and vegetable productions, or what may properly be called articles of export – articles by means of which, if we judiciously avail

ourselves of them, we need never allow the debt of import to exceed the credit of the export. In this respect we have a manifest advantage over many other Colonies.

In the list of exports may be mentioned provisions of all kinds, which we may certainly and very soon be in a condition to export, together with wine, beer, spirits, wool, and hides, in a very few years more. But the resources of New Zealand do not by any means depend upon the sure though tedious operations of the agriculturist. Nature has at once and abundantly supplied the first settlers with the means of making other countries their debtors: she has supplied them with valuable exports in the articles of copper, tin, manganese, sulphur, coal, rock salt, spars, barks, dyewoods, and last, not least, oil, whalebone, and flax. To give you anything like an adequate idea of the facilities for procuring each of these articles in New Zealand, and the efforts which have already been made to render them available, would demand more time than either of us can conveniently bestow upon it.

The article copper is known to exist in various parts of the country; but the only places where it has hitherto been attempted to be procured are the islands of Kauwau and the Great Barrier, The mines at both these islands are extremely rich, that of Kauwau being said to yield from thirty to fifty per cent. It is principally grey ore, which is always the most valuable, The mine at Kauwau belongs to the Aberdeen Loan Company. It has only been opened a few months, and they have already shipped a large quantity to New South Wales, and are about shipping several tons direct to England from this place. The accidental discovery of this mine has been the salvation of the Company to which it belongs, their affairs having been previously in rather a desperate state, in consequence

of the imprudence or mismanagement of their agent in New South Wales. The purchase of the Island of Kauwau was at first as reckless as many of the other speculations of their agents. It was purchased for four or five hundred pounds, without ever being seen; and but for the mine recently discovered, it would be rather difficult, if sold, to obtain for it the interest of the money laid out upon its purchase.

Indications of copper are found in various parts of the Great Barrier, but only one mine has hitherto been attempted to be worked, and the quality and abundance of the ore are said by competent judges to be superior to that of South America. Although the capital of the parties under whom the Barrier Mines have been worked is too small to enable them to conduct their operations on a proper scale, yet the result is such as to satisfy every person of the value of the export. I have been credibly informed, that notwithstanding the very large and necessary outlay, the ore already procured is more than enough to cover all expenses, although the operations can scarcely be said to have fairly commenced. On the very surface, veins of the richest description have been discovered, and almost without any digging. Upwards of 200 tons have been already shipped to Sydney and England, and I am told that the same quantity is now ready at the mine for shipment. The value of the Barrier ore is said to be at least £30 per ton in England; so that the mine has already yielded about £6,000, and the expenses will not, most likely, exceed half that sum. The freight to Sydney is at present the chief drawback: but when (and I hope it will be soon) flax is procured in sufficient quantity to enable us to load vessels direct for England, the copper will be conveyed as ballast, almost free of expense, as is done at

present from Sydney on the wool ships. But in order to make the copper ore of New Zealand available, this Government ought to hold out every inducement for the establishment of English Companies, the capital of whom alone can effect this desirable object.

Manganese is the next most available mineral export. This metal, though in itself not so valuable as copper, is still extensively used in the arts, the various bleaching powders being made, as you are aware, by means of an oxide of this metal. It is also used in the manufacture of glass and other purposes, and recently, I believe, for the manufacture of a light which is likely to supersede gas. I am not aware of the present value of manganese in England, but I should think it would pay to expert it from this country, as the facilities for obtaining it are very great. On an island within fifteen miles of this place, almost in the harbour of Auckland, the peroxide of manganese exists in such, abundance, and is so easily obtained, that a vessel may be loaded with it at an expense of not more than five shillings per ton. Any vessel coming to our harbour may more conveniently ballast with manganese than with the ordinary material.

Sulphur and coals are to be obtained in various parts of New Zealand, but they have not as yet been made articles of export to a great extent. Coal of a very good description is found both at Massacre Bay and at Otago. Sulphur abounds in many of the volcanic mountains and islands on the coast; but whether the price at home is such as to defray the freight and expense of collection is still doubtful. The experiment, however, is being made by a practical chemist, who intends to purify the sulphur in the Colony before shipping it.

Iron is also found in great abundance; but circum-

stances will alter much before it is attempted tu be manufactured in New Zealand. Lead, I have reason to believe, is one of our minerals; and I have seen specimens of tin and silver ore which are said to have been found in the country, but where, the parties, for certain reasons, keep as yet a secret, probably till they are able to obtain a Government title to the land on which they discovered them. Nephrite (jade), or green stone, much used for ornaments by the natives, is said to abound in the Middle Island. This is an article highly prized by the Chinese, and would doubtless be a valuable export, could it be procured in sufficient quantity. Sharks' fins are also much esteemed by the Chinese, and abounding as the coast of New Zealand does with sharks and all manner of fish, it is a wonder that more attention lias not been paid to that branch of trade. The curing of fish for the Mauritius and South America would prove a very profitable occupation in this country, and no place can be better adapted for it than New Zealand. The "habuka," and several other fish on this coast, are equal to any cod or ling, and would, I am persuaded, sell as high at the Mauritius as the best Newfoundland fish.

Flax and oil are already known as the staple exports of New Zealand. The flax has hitherto been altogether dressed by the natives, by means of a very tedious process, in which there is much of the material lost. Several experiments have been made by Europeans, both by machines and chemical processes, which promise eventual success. I have myself found that by boiling the flax in a weak solution of potash or wood ashes, the process of cleaning is much facilitated. Europeans have been, till very recently, ignorant of the true description of flax (Tihore), or that from which the natives manufacture their

finer fabrics. That species will, I doubt not, become shortly extensively cultivated by Europeans. The finer flax is in softness and fineness equal to silk, and might be used for the most delicate fabrics. There is very little difficulty in cleaning it; but it requires to be cultivated with some care.

Whaling from New Zealand would be a most profitable investment for English capital. Vessels could be provisioned and refitted in Auckland at a much cheaper rate than in England; and persons, instead of fitting out whalers from home, would find it a much more profitable plan to appoint a resident manager or agent in Auckland, to receive the oil as caught, and to ship by other opportunities, always having the whale ships ready to prosecute their trade. The long and expensive voyage home and back again might in this manner be avoided, and the oil might always, and immediately after being caught, be shipped home and sold, instead of being, as it is now, kept for two or three years in the ship that caught it.

Besides a number of mineral dyes, there are several trees in New Zealand which afford a beautiful black dye, far superior in colour and permanency to that commonly used at home. The natives have been in the habit of dyeing their mats by boiling them in a decoction of these woods, and then steeping them in a chalybeate spring; a circumstance which first directed the attention of Europeans to the subject. A considerable quantity of this wood (Henu) has been lately shipped to England. There are also strong astringent barks, which would very likely pay to send home in the shape of extract. The gum of the Kauri, which is very plentiful, is shipped to America, where it is manufactured and sold as copal varnish. It does not appear that the secret of dissolving it is known either in England or

the Colony. The manufacture of barilla from our extensive mangroves, would, I should imagine, pay any person who would engage in it.

There are several woods in this country which ought to pay to export to England, to be used for furniture; some of them are superior to mahogany and rosewood. From these, and a variety of other natural productions, it must be at once apparent that New Zealand is destined to become a great country. Blessed with soil and climate unequalled, and abounding in the most valuable vegetable and mineral productions, her resources require only to be made known in order to be valued.

It is matter of much regret that among all the numerous items of the expenditure of the New Zealand Government, not a shilling has been expended in the attempt to explore the country, to discover either its mineral or vegetable treasures: not even a surveyor has travelled through the country; nothing has been bestowed on the attempt to obtain the slightest knowledge of the geography, botany, mineralogy, or geology of our country. It would have been some redemption of the extravagance of our late rulers could they even point to one item of their vast expenditure, and say, "This sum has been spent in exploring New Zealand: by means of this sum we have extended the limits of science; we have added such and such plants to the catalogue of the botanist; such and such minerals we have submitted to the glass, hammer, and blowpipe of the geologist; our Surveyor-General has made us so much more acquainted with the geography of New Zealand; and our physicians, surgeons, and chemists have added to the means of healing disease, and extending the duration of man's life, by their analysis of the mineral springs – the hot, cold, and tepid baths of Tuapu, Roturua, Waimate,

and the Thames." Nothing, however, of this kind will meet the eye of the scientific or the humane in looking over the lists of New Zealand's expenditure. It is gross and criminal, and has not, in one solitary instance, tended to advance the interests of science, education, humanity, or religion: like the debt of the New South Wales settlers, it has been incurred on account of meat and drink. For all that we as yet know of the resources of the country, we arc entirely indebted to private energy and enterprise. The Government has done nothing whatever, either to develop or to make known the natural wealth of New Zealand.

4 * See Appendix No. V.

LETTER XIV.

LETTER XIV.

New Zealand Company. Natives oppose the Location of Settlers. Agent of the Company to blame. Conduct of the New. Zealand Company, Attempt to direct the Indignation of the Settlers from the Company to the Government and the Natives. Commissioner's Report. Impossibility of establishing a Title to the Company's Lands. Unhappy Condition of the Company's Settlers. The Governor's Attempt to relieve them. Wellington. Nelson. Wanganui. New Plymouth. Injury done to New Zealand by the Company. Mistakes committed by the Company. New Edinburgh. Manakau Company a Deception. Their Victims relieved by the Governor.

NEW ZEALAND COMPANY.

The affairs of the New Zealand Company, regarding which you have written to me, are, I regret to say, in rather an unsatisfactory state. From all that I can ascertain, your purchase of land from that Company is likely to turn out a bad speculation. The lands at Wanganui, where you say your selections have been made, have never, I believe, been purchased from the natives. At all events, the natives maintain that they have not; and they have effectually resisted any attempt on the part of the settlers to occupy their allotments in that district. But the same has been the case in nearly every other part of the Company's territories. What a pity you did not invest your money in the purchase of land in this settlement, where it is daily increasing in value, and where you could obtain with a good Government, title, land much superior in quality to that in any part of the Company's territory!

The New Zealand Company has been a complete imposition from beginning to end; but I do not so much blame the parties connected with it at home, as their Agent in the Colony, who must have grossly deceived them by pretending to have purchased and obtained a right to lands upon which he had no earthly claim. That he might have been deceived in the first instance, is not unlikely; but when (as he must have done) he had discovered his mistake, he ought to have informed his employers of the same, and endeavoured as far as possible to repair his errors.

Of all the lands belonging to the Company, I understand that those of Nelson alone have been found by the Commissioner to have been really and fairly purchased; and even at Nelson so many of the natives have been unpaid, that it will cost the Company a large sum of money to satisfy them now. It is quite a mistake to suppose, as Wakefield did, that the lands in New Zealand are owned by a few chiefs, and that if these are satisfied, the purchase is valid. Some of the greatest chiefs in New Zealand are very small owners of land, and some of the most insignificant men in a tribe are frequently the large proprietors. Such a thing as any one man holding a large tract of country is not known. It is therefore impossible to bargain with one or two chiefs about the purchase of any land, when every district is divided among a numerous proprietary, every one of whom knows the extent and boundaries of his land, whether waste or cultivated, as accurately as any proprietor of land in England or Scotland. From several of the despatches of the New Zealand Company to Colonel Wakefield, I perceive that they were fully aware of this fact, and, anticipating what was really the case, they instructed him accordingly; but he has neglected, while it was possible, to rectify bis mistakes. Two years

ago the natives might have been easily arranged with, at little expense, for all the lands claimed by the Company; but at the present moment I do not think the whole original capital of the Company would extinguish all their claims, being, as they are, now so fully alive to the value of land from knowing the prices which Europeans have paid for it both at Auckland and Wellington.

I cannot account for Colonel Wakefield's conduct, unless he expected that he could either induce the Government to purchase for him the lands from the natives, or forcibly deprive them of them. He certainly must have acted on the idea that the Government became bound by the Charter to maintain the Company's settlers in the possession of their lands, even though the Company might have never purchased them: but it is quite plain that the Government never could have agreed or consented to anything so absurd. They were certainly permitted to sell and to colonise the lands specified in the Charter; but the Government must have presumed that these lands had been previously purchased by the Company, more especially as the Government itself lays no claim to any lands in New Zealand excepting such as may be bought by the agents of the Government. How, then, could the New Zealand Company expect the Government to grant to them that to which neither of the parties had a right, though one of them pretended to have purchased them? As it is, much evil and suffering have been entailed on the Company's settlers or victims, and much injury done to the Colony.

The state of affairs at present in the Company's Settlement is quite enough to sicken any person at the very name of New Zealand and New Zealand property. It is in vain for the Company to appeal to the respectability of

the parties connected with it, or to the purity of the motives of their Directors, as any palliation of their unjustifiable conduct towards the numerous and highly-respectable parties whose money they have taken for lands of which they have as yet been unable to put them in possession. The respectability and character of many of the parties who constitute the New Zealand Company have had no other effect than that of enabling others connected with them who were not so respectable, but much more active and selfish, to practise the more easily on the credulity of the public.

Under all circumstances, the New Zealand Company would have found that honesty would have been the best policy. Had they, like honest and honourable men, jealously guarded against the practice of deceit, their own affairs would have been somewhat better than they now are. But it appears very evident that so long as they continued to sell their paper town allotments and country sections, they cared little or nothing about the fate of their settlers. Even when they did discover that the natives disturbed their settlers, and when their Agent might have for one or two thousand pounds satisfied all the opposing natives, not an effort was made to do so. Certain districts were pointed out to the unfortunate purchasers of the Company's allotments, where they were told to make their selections; but, upon doing so, it was soon discovered that the natives would not consent to their occupation: and, instead of at once settling with the natives, and procuring for the European purchaser that peaceable and indisputable possession which every honest man is bound to give of any land for which he has pocketed the money, the Agent of the New Zealand Company, with much ingenuity, directed the indignation of the settlers from the

Company towards the Government, who, they were told, (because they gave a Charter to the New Zealand Company for a certain quantity of land which the New Zealand Company alleged to have fairly purchased, although they had not,) were bound to put down the natives, and to maintain the Company's victims in possession. By such conduct, the settlers were taught really to look upon the Government and the natives as the offending parties; and while the Company, the real transgressors, were almost favourites with some, and disliked by none of the settlers as they deserved, the Government (certainly not the very best in the world) was blamed for not doing that which it was the bounden duty of the Agent of the Company to have performed, and the natives were abused and reviled as cannibals and savages because they had the good sense to know their own rights, and sufficient courage to assert and to maintain them.

Much valuable time, to both the Company and settlers (to the former because they allowed the opportunity of amicably and cheaply remedying their errors to pass by, and to the settlers because they were all the while idle, and uselessly wasting their means), was thus lost in dallying with the Local Government, in the hope that they might at last be induced to enter into the views of the Company, and forcibly put their settlers in possession of the lands of the natives, whose slightest offences, even the assertion of their own rights, were industriously circulated and magnified into acts of rebellion and treason. The final reports of the Commissioner who was appointed to investigate the Company's titles, at length opened the eyes of the deluded settlers to the true state of affairs, and revealed the now almost utter impossibility of obtaining that which the Company guaranteed to them. This, and

the reports of the embarrassments of the Company, together with the hopelessness of recovering compensation for losses sustained, has produced the most serious effects at the Company's Settlements. The credit of the settlers and their hopes of the Colony being chiefly founded on the imagined value of their land-orders, or titles – as might have been expected, when the true state of the Company's affairs, and their own prospects in connexion with it, became known – the result has been almost a universal bankruptcy. The means of the more wealthy settlers have been exhausted before they could make a single effective effort to better their condition, or to derive subsistence from the country. The labourers who were formerly employed by the settlers and the Company were thrown out of employment, and several of them, from desperation and poverty, manifested an inclination to support themselves by open violence and robbery. The reports from the Company's Settlements were in truth so alarming, that when they reached Auckland, the Governor almost immediately closed the Legislative Council, which was then sitting, and at once proceeded to Wellington, with the view of affording them all the relief he could. I am sorry to say, that he was not received by the Company's people as became his kind intentions towards them. Their present desperation and former displeasure at his refusing to become the instrument of wreaking the deeply-rooted vengeance of the settlers on the chiefs who were engaged in the affray at Wairau, manifested themselves on this occasion in a manner highly unbecoming. The Governor, however, did everything that was possible under the circumstances. The Hutt, which is the principal agricultural district in Port Nicholson, was disputed by the natives, and the Governor arranged with the principal

chiefs, that the settlers should not in future be molested, on consideration of his becoming bound to pay them a certain sum of money. He also made a similar arrangement regarding the lands in the town of Wellington and its vicinity. The lands of Wanganui, or Petre, the natives have refused to alienate on any consideration to the settlers in that district. His Excellency offered lands near Auckland equivalent to those they claimed at Wanganui: he also offered to convey them to Auckland free of expense in the Government brig. Whether they have the wisdom to accept of that offer, I do not know. At Nelson, matters had previously been somewhat settled; at all events, the purchasers of land in that district were in possession, and cultivating their farms. In the district of New Plymouth, or Taranaki, the state of affairs was really serious. A very large body of natives, recently emancipated from slavery, and never taken into account when that district was purchased by the Company's Agent, preferred their claim to the land allotted to the Europeans, with threats of violence unless the Europeans immediately removed from the same. Sixty or eighty thousand acres are claimed by the Company in that district. But the Governor, after minutely inquiring into the merits of the case in person, was fully convinced of the justness of the claims of the natives, as well as of the invalidity of the Company's title: but all that he could do under these circumstances was, to request that the Company's Agent should endeavour to satisfy the native claimants. The Agent having refused or failed to do so, the Governor then arranged with the natives for a block of four thousand acres, the land on which the New Plymouth settlers had located themselves, which the natives consented to give peaceable possession of on the payment of a sum of money, which His Excel-

lency agreed to give them. The resident settlers of the New Zealand Company have at least to thank the Governor for the efforts he has made to benefit their condition. Had the Agents of the Company manifested a similar kind feeling and desire to advance the interests of the unfortunate party whom they deluded and robbed of their money, the state of their own affairs and that of their settlers would, in spite of a badly-selected locality, be now very different from what it is.

Independent of feeling for the numerous and respectable individual sufferers, it is matter of extreme regret that the New Zealand Company had ever anything to do with the colonisation of New Zealand, as the misery sustained by the settlers through the injustice of the Company is certain to give a bad name to the Colony. The scene of misery, although not always the cause, is frequently blamed as being so; and if anything can give a bad name to New Zealand, it will be the doings of the New Zealand Company, and their agents in and out of the Colony. Men will not submit to be ruined and plundered without exposing the party through whom they have suffered. Nothing has astonished me so much as the patience of the victims of the New Zealand Company, and how few of them have ever sought the redress to which they were in law and justice entitled.

Had the New Zealand Company conducted their affairs on fair and honest principles, and worked in concert with the Government, bad as it was, they might have been a great benefit to the Colony. With the ample means at their disposal, and the high character of the shareholders, they might have carried emigration to any extent. They certainly made a very grievous mistake at the outset, in selecting Cook's Straits as_ the scene of their operations;

but they might have still overcome the difficulties entailed upon them by that blunder. It being no comfort or satisfaction to those who had been taken in by the purchase of lands at Port Nicholson that others should be similarly deceived, the Company, if they had any idea of their own interest, should, as soon as possible, have made a more advantageous selection. The Government would have gladly permitted them to purchase lands near the capital, or in any other part of the Colony; but they would not listen to the proposal. They were indignant because Captain Hobson did not commit the same folly as their own Agent, and make a whaling station, such as Port Nicholson, the seat of his Government. Every attempt was made by the friends of the Company to run down the value of Auckland and the lands around it, in the hope that the Home Government would still remove the capital to the southward. A feeling of jealousy and irritation was in consequence created between the two settlements, which has not even yet subsided on the part of the Company. But, whatever the Company or their friends may say to the contrary, Captain Hobson decidedly selected one of the fittest places in New Zealand for the present and future capital of the Colony. That the two Islands of New Zealand may have in time an independent Government, is likely; but, for the present, the colonisation of the country should extend from and about Auckland. No greater curse can befal a Colony than to be possessed of such numerous, small, and scattered settlements as the Company have formed, on the Wakefield system of concentration, in New Zealand. Scattered allottments are surely as bad, if not worse, than the scattered population to which they objected so much in other Colonies. The separate interests, petty jealousies, and great expense

created by such a system are most injurious. It has been found to be so in this Colony, where the expenditure of Government is in consequence so extravagantly expensive.

Of the proceedings of the New Edinburgh Company very little is known in the Colony. Some land has been purchased at a place called Otago, in the Middle Island, for the site of the projected Colony; but I fear the selection is a bad one. The land, by all accounts, is not good, being in some places heavily wooded and hilly, and in other parts extremely light and sandy, and adapted, if for anything, more for pastoral than agricultural pursuits. The climate of the Middle Island is also very inferior to that of the Northern, being not nearly so temperate. The heat of summer and the cold of winter are much greater. The mountains of the Middle Island are very high, and covered with snow: indeed, I should doubt if the climate is much better than that of Scotland itself. The absence of all natives will be a great detriment to the settlement, as labour and provisions will, in consequence, be very high. I consider proximity to the natives to be of the greatest advantage to the settlers. In Auckland we have always had both provisions and labour cheaper than in any of the other settlements, because we are situated near a dense native population, who supplied our wants, and with whom we have always lived on good terms. The prices current in the newspapers published in the various settlements will show the difference in that respect, and the benefits conferred by the natives.

The prospects of those who have purchased allotments from the parties whom you and others designate by the name of the Manakau Company are, if anything, worse

than even those of the New Zealand Company's settlers. How men could have been taken in by such schemes is truly astonishing. The name "Company" seems to have a peculiar charm; for however preposterous and absurd the scheme may be, if preceded by the magic word "Company" it is sure to take. How else can you account for the number of persons who have, like G., purchased Manakau allotments, and spent their money for very vanity? The Manakau Company have never proved a title to one inch of land; they have not even preferred a claim before the Commissioners; and it is even doubtful if they really own any land at all. Captain Symonds, who acted as agent till the time of his death, is said to have purchased from a person in Sydney a tract of land in the Manakau Harbour; but whether the primary purchase was good or bad, I know not. I have heard that the natives acknowledge having sold a very limited quantity of woody and mountain land near the harbour; but as a place for the location of emigrants it is perfectly worthless. Captain Symonds, on the arrival of some Scotch emigrants, laid out a township on that land, and some of the party selected their town sections; but no person took up his residence in the so-called town, neither did any of the purchasers obtain their country sections. It is, in fact, a mockery, or rather a swindling concern altogether; for beyond the laying out of a township by Captain Symonds three or four years ago, no other attempt has been made to give the purchasers of this Company's allotments possession of their lands. I believe upwards of £4,000 have been received by parties at home for lands sold, and not a single individual has ever been put in possession of one inch of land by them; neither have they proved, or attempted to prove, their own claim. Those of their victims who are resident

in the Colony have been generously and compassionately treated by the Governor. For the money which, they have paid to the Company for imaginary allotments he gives them credit at the Treasury similar to that of the other land-claimants; every pound to entitle to three acres of land, at the sale appointed for land-claimants. This was not done by way of acknowledgment of any claim on their part upon the Government, but simply as an act of charity, and with the view of giving them land from which to obtain a livelihood. The same indulgence is not intended to be extended to the victims of the Manakau Company out of the Colony; so that G. will not come in for any share unless he come to the Colony. He can surely obtain some redress from the parties who took his money, at home: I would advise him to try it, if they are worth the handling.

LETTER XV

LETTER XV.

Aborigines. General Remarks on the Treatment of Aborigines. The Causes of their Extermination. Disease. Faith in Medicine. Method of living. Missionary Efforts to improve the Condition of the Natives. Where deficient. Cannibalism. Taraea. Native Slaves. Ignorance of the Native Character. How to estimate it. Improvement of the Human Race slow, gradual, and progressive. Intellectual, moral, and social Character of the New Zealanders. Chief. King. Religious feeling. Want of Conscience. Covetousness. Benevolence. Vanity. Deficient Courage. Disregard for Life. Eroa. Want of National Affection. Infanticide. Increase of Population slow. Temperance. Physical Strength. Summary of the Native Character. Moral Influence exercised by the Europeans. Greatly destroyed by various Acts of the Government, by the New Zealand Company, and the Bishop of New Zealand. Conduct of the Church Missionaries contrasted with that of the Wesleyans. Religious Dissensions; their effects. Heki. Bunting. Rev. M Turton. Best means of improving the Aborigines in a religious, moral, and physical point of view. Missionaries. English Schools. Opposition of Missionaries to English Schools. Absurdity of the Political Position of the Natives. The Laws of England inapplicable to their present condition. Native Exemption Bill imperfect. Sale of Lands. Necessity of establishing Hospitals, with the view of preserving the New Zealanders. Benefits conferred upon the Europeans by the Improvement of the Aborigines.

ABORIGINES.

I have, much pleasure in complying with the request contained in your letter on the subject of the Aborigines of this Colony, in whose welfare I know you feel much interest. It is indeed a cause of rejoicing, and a sign of the improving morality of our country, that the aboriginal inhabitants of our numerous Colonies have become the objects of the care and consideration of so many good and humane men in our native land. Those of New Zealand,

as being the last with whom we have been brought into contact, as a matter of course, receive, for the present at least, a full share of that sympathy. They are, in truth, the only portion of our aboriginal brethren to whom we can make any compensation for the wrongs and cruelties which we have inflicted upon those of our other Colonies. There is no subject, in itself, the consideration of which is more humiliating to Europe, and even to England, than the treatment of the aboriginal inhabitants of recently-discovered countries. How little, alas! can be discovered among such people of the effects and fruits of our boasted civilisation! How few of them have been even left to tell the dismal tale of European-inflicted suffering! The only voice that we can hear in connexion with the most of the countries which we have colonised, is the self-accusing one of "Cain, Cain, where is thy brother?" If the desert solitudes of America, the arid plains of New Holland, the rich and fertile isles of African and Indian slavery, were filled with human voices, the Cain-like condemning question would be asked by all.

You and other kind friends in England doubtless hope and expect that the fate of the New Zealanders will be different, that they at least will escape the curse of our so-called civilisation. I would I could cherish the same hope. But, after a four or five years' residence in New Zealand, I dare not deceive myself by cherishing the fond illusion. However superior (and I believe them to he superior to any other uncivilised people) the inhabitants of New Zealand may be, I fear they are not destined to remain as an exception. Can it be civilisation, the breath of which is so pestilential, that all must disappear before it? I fear the knowledge of the present day, however high it may be, is not deserving of the name. As manifested in our Co-

lonies, it is merely a keen intellectual perception of self-interest, with little moral feeling or moral education to train or guide it. The manner of destroying the aborigines is certainly now somewhat different to that practised by the Spaniards in America, and by our own countrymen in America and New Holland. English Colonists dare not now treat the aborigines as game or vermin, to be shot at pleasure, or exterminated, according to circumstances; but they adopt other means, more insidious but equally effective. Our countrymen do not now give expression to their fierce and savage passions by destroying their defenceless brethren with the sword and gun – they assume an apparently kindlier but a no less injurious conduct towards them. But European diseases and European crimes lead as certainly to the destruction of the aborigines as the fire and sword of more barbarous times. And these are now the weapons of our savage warfare. During my own acquaintance with the New Zealand tribes, I can say that they have been fast disappearing; so fast, that, however great their reputed progress in civilisation and Christianity, I have no hesitation in saying, that by the time the New Zealanders are all converted and made Christians by our missionaries, few of them will be in existence. I am far from disparaging the labours of the missionaries, or denying the good that they could not help doing to the natives; but I blame the founders of missions because, while they do so much for the spiritual welfare of the natives, they altogether forget and neglect their bodily comforts. The soul is unquestionably better than the body; but they are alike worthy of some consideration. Fourteen or fifteen thousand pounds are spent annually by benevolent people at home in supporting in comfort and affluence several persons who undertake, as missionaries,

the improvement and conversion of the natives. Upwards of two thousand a-year is spent by the Government on maintaining a number of young and old men, not very remarkable either for piety or humanity, as Protectors of the Aborigines; but not a single effective effort is made by either to save them from the effects of disease, or to improve their bodily comforts. At the present moment there is not a single hospital in the Colony to which a native could be admitted; there is scarcely a medical man to afford them advice or relief when suffering: the consequence is, that wherever the intercourse is frequent with Europeans, the natives speedily die from disease. This is particularly remarkable in the vicinity of the Bay of Islands, and even near Auckland, although not so long the residence of Europeans. From the brutal habit of converting their females into a source of profitable trade with unprincipled and licentious Europeans, disease and death are fearfully on the increase. The disparity between the two sexes is in consequence very great, the number of females compared to males being certainly not more than one to three, and in many of the settlements it is even much less. These circumstances, together with the effects produced by the change of manners, customs, clothing, and diet – indeed by the general assumption of the habits of civilised life, will ere long sadly diminish their numbers. Besides the diseases of civilised life from which they suffer most, scrofula, in its varied forms, is also very prevalent among the aborigines. Those who are most acquainted with them, have remarked an extraordinary change in that respect since the more frequent intercourse and settlement of Europeans among them. The exchange of their own native mat for the European blanket is supposed to have a very injurious effect, and to greatly favour the

ravages of this hideous complaint. But, from whatever cause, it is quite true that consumption – diseases of the glands, joints, and skin, are more frequent among the New Zealanders than among the poorest of our countrymen at home.

While from ignorance many of these complaints are permitted to run their course without a competent or any attempt to remove them, the natives are still, generally speaking, ever willing to submit themselves to the care and advice of medical men, in whom, when they know them, they have the greatest confidence, taking medicine from them as fearlessly as if they themselves knew its composition. So strong is their faith in medicine and medical men, that I have frequently received messages and letters, written on slips of paper or flax, informing me that the writer or some friend was very ill, and requesting me to send medicine to cure him. While they thus readily take medicine, they have no idea of paying the medical man either for his medicine or his advice; indeed, many of them expect that they should be paid for taking it. I remember once giving a poor native woman some powders for a sick child: no payment was, of course, either expected or received for the medicine; but, about two months thereafter, the same woman called upon me and returned some of the powders, saying that the child had got better before he used the whole. After taking the powders from her, she requested me to make her a payment for them, although she herself had received them for nothing. The majority of the natives, however, have more sense and discretion than this woman. In one or two instances presents have been made to me by some persons, generally chiefs, to whom I had administered medicine.

The method of living has also a very decidedly injurious

effect upon the health of the New Zealanders. Their living is always poor where they have an opportunity of disposing of their produce; their trading propensities and desire for European goods are so great, that they will sell their pigs and potatoes to the settlers even if they should be obliged to live upon fern-root or shell-fish themselves. Those in the vicinity of the European settlements are consequently worse fed than those in the interior who are far from markets.

The houses of the natives are almost always small, low, and excessively dirty. They burn a fire in the centre, round which they sit, eat, sleep, and stew themselves in their wet or dry blankets; and when they expose themselves to the open air, they frequently become affected with colds, rheumatism, and inflammation of the chest and lungs. I do not know whether the missionaries have ever made any attempts to impress upon them the advantages of cleanliness in their houses and persons; but certain it is, that they as yet pay little attention to either. Since the settlement of Europeans at Auckland, some of the chiefs are beginning to erect comfortable weather-boarded houses, in imitation of the Europeans. I am from that circumstance inclined to think that the missionaries have not, formerly, impressed them with the propriety of attending to such matters: perhaps they did not consider it a point of their duty to interfere in matters that merely concerned their bodily comfort; but from the great facility with which the missionaries have taught them to read and write, I cannot think there would have been much difficulty in teaching them the arts of life as well, had it been their desire to do so. Whatever the labours of the missionaries have been, it cannot be denied that the natives have improved in civilisation during the last four or five years (since the settle-

ment of Europeans in the country) more than they did during the whole of the former time the missionaries had been among them. It may not, however, be fair on that account to blame the missionaries: we know that the progress from barbarism to civilisation must be very slow in its first stages, and the New Zealanders must have been unquestionably in the very lowest stages when the missionaries first risked their lives among them; it is therefore hard to accuse them because we find so much still left to be done for the New Zealanders. The missionaries have very much failed, because they aimed at too much in the first instance. They expected all at once to produce the fruits of civilisation (religion and morality), without attempting to bring the natives through the preparatory stages, and they and the friends of the natives are now surprised and disappointed because they find a people professing Christianity almost as destitute of moral principle as when they were avowed heathens. Many of the natives have certainly embraced Christianity; but there are few if any of them who are still not under the practical influence of their former superstitions. I could not myself, in conscience, say that I have ever seen the natives whom I could really call religious, – -and they are now so much bewildered with the opposing tenets of Episcopacy, Puseyism, Wesleyanism, and Roman Catholicism, that there is every fear to apprehend that they will, altogether, throw off the yoke of Christianity, and either return to their native superstition, or become infidels. Several missionary tribes have already abjured the Christian faith, and returned to their former customs. They certainly look upon the profession of Christianity as some check upon open bad conduct, and invariably before going to war with one another, or committing any outrages upon Europeans, they throw away

their Bibles. The other day, a small tribe at the Bay of Islands, the most of whom had been baptised natives acted in this manner. The missionaries have themselves very much to blame for such unhappy results, inasmuch as they have made a sort of compromise between Christianity and their former superstitions, by permitting them to retain a portion of the former, and thereby making a sort of badly-amalgamated system from both. The unreasonable demands of the taboo, the superstitious regard for the dead, distinction of caste, slavery, and even polygamy, still exist among the missionary natives to a great extent; indeed, nearly as much as among the heathen natives themselves. Perhaps it was rather difficult to overcome deeply-rooted prejudices; but when they were so manifestly at variance with religion and humanity, a strong effort should have been made to eradicate them. But, taking all in all, and considering the former low and degraded state of the New Zealanders, we must acknowledge that a change, very much for the better, has taken place among them; and although we meet with occasional instances where they return to their old customs, and exhibit the character of the savage, we must still acknowledge that, on the whole, they have really improved so as to give great hopes of a still farther advance.

Some persons doubt the existence of cannibalism among the New Zealanders; but any one who has resided for any time in the country, will meet with evidence sufficiently strong to convince him of the existence of that inhuman custom, which is now happily nearly abolished. The majority of the rising generation have no relish for this unnatural food, although there are still some old savage chiefs who occasionally gratify their horrid appetite by feasting upon the remains of their enemies. The last

case of this kind which has come to my knowledge hap pened not long ago, at a settlement on the Frith of the Thames. A savage chief, named Taraea, surprised and attacked a native settlement at Tauranga, where he killed several persons, and carried off others as slaves. When the fight was over, he and some old chiefs feasted, according to custom, on the flesh of their slaughtered enemies. On their return from the slaughter, they passed through a station belonging to some men who were cutting timber for me, and robbed them of some clothing. Hearing of the robbery and massacre, I immediately gave information to the Government, and requested that they should, for the good of the natives themselves, endeavour to bring the horrid chief to task for his bad conduct. But no effectual notice was taken of it; the Government being either afraid of the savage but petty chief, or indifferent to the improvement of the natives. This is the only authenticated case of cannibalism which I have heard of since I came to New Zealand. It is a curious fact connected with this horrid custom, that the native cannibals should have no relish for European flesh. It has been, perhaps, fortunate for the early settlers in New Zealand that this was the case. Cannibalism, like many of the other old customs of the New Zealanders, will scarcely be known a few years hence. The young people are even now so much ashamed of this savage custom, that nothing is calculated to offend them so much as to call them cannibals. Some persons assert, that the New Zealanders indulged in this practice more as a religious or superstitious rite than from any real relish for the inhuman food; but, from all that I could ascertain, I am convinced that this is not true – I am satisfied that they loved it for its own sake. In former times, the chiefs looked upon their slaves as so

many fatted calves, to be killed as occasion required. The life of a slave was only valued as contributing so much to his master's supply of luxuries. Even yet, the life of a slave is deemed so little worth, that a chief man may at any time take it away with impunity. Their labour is, however, now becoming valuable, and they are therefore less frequently sacrificed. With the exception of the insecurity of life, the slaves in New Zealand have been, and are now, at least better treated than in any other part of the world – enjoying both a larger amount of freedom, as well as the right of property. It is true that they work for their master, but they are at the same time permitted to cultivate provisions for themselves, which they may either use or sell, at their own discretion. Slavery still exists over all the islands, both among the missionary and heathen natives; but as the wars are now becoming less frequent, they are fast decreasing in numbers. The Wesleyan Missionaries deserve to be remembered, as having, a few years ago, succeeded in persuading the chiefs at a place called Waikato, an extensive district on the west coast, to manumit a large body of slaves, amounting to several hundreds, whom they had many years before taken captive at Taranaki (New Plymouth). The captives have returned to their own country, where they now give much annoyance to the settlers, by claiming the lands which the New Zealand Company sold to them in England. The Company's Agent pretends to have purchased the lands from the Waikato chiefs (the captors); but the captives maintain that the loss of liberty did not entail the loss of property; and I believe, by the customs of their country, they are right.

There is no subject in connexion with this Colony on which difference of opinion exists so greatly, and even

violently, as that of the aborigines. It is in itself a subject of vast importance, and deserving of the attention of every man who either resides in the Colony and regards his own self-interest, or who, wherever he may be, feels interested in the welfare of his fellow-creatures. A proper estimate of the intellectual, moral, and social character of the aborigines, lies at the root of every successful effort at improving their own condition, or even enabling us to live in quiet and peace among them. The majority of our quarrels with the natives have their origin in our improper appreciation of their character, and a consequent disregard of their customs, prejudices, and feelings. The ignorance which, generally speaking, prevails regarding the true character of the aboriginal population is not wonderful, simply because we know that there is no other branch of knowledge of which men are so thoroughly ignorant as the study of man himself. The constitution of man, mental as well as bodily, forms as yet no part of the ordinary course of education; and men are sent forth into the world to meet, to deal, and to treat with one another, in total ignorance of each other's character. It is not, under such circumstances, to be wondered at, that, even in civilised life, disputes, quarrels, and troubles should exist; how much less so when the two extremes, the savage and the civilised, are brought into contact with ono another!

It would be almost impossible to account for the variety of opinions which exist in the Colony on the subject of the natives by any other supposition, than that the most of those who have written on the subject have estimated their character in accordance with the peculiar cast of mind, prejudice, or interest of such writers. If we were to believe the statements of the organs of the Company and

their settlers, and even those of some disreputable and foolish persons in the settlement of Auckland itself, we should be led to suppose that the natives were so fiercely savage, that it would be mercy to exterminate them; others represent them as being so cunning, crafty, and deceitful, that, with the view of securing the simple Europeans from being taken in by them, it is highly necessary to appoint certain persons to protect our countrymen from them; other parties, again, have been accused, perhaps with some justice, of erring on the other extreme, representing the aborigines as being in somewhat of that semi-paradisiacal condition in which Columbus found the first inhabitants of the New World. "Dear creatures!" as some kind-hearted ladies absurdly call them, whose chief crime is their great simplicity and innocency. That all these parties are wrong might very easily be proved. The experience of every man resident in the Colony, who had judgment sufficient to estimate human character, will satisfy himself that the natives are not fairly represented by either.

In order to estimate aright the character of the aborigines of New Zealand, or of any country, it will be necessary to consider the stage of civilisation in which they are now found, together with their peculiar and distinguishing character as a branch of the human family; for it must be borne in mind, that independent of education and civilisation, a distinguishing character will always remain to each family of the human race. The enlightened Greek and Roman, the Egyptian, the Hebrew, the English, and the French, have each their own distinctive family mark or character; and so, in like manner, have the aborigines of New Zealand a character distinct even from that of their own neighbours and brethren, the Tahitians. That na-

tional or distinguishing character is made up by the preponderance or prevalence of certain mental and moral qualities in the individuals of the family, which exist so uniformly as to give their general impress to the whole tribe or family. That national or family character, together with the period or stage of civilisation, will at any given time indicate the prevailing or general character of the New Zealanders, or any other people. The knowledge of these facts, and the ability of judging of character, will enable us to correct the mistakes of the enemies or too partial friends of the aborigines, and to perceive that they are in reality neither so bad as the one would represent them, nor so good as the others would fondly and charitably believe.

As regards civilisation, the New Zealanders must obey the same rules and laws as every other people, and, other circumstances being equal, their character at each period will be precisely the same as that of any other people at the same period. From the more general diffusion of knowledge, and from their peculiar aptitude for learning to read and write (which nearly every native in New Zealand can do), they may, and unquestionably they will, pass through the various stages more quickly than many other people have done, but at each stage their erudition, mental and moral, (excepting as far as it may be modified by their own peculiar family character), will be precisely the same as that of any other people at the same period; and that condition will be pleasing or displeasing according to our own social state or appreciation of their character. To a highly refined mind it must, in itself, be at all times disagreeable to come in contact with rude uncivilised persons, and he may occasionally feel even endangered by their violent outbreaks of passion. If he be, however, a philo-

sopher and a judge of human nature, he will not only not feel surprised, but he will even guard against any injury to himself from the dangerous but inevitable effects of an intellectual and social condition so vastly different from his own. Such would also be the case in the Colony if all the European settlers were philosophers and judges of character. They then would not only exercise much more charity towards the aborigines, but they would also have fewer quarrels with them; and their quarrels, if they did take place, would be much more easily settled. The majority of men, however, partake much of the dispositions and habits of all other gregarious animals. In meeting with a strange tribe or body of men, their first desire and their first act is the animal one of finding out who is the strongest. I do not say that it may not be necessary to do so as society is at present constituted, I merely refer to the fact as accounting, to a certain extent, for the fire and fury of certain persons' dispositions towards the natives of this country. While might and fear, instead of right and love, claim the obedience and attachment of the people to the constituted authorities, this trial of strength is an inevitable consequence, and so far the parties who urge the necessity of making war upon the natives are acting on an acknowledged principle, although they carry it farther than is necessary. In most cases the manifestation of power without its exercise will be found quite sufficient; it would certainly be so in the case of the New Zealanders.

In judging of the conduct of the aborigines, as well as in all our intercourse with them, we should ascertain what might, in reason, be expected from persons in their peculiar condition. The past history of other races will afford us useful and sadly-instructive lessons for our guidance in

that respect. In all the intercourse of civilised with uncivilised men, we shall find that evils and troubles have arisen either from an over or an under estimate of the intellectual or moral worth of such uncivilised people, and, generally speaking, more from the latter than the former. If we expect too much, we are sure to be disappointed and displeased, and our feelings undergo an unfavourable revulsion; kindness is apt to degenerate into coldness and even dislike, so that by being esteemed too well at first, they are, in the end, injured instead of benefited. Those, on the other hand, who act upon a contrary principle, may do so either from an ignorance of character or a natural and inherent dislike to their own race, a man-hating sort of feeling, which delights in the misery and degradation of the species rather than in its happiness and advancement. These persons being either ignorant of what might be reasonably expected from persons in a certain stage of mental improvement, or being anxious, by comparing the conduct of the uncivilised with his civilised brother, to show forth his worthlessness, and thereby to induce others to neglect and to despise him, avail themselves (as some do in this country) of every opportunity to exhibit the faults, failings, errors, and crimes of the aborigines in their most disagreeable and hideous aspects. Crimes which are matters of daily occurrence among our own countrymen, and things which are thought lightly of, will, if committed by the natives, be magnified to the utmost. A petty theft, at all events a robbery, will be regarded as rebellion and treason, offences on account of which the natives ought for ever to be looked upon as incapable of improvement. We are, unhappily for the natives, in a stage of civil and social improvement too much removed from them to render it possible that our intercourse with one another

should be attended with perfect confidence in, or kindness towards, one another. Were the European settlers of New Zealand and other Colonies in a condition fully to appreciate the character and social condition of the aborigines, they would bear more with their failings and faults, and they would exercise more discretion in their conduct towards them. If they were, on the other hand, nearer the condition of the aborigines in a civil and moral point of view, the conduct and customs of the aborigines would not be so repugnant to them, and the two races would, in time, cherish mutually kind and friendly feelings, and perhaps eventually amalgamate with one another.

Man, like everything else in nature, is subject to change, and destined, by means of changes- sensible or insensible at the time, to advance to a higher state of perfection. This appears to be the order of all created things. The earth on which we live has, by the account of philosophers and geologists, been gradually undergoing similar changes, being at one time scarcely fit for the habitation of any of the more perfectly formed animals, producing nothing but aquatic plants and ferns. The animals on the surface of the earth appear also to have been subject to the same law of change and increasing perfection; and the same growing perfection and beauty will be observed, not only in the animal world as a whole, but also in every individual class of animals; and such of them as, from conformation, or other peculiar circumstances, are unfitted to move in this onward march of improvement and change, disappear altogether. This will also be found to be the case with individuals. Two laws, in fact, appear to be in constant and unceasing operation in nature – the one tending to improve and perfect, and the other to de-

teriorate, and, finally, to destroy. In man we discover the working of these laws, and the result of this order of Providence, more distinctly than perhaps in any of the other animals. While we perceive that mankind, as a whole, are improving, seeking after, and attaining perfection, we shall also find that individual tribes and families are undergoing a specific change apart from, but coexistent with, and dependent on, the general change. Some nations, owing to peculiar circumstances, will frequently march far a-head of the arts, and of the general advance of the race. The law of decline and death is equally remarkable. Tribes, families, and individuals decline and decay like the yellow leaf, the dry bark, or the dead branch from the still-healthy tree. The younger or less advanced the tribe or family, the more subject are they to this law of moral and physical disease and death. As an evidence of this fact, I would appeal to the fate of nearly all aboriginal people. The almost prevailing opinion, that savages must disappear before civilised man, is founded upon the cruel experience and sad confirmation of the existence (though unacknowledged, perhaps unperceived) of this law. While, however, men, as families and individuals, are subject to this moral and physical disease, the disease itself is possible to be arrested, and the consumptive family or individual may, with proper and timely care, be rescued from his fate, and that which appeared degenerate and dying may be saved and made to produce healthy branches and good fruit, and be even brought eventually under the influence of the laws of increasing improvement and perfection. As the diseased and sour crab may, by cultivation, be made the parent of the golden apple, so also may the most degenerate tribe of men, even savages and cannibals, be raised to the physical and moral dignity

of a branch of the human family. We may, therefore, believe, that there is no tribe or race of men so physically and morally low, that they may not, by a series of those improving changes, be raised to any state of civilisation; and that fact will at once set at rest the inhuman doctrine which asserts that the savage must necessarily disappear before his civilised brother.

The friends of the natives may, from that circumstance, be encouraged to continue and persevere in their enlightened efforts in behalf of humanity. If it should appear to them, no matter how low the present condition of the aborigines, that they have made even one step in the progress of improvement, then may they confidently expect that, with proper treatment, their most sanguine expectations may in time be realised. That the natives of New Zealand have already made considerable progress in civilisation, must be apparent to every person; and that they will still further improve under proper management, must be equally evident. But at the present moment there is much danger that they will receive injury, both because their friends promise too much on their account, and because their enemies demand more than they are in a condition to give – and both are certain to be disappointed, if not displeased.

In the history of man's progressive improvement, we shall find periods corresponding to the links in the great organised chain whereof he himself is the last. For although the lord of all creation, man does not claim or obtain that excellence because of his belonging to a class of creatures having nothing in form or nature common to the other animals, but because he is the type of the concentrated excellence of the other animals, being in himself, as it were, the representative of all organised creatures,

with peculiar distinguishing and mysterious qualities superinduced, which constitute his excellence. We shall therefore at one time find him in a condition scarcely removed from the lowest animals, with little more than the bare instinct to seize upon whatever comes in his way in order to satisfy the cravings of his nature, and to give obedience to the law that requires that he should live. We find him, again, exercising his perceptive faculties and availing himself of their assistance and advice, but still with no higher object than simply to obey the law of self-preservation. As his wants increase, or as others enter into competition with him, the passions become developed, and they are directed with the view of opposing or destroying those who occupy the field from whence he derives the means of supporting his animal life. With the increase of competitors, the difficulties of obtaining food become more numerous; the perceptive faculties and passions are found inefficient, and the intellect and reasoning powers are called to their assistance. Through the exercise of the intellect and reflective faculties, mechanical and other contrivances are made, by means of which the animal wants are more easily supplied. These contrivances, in time, minister so fully to the wants of the individual, that he ceases to be wholly devoted to the instinct of self-preservation. A portion of his time is devoted, it may be, to the passions, in opposing and destroying his enemies, or in the intellectual and mechanical operations necessary for the invention and manufacture of those contrivances by means of which labour is abridged. In this progressive improvement and partial freedom from labour, the individual will, by degrees, acquire a regard for, and a desire after, domestic comfort – at all events, social intercourse. Intercourse with his fellow-men do-

mestic comfort, and increasing knowledge, will in time be followed by the partial development of some of the moral feelings. A certain amount of kindly feeling will be exercised towards objects of frequent intercourse, and eventually the high and moral sentiment of right and wrong will appear as the crowning wreath of civilisation, or human improvement.

In which of those periods, then, shall we place the New Zealanders? Shall we expect from them the full fruits of civilisation, or shall we place them in that instinctive state where self-preservation is the only law of their lives? Or shall we fix their position in that stormy middle state, where the indications of sense are not altogether corrected by reflection and intellect; where passion is somewhat tempered, but not controlled, by moral and religious feeling; where hatred is stronger than benevolence, and self-love; is unrestrained by conscientiousness; where, in fact, the mere intellectual perception of self-interest is the chief regulator of the conduct? The latter is the precise position, in the great general scale of civilisation, in which the New Zealander would find himself placed, if his condition were not so greatly affected by his own peculiar national or family character. That character is, however, so very different, so very much superior to that of most other semi-civilised people, that we shall be obliged to award to him, on that account, the very highest place in that middle state in which civilisation would place him.

The character of the aborigines of New Zealand is, perhaps, more difficult to be understood than that of any other people. Persons who have for years resided in the country, and who have been in constant intercourse with the natives, will not hesitate to acknowledge, that their conduct is, to them, unaccountable – that they are a mys-

terious people. This is a matter of daily and constant remark among Europeans; and I must say, that the remark has much truth in it. The conduct of the aborigines cannot be judged of by that of our own countrymen. In Europeans, the manifestation of certain qualities of mind will, generally speaking, indicate the existence of certain others, which arc found frequently, if not invariably, to accompany them. A religious feeling and benevolence, for instance, will seldom if ever be found accompanied by selfishness and deficient conscientiousness; neither will courage be found to exist in a person who is strongly possessed of a love of life, or rather a fear of death. Intellectual and moral contradictions are seldom found to exist in the European character. The case, however, is very different with the aborigines; and hence arises the difficulty of estimating their character aright, and the almost impossibility of accounting for their conduct in certain cases. Men who have been remarkable for certain good qualities, will be found at times to act in such a manner as would almost prove to a certainty that we had been mistaken in their character. A young chief, named King, at the Bay of Islands, affords an example of this kind. For a long time he bore the character of an excellent native, and was even baptised by the Church Missionaries. But he all at once appears in a different light, and disappoints all the hopes that were entertained of him, by assuming the character of a robber and a thief. Every person who is acquainted with the natives will easily call similar examples to his recollection. These apparent inconsistencies will, however, disappear on a proper acquaintance with, and a proper appreciation of, the mental constitution of the natives; and that which seemed so strange and inconsistent at first, will be in the

end regarded as the natural and inevitable result of the action of minds so formed as those of the aborigines, whose peculiar and distinguishing characteristic is, that they are possessed of moral and mental qualities opposed to, and inconsistent with, one another. In order to prove the truth of this, I will shortly enumerate some of the prominent points in the character of the natives.

The natives of New Zealand, as far as mere perceptive faculties are concerned, may be said to be superior to Europeans, but inferior to many other uncivilised people. Sight and hearing, for instance, are enjoyed in much greater perfection by the New Hollanders than by the New Zealanders. The former can trace the footsteps of their enemies over any distance, and in places which would not afford the slightest indication to the eye of a European, or even of a New Zealander. It must, however, be remembered, that the mere perceptive faculties are more perfect in savages and some animals than in civilised men; and the greater the advance in civilisation, the less perfect are the indications of the unaided senses. The New Zealanders, in that respect, occupy the middle space between the savage and the civilised, but approximate more to the latter than the former. The aborigines of this country, though inferior to many other civilised people in the enjoyment of mere sense, are, however, possessed of reasoning and reflective powers equal, if not superior, to most Europeans. No civilised people can more carefully, patiently, and deliberately consider the merits of a subject, or given line of conduct, than the New Zealanders – every act of whose life is almost the result of reflection. This must have been frequently remarked by persons having dealings with them, especially by those who have been purchasing lands from them. Every matter of im-

portance is invariably submitted to a full assembly of the tribe, and the decision is not arrived at until the opinions of all are heard and well considered. The New Zealander is to all intents and purposes an intellectual and reflecting being, who might well stand the comparison with our own countrymen. So far the New Zealander stands upon high vantage-ground. His perceptive faculties are superior to ours; his intellectual and reasoning powers are of a higher order than those of the bulk of the people in our native land. This fact is sufficiently proved by the complaints of our countrymen against native Protectors, and the oft-repeated assertion that the Europeans require rather to be protected against the aborigines. There is much reason for this complaint, for the natives are unquestionably more acute than the Europeans. In all their transactions with our countrymen, the New Zealanders continue to outwit and overreach them.

The character of a people depends not, however, so much upon the perceptive and intellectual faculties, as upon the passions, propensities, and feelings. An intellectual man may be savage or refined, according to circumstances. Perception and intellect may certainly elevate the social character, but they do not form it. It will, therefore, be necessary to consider the New Zealander in that light before we can precisely estimate his character. In so doing, we shall at once discover the cause of that extraordinary inconsistency which has been so frequently remarked, and so difficult to account for.

The New Zealander is, in truth, a perfect paradox in every light in which we regard his moral character. Religion, veneration, and superstition are the strongest feelings; and yet they are, in most cases, unaccompanied by conscientiousness, which is so essential to the formation of

a good moral and consistently religious character. We should, therefore, be very much disappointed if we were to expect, even in the most devout of the New Zealanders, that exquisite sense of right and wrong which is always looked for among religious people in our native land. A conduct corresponding to religious profession may, and doubtless will, occasionally be found among the natives; but it will be the result of intellectual perception and imitation, rather than of feeling. The natives are remarkable for the almost total absence of anything like conscience; hence they have no remorse for bad deeds, no standard of morality, and no check, as far as feeling is concerned, against the commission of any crime. They have certainly laws of their own which define conduct; but they are founded on self-interest, superstition, or vanity. Truth and moral feeling cannot be traced as elements in any part of their conduct or customs. But this, perhaps, has been the case with most other people in the same stage of civilisation: moral principle being the most delicate and refined of all the sentiments, is in consequence the latest production of civilisation.

Cupidity or selfishness is perhaps the next feeling in strength and frequency of exercise; but that feeling again is almost neutralised in its effects by benevolence: so that while at one time we find the native making every effort, enduring much privation, exercising much self-denial, and submitting to every sort of treatment in order to obtain property or the object coveted, we shall almost immediately find him reckless, throwing away upon other people the property which he has been at so much pains to obtain a moment before. In all their intercourse with one another, the effects of benevolence are strongly marked, both by the liberality of their gifts and presents, as well as by

their strong feeling of sympathy in each other's sufferings. When a person dies, for instance, the whole tribe, and even neighbouring tribes, will collect together with the relations of the deceased to weep over their loss. This kindly feeling is also strongly marked in the meeting of absent friends, who manifest the intensity of their regard for one another by rubbing noses and shedding tears of joy for nearly an hour (the length of time being always proportioned to their regard for each other).

The effects of covetousness and benevolence are all exemplified in the conduct of the natives towards Europeans; their hospitality is a curious mixture of the two. Whilst the first action is that of giving food to the stranger, rich or poor, yet the payment asked and expected is greatly disproportioned to the benefit conferred. While the food is in the first instance given, it may be, without any hope of payment, yet, if payment be offered, it will be expected to be large. Towards Europeans who happen to be resident among them, the exercise of both feelings is very obvious. So long as these Europeans have any property, every effort is made by the natives to obtain possession of it. The highest prices are demanded for food, and everything else, and nothing will be given without payment; but the moment the European has lost everything, he is then treated with kindness, and supplied with food as freely as when he could pay for it.

Vanity is another feeling which exercises much influence over the natives; but they are totally destitute of the kindred feeling of self-esteem. If a native be insulted or offended, he seeks payment, not because his own dignity is wounded, but because he has been made to appear contemptible in the eyes of his people. The desire to appear great, and to be thought well of, is as strong in the New

Zealander as in any people in the world. Their very acquisitiveness itself is made to minister to this feeling. Whatever pleasure a chief may have in obtaining European property, he has still more in gratifying his vanity by flinging it away among his people the moment he is possessed of it. Gifts are invariably thrown at the person, not given to him. If a native receives a present, he is ten times better pleased when it is flung in his face, or thrown at him, than when it is respectfully placed in his hand. The excessive vanity of the natives, together with their want of truthfulness, makes them exceedingly boastful, which tends to give an exaggerated character to all their statements. Destructiveness, or the desire to kill – one element in the character of a warlike people – is found to prevail in the natives; but it is, generally speaking, unattended by combativeness, or the propensity to quarrel. Individual quarrels, or combats, are therefore very rare among the natives. And the most extraordinary disregard for life will be found to exist, without a grain of courage. If fairly engaged in fight, a New Zealander will recklessly sacrifice his life. A slave, even when he might escape, will, without a struggle, submit his neck to the tomahawk of his master. Suicide is of frequent occurrence, both among males and females, but more frequently among the latter. A very painful case occurred here a few days ago, of which I give you the following statement, from a paper published in Auckland. It is headed, "Melancholy Effects of unlawful Affection among the Natives. – A very distressing and romantic case of this kind has been related to us by a person who was cognisant of its actual existence. The tragic story might almost found the framework of a novel: it proves that our sable brethren are as acutely and sensitively affected by the

passions and tender feelings of our nature as the most refined and civilised of our countrymen. The simple facts of this melancholy and fatal tale are the following: – Some time ago, a young native chief at Wanganui became enamoured of a lovely young woman called Eroa, or 'The Beauty.' They were married, and lived happily. After a few months, however, the young chief died, and Eroa, in accordance with native custom, became the wife of his aged father. But, as might have been expected from such a union, the heart did not accompany the hand. Although Eroa became his wedded wife, she permitted her young heart's affections to be gained by another. She became attached to, and was beloved by, a young man of her own age in her husband's tribe. Her crime was made known to her aged husband, who determined to be directly and fatally revenged upon his youthful wife. She was instantly put to death. The youthful and now disconsolate lover, determined, however, in accordance with native belief, to obtain and enjoy, in the Maori heaven, that happiness of which he was deprived on earth, at once destroyed himself. The old chief could not bear the idea of his rival thus obtaining for ever the being whom, though he destroyed, he still loved. In the full belief that death was but the passage to another state of existence, he also determined to pursue the object of his affection. With the view of frustrating the designs of his more favoured rival, he likewise sacrificed his life. The husband, the wife, and the lover, thus died together. This tragedy has taken place at Wanganui since the late fight between the natives."

The New Zealanders, however disposed to cruelty, engage in war with reluctance; and when they do, it is more from, an intellectual perception of what they consider

duty, or because of offended vanity, than from a desire to fight. The absence of combativeness, and the want of moral or physical courage, will always render the New Zealanders slow to fight; but when once fairly engaged in it, their extraordinary disregard of life will render them desperate, and induce them recklessly to sacrifice their lives. This will account both for the immense numbers that have been destroyed in their battles with one another in former times, as well as for the readiness with which they have received from the missionaries the doctrine that war is wrong, and unbecoming Christians. Missionary natives seldom if ever engage in war; and I have no doubt that many tribes have professed Christianity as a covering for the moral cowardice of their nature, and as a good excuse for refusing to engage in war, to which they have naturally such a strong aversion.

Notwithstanding the general character of the natives for benevolence, they are almost entirely destitute of natural affection as a feeling. Neither the parent nor the child cherishes towards each other any of that strong regard which is natural to and frequent among Europeans. They appear to manifest little kindness towards one another. Such a thing as the son taking the place of the father when dead, as the head of the family, is not known. On the contrary, no matter what the condition of his family may be, the son will, when of age, set up for himself an independent establishment. He will have his own cultivation ground, and will sell his own produce for his own use, let the wants of the family be what they will. His mother and his family may be in want, but they have no claim upon him.

The large destructiveness, and the absence of love of offspring, will account for the prevalence of infanticide.

The crime is also frequently committed because of the general principle of benevolence, or its false exercise, which teaches them to believe they confer a benefit on their children by thus saving them from the miseries of life. The female children are the most frequent victims of this horrid crime; and they are always, perhaps justly, regarded as being more miserable than the other sex.

The natives, as a people, are more remarkable for the absence than the existence of secretiveness, or the power of concealing their thoughts and intentions. When they meditate to make war upon one another, or even to rob Europeans, their intentions are always known or made known many days before they put them in execution. Messengers are frequently permitted to convey information of the movements and intentions of contending parties from the one to the other; and women are known to publish their own infidelity, although death is the reward. Firmness, which is so remarkable in the Indian character, giving them the extraordinary sternness and endurance of pain and suffering, can scarcely be said to exist in the New Zealanders. They have a certain amount of patience, but it results from self-interest. They have neither much endurance of pain, nor much fixedness of purpose. Wonder is likewise very deficient: the New Zealander seldom if ever manifests surprise at anything, however strange or extraordinary it may be. Most uncivilised nations are destitute of this exalted and refined feeling. No fruits of imagination in fancy can be discovered among the natives of New Zealand; even their traditions are very lame and meagre. Imitation and wit are, however, strongly developed. While they have no poetry, no chivalrous or romantic feeling, and no love of the sublime

and beautiful, they are still good imitators, and are delighted with anything ludicrous.

From their well-known and prevalent customs, it may be inferred that the social morality of the New Zealanders is not of the highest order. Marriage is, however, regarded as a most solemn ordinance; and while married women enjoy as much liberty and exercise as much influence as they do in Europe, crimes on their part are visited with the sternness and cruelty of Eastern despotism. Infidelity is invariably visited with death. Among unmarried females, on the other hand, the absence of virtue is not even reckoned a disgrace, much less a crime. As a whole, there is perhaps no nation in the world where the increase of population is smaller than in New Zealand. This circumstance arises very much from original constitution, as well as from circumstances already referred to. It is exceedingly likely to be the result of combined influences.

Temperance is in every respect a characteristic of the New Zealanders, who, though possessed of small firmness, have still the power of self-denial to an extraordinary extent Intoxicating drinks, which have proved so frequently the bane of other semi-civilised people, are, with few exceptions, wholly disregarded, if not disliked, by the natives.

In physical strength and form they are little inferior to our countrymen. Their endurance of fatigue is not, however, so great as that of Europeans; neither have they the power of maintaining such long, continued, and laborious efforts.

From the above short sketch, you will at least perceive that the New Zealanders are a very peculiar people, and their character rather difficult to be understood. But we may nevertheless infer, that such people will be remarkable

for certain prevailing traits; they will be extremely religious or superstitious, according to the enlightenment of their understanding; but their religious profession will have small influence on their moral conduct. While at all times excessively selfish, keen, and overreaching, their great recklessness and extravagance will never permit of their hoarding up money or other goods. Kindheartedness and generosity will be exercised freely when self-interest ceases to be influenced, or to have an exciting object. Fear and want of combativeness will prevent frequent quarreling; but the quarrels, when they do occur, will be marked with cruelty, while war will be carried on from principle more than feeling. The exercise of justice will be more under the guidance of self-interest, than any appreciation of the principles of right and wrong. The existence of friendship will also depend upon self-interest, before which even natural affection itself must give way. From the existence of good reflective powers, the whole conduct will, however, be more regulated by reason and common sense than by passion and feeling. Such is a short estimate of the native character; and though somewhat unfavourable in certain respects, it is to be hoped that religious knowledge, general education, and civilisation, will, by degrees, change and modify it. When we take into account the condition of our own ancestors in the days of the Romans, we may reasonably expect that a people by no means inferior to them may, under proper management, be elevated in a similar manner. With the exception of that delicate moral sensibility which is peculiar to a high state of civilisation, the New Zealanders are, even at the present day, little inferior to the bulk of our uneducated countrymen at home. In sound practical common sense, as indicated in the operation and

maintenance of their own rights, they are far their superiors.

One of the most important questions connected with New Zealand is, how far the condition of the aborigines has been affected or improved by our occupation of their country. It is quite plain that morally, and even politically speaking, we had no business to interfere with them – unless we can make it appear, as we certainly professed, that it was for their benefit we did so. I have already referred to the rapid increase of disease as one of the great evils which followed, or rather accompanied, the settlement of Europeans in New Zealand; and if effective efforts are not made to oppose its progress, any other benefits conferred upon the New Zealanders will be in vain. Independent of that circumstance, however, it is questionable if the New Zealanders have as yet really received more good than injury at the hands of our countrymen. The Government of the Colony has been, till recently, so unjustly conducted, so vexatious and oppressive, both as far as the natives and Europeans were concerned, that it has generated nothing but ill-will and disaffection on the part of both. Before the arrival of the Government, a vast moral influence was exercised over the natives by the missionaries and respectable European residents, which has been, by the acts of the Government, the New Zealand Company, and, I regret to say, by the Bishop of New Zealand, nearly all destroyed. The respect of the New Zealanders was chiefly founded upon a high estimate of the moral character, justice, and physical power of our countrymen. The interference of the Government with their lands and properties, the restrictions on their sale, and the attempt to dispossess the party who had purchased land before the arrival of the Government,

have opened their eyes at once to our ideas of justice. It was in vain that the Government attempted to persuade them these things were intended for their good. The simple fact of the Government paying less for the lands they purchased from them than the natives could have obtained from private individuals, and the great prices at which these lands were resold by the Government, taught them at once to perceive that they were injured, oppressed, and unjustly dealt by. The injustice of the Government was also manifested in the declaration that the surplus lands which Europeans might have fairly purchased from the natives, but for which they had not given a sufficient consideration, would revert to the Government, and not to the native who was presumed to have been cheated or overreached. A Government that would thus profit by the crimes of its subjects, could not be supposed to have very nice ideas of justice.

The Europeans, or the persons who were the objects of such treatment, were also despised, and looked upon as nothing better than the slaves of the Government officers, seeing they were not permitted to hold the lands which the natives were aware had been fairly purchased. These proceedings, together with the deception practised upon them in procuring their signatures to the Treaty of Waitangi, completely changed their ideas of and their feelings towards Europeans. Their respect for our physical powers was also destroyed by several abortive attempts and threats on the part of the Government to bring native offenders to justice, – such as in the case of Mr. Shortland, who on one occasion, after transporting all the troops to a distant settlement with the avowed and threatened intention of punishing an offending tribe, subjected himself to every species of insult, and in the end did nothing. Several

robberies of European settlers have also been committed by natives without their ever being brought to task for them. All these circumstances together tended to induce in their minds an idea that the Europeans were really afraid of and physically inferior to them. The lamentable and disgraceful defeat and slaughter of the New Zealand Company's settlers at Wairau, in the unjust attempt to obtain possession of lands never bought by the Company, were (if nothing further was required) more than sufficient to abolish any shadow of respect which they entertained either for our justice, courage, or physical strength.

Previously to the arrival of the Bishop of New Zealand, the religious and moral influence of the Missionaries, and the Church Missionaries in particular, was very much weakened by the active part which the latter parties took in inducing (I would say deceiving) the natives to consent to the forfeiture of their civil and political rights, and national independence. Whatever benefits the missionaries expected from the promises of the Governor to then as the largest land-claimants in New Zealand, they certainly sacrificed, by their conduct in that disgraceful affair, much, if not the whole, of their influence as ministers of religion. This might not have been so much regretted, had their influence, like the Prophet's mantle, fallen upon their more successful fellow-labourers the Wesleyans, who, with much propriety, avoided the purchase of lands from the natives for themselves or their families, as well as every other unnecessary interference with the exercise of the civil or political rights of the aborigines.

The Bishop completed that which had been partly accomplished by the missionaries. His extraordinary pretensions and assumption of power over the missionaries, whatever idea it might have for a time conveyed to the

natives of his Lordship's great importance, had unquestionably the effect by so much of lowering the character of the missionaries, who, instead of being, as formerly, regarded as great men, were now esteemed as merely the servants of the Bishop; who, immediately on his arrival, broke up several of their establishments, and drove them about from one place to another. However consistent the Bishop's conduct in that respect with the discipline exercised by the dignitaries of the Church over the inferior clergy at home, it was in New Zealand, at least, anything but calculated to call forth either the respect or the admiration of the natives. But the conduct of the Bishop was not simply calculated to weaken the influence of his own clergy: the extraordinary High Church, or rather Puseyite doctrines and discipline, which he is said to have inculcated, have had the effect of stirring up the waters of religious discord both among the natives, as well as among the missionaries of the various sects, who until then were, with considerable success, labouring among the natives. His conduct towards the Wesleyan Missionaries and their converts was particularly calculated to offend and to injure that body. Before the arrival of the Bishop, the two bodies of missionaries acted in concert, and in a proper Christian spirit – the one party carefully avoiding all interference with the other. By a wise arrangement the field was equally and fairly divided among them; the Church Missionaries taking the East coast of New Zealand, and the Wesleyans the West. Such natives as had been admitted to the ordinances of the church by either party, were admissible to the communion of the other. The Bishop not only put an end to this Christian arrangement, but he has planted rival missionaries near the Wesleyan stations, whose duty it is to labour hard to convince the natives that

Wesley and his followers are in a great error; that the ordination of their clergymen is unscriptural and invalid, and their baptism and administration of the other ordinances unauthorised and useless. These new ideas bewilder and astonish, but do not strengthen the faith of the natives in the truth of either system: on the contrary, it has a most decided tendency to lead them to think that opinions which differ so much, and which generate such bad feelings between the various sects and missionaries, cannot pertain to a religion anything better than their own superstitions, which had at least the merit of being received by all parties without any difference of opinion. The consequence is, that the natives are leaving both parties, and either going back to their old superstitions, or being made converts to the doctrines of the French Jesuit Missionaries, who can prove to their satisfaction that while Wesleyanism is merely an offshoot from Episcopacy, Episcopacy itself is nothing better than the illegitimate offspring of Popery. The French Missionaries, standing upon this high vantage-ground, and exercising in their intercourse with the natives much kindness, humility, great perseverance, patience, and suffering many privations and hardships, are extremely likely to extend the doctrines of their church.

The Bishop, in endeavouring to weaken the influence of the Wesleyans, has almost, if not altogether, upset his own. He has also rendered himself obnoxious by too rudely interfering with the habits of the natives in unimportant matters – such as the use of tobacco, which he is said to prohibit to all his communicants. It is reported that he even went the length of dashing a tobacco-pipe from the mouth of a chief named Heki, at Waimate, who at one time professed adherence to the missionaries, but since then has broken off all connexion with them, and

become very troublesome both to them and to the Government. On one occasion, the Bishop is said to have made an attempt to convince a young Wesleyan chief, named Bunting, (with whom he entered into a religious discussion,) of the necessity of being baptised by a clergyman of the Church of England. The young chief asked His Lordship how many times Our Saviour had been baptised; and being told that it was once only, he informed the Bishop that he too had been once baptised, and if that was sufficient in the case of Our Saviour, it should be so in the case of Jabez Bunting.

A Mr. Turton, a respectable and educated Wesleyan missionary, has publicly addressed several letters to the Bishop, charging him and his clergy with sowing the seeds of sedition and religious dissension among the natives, which have already, by his account, produced the most lamentable effects – producing disrespect for their religious instructors, together with strife and quarrels both between tribes and individuals. The Bishop is doubtless very zealous, and very sincere in the belief that the doctrines of his own sect are the best; but the question as respects the natives is not whether it would be better for them to be Episcopalians than Methodists, but whether it is better that they should have some form of Christianity than none at all: for this is the question really involved in the conduct of the Bishop.

You have in your letter requested that I should offer some remarks upon "the best means of improving the condition of the aborigines, in a religious, moral, and physical point of view." So many opinions have been given and recommendations made by the various persons who have undertaken to write on New Zealand, that little now remains to be said on that subject. In a religious

point of view, I conceive that more has been done and is now being done for the natives, as far as the supply of teachers is concerned, than for the same number of our countrymen at home. The only thing that I could suggest is, that the supporters of missions should insist that the Societies would strictly enjoin upon their missionaries to confine their teaching to that of the general principles of the Christian religion – the doctrines which are considered essential to salvation, and upon which nearly all Protestants are agreed, avoiding most carefully anything like polemical discussion. If the propagators of Christianity manifest a spirit of ill-will and jealousy towards one another, how can they expect the heathen to believe that love is the foundation of a religion which produces such bitter fruits? Instead of increasing the number of missionaries and clergymen in New Zealand, as has been the case since the arrival of the Bishop, a much better plan would be to expend the money bestowed upon these Sunday teachers in the erection and endowment of schools for the instruction of the natives in the English language. I would at once reduce the missionaries one-half, and appoint the other half as schoolmasters, under the superintendence of a person conversant with the improved systems of instruction now practised at home. The missionaries have hitherto, with a most extraordinary and ignorant pertinacity, set their face against every attempt at teaching English to the natives, vainly endeavouring, by lame translations of garbled extracts from the Scriptures, to convey to them a knowledge of religion. This system is now acknowledged by all parties to have failed; and the Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission, and even the Bishop, are now endeavouring each to establish an English school near Auckland. But they ought to be established all over the Colony – -at all events

at each African station; indeed, there can be no reason why every missionary should not be required to teach an English school during the week. Until the natives are taught to read books in the English language, they will make no further progress. They have already received as much instruction as the missionaries can convey by means of the old system.

When I came first to this country, before the establishment of British authority, several of us made an attempt to establish an English school. We spoke to the nearest Church missionary on the subject; but finding him inveterately opposed to it, we were obliged to abandon the idea. The objection of the enlightened missionary was founded upon the fear that the natives, by being taught to read English, would also learn to curse and swear, like the sailors and runaway convicts who infested the country. To expect to persuade the missionary that oaths and curses did not constitute a great part of the English language, was hopeless.

The two Missionary Societies, by devoting half the sum now spent upon mere missionaries to the establishment of English schools, would do more for the religious, moral, and intellectual improvement of the natives in three years, than they have done during the last thirty years that missions have been established in the country. I am warranted in saying so, from knowing the effects already produced on some young natives who attend the College established by the Bishop, under the able and zealous superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Cotton, a gentleman who has in the most praiseworthy manner abandoned the highest prospects in England, and devoted himself, with unwearied zeal, to the improvement of the New Zealanders.

In a political point of view, much remains to be done for the New Zealanders, who have been placed in a most, unhappy position by the establishment of British authority and British laws. As British subjects, which they are now declared to be, they are expected to respect and to obey (and they are at times attempted to be punished if they do not) laws of which they know nothing; and which, if they did know, they would discover to be repugnant, in many respects, to all their feelings, prejudices, and customs; and, however well adapted for an advanced state of society, altogether inapplicable to persons in their condition. The absurdity of the judicial system of England, which requires obedience to laws the existence of many of which are unknown even to the most learned lawyers, is manifest enough; but when the whole mass is flung round the neck of a savage, it is truly ridiculous. One writer on New Zealand has recommended, with laughable gravity, that some of the New Zealanders should be appointed police magistrates and jurymen. This is a species of transcendentalism worthy of a German philosopher. To commit to an uncivilised man the two most fearfully important duties which man can exercise, the power of judging and sentencing his fellow-man, would not only be supremely absurd, but grossly wrong and culpable. The native is not fit to be entrusted with the exercise of either the one or the other, in his present transition state. As far as the administration of law is concerned, the British Government ought, in fairness to the natives, to publish at once, in the native language, a digest of English laws, and a modified code, applicable to the present condition of the natives: such a code to be in force for a certain number of years, and preparatory to the introduction of English laws. To impose English laws upon the natives

of New Zealand, or any other aborigines, as Captain Grey recommends, would be a cruelty and a mockery which no humane or serious man could for a moment be guilty of. To teach law to a people by hanging, killing, transporting, and imprisoning a certain number of them in the first, instance, is certainly the most atrocious system of teaching that can possibly be conceived. Something of the same kind prevailed in Scotland in feudal times, but in a modified form. The barons and landed proprietary were frequently in the habit of flogging boys around the boundaries of their various properties, by way of causing them effectually to remember the same during their lifetime, and thereby constituting the best possible evidence in the event of any dispute between neighbouring and savage proprietors. To hang a savage with the view of teaching others not to commit murder, or to transport him in order to prevent stealing, would doubtless impress upon others the fearful nature of these punishments; but it would be more humane, in the first instance, by explaining the law to the offender, to prevent him from committing the crime. The present Governor of New Zealand has lately made an attempt, but a very imperfect one, at modifying punishments in certain cases of native transgression. But the native Exemption Bill is far short of what it ought to be. The Government at present possess a most powerful means of influencing and improving the natives, by means of a Gazette, published monthly, in their own language. The Judge, or the Attorney-General, might easily, through the medium of that publication, give them a digest of our laws; but nothing whatever has been attempted. The Gazette is, generally speaking, filled with trash and idle nonsense. An English

translation of each article in the Gazette would be eminently useful in teaching the natives a knowledge of the English language.

Many persons at home entertain fears that the natives will in time dispose of all their lands, and leave themselves ultimately without as much as will grow for them necessaries of life. From my own knowledge of the natives, I should have no fear whatever on this subject, as they have hitherto carefully avoided selling any lands which were useful to them for cultivation; indeed, they have invariably sold to Europeans the very worst of their lands. As far as manifest or presently-seen self-interest is concerned, they are more than a match for Europeans. The Government, from a feeling of this kind, attempted for some time to prevent the natives from selling their lands to Europeans; but the natives became so dissatisfied with the restriction, that the present Governor was obliged to remove it, giving them, under rather badly-digested regulations, the liberty of selling their lands to whom they will. The Governor was right in coming to this determination, as the natives were exceedingly jealous of any interference with their rights, especially with the right of disposing of their lands, which they deem the most sacred of all property. It is at all times impolitic, on the part of a Government, unnecessarily to interfere with private enterprise or private speculations of any kind. The more exclusively they confine themselves simply to the maintenance of order, the more likely are they to be obeyed and respected. If the natives are permitted to sell their lands, it might be well to require them to do so with the approbation of an officer, whose business it should be to see that they are not in any respect taken advantage of, either as to price or anything

else. Such officer should be, as much as possible, independent of the Local Government and of all local interest: he should not even be paid by the Colony.

With the view of affording relief to the natives and preventing them from falling victims to the ravages of disease, I would strongly urge upon their friends at home to provide them with hospitals and proper medical attendance. A few thousands a-year spent in that manner would do an inconceivable amount of good, both as regards their physical comfort, and their moral and social improvement.

A certain number of well-behaved and moral medical men should be settled in various districts in charge of hospitals, to which the natives should have free admission. The hospitals and medical attendants should be under the superintendence of a medical man, resident at the chief settlement, and in charge of the chief hospital, whose duty it should be to visit periodically all the other medical stations. A fund for this purpose might be obtained both by contributions at home and from the native reserves, which have so unfairly and unjustly, by a late Act of the Governor and Council of New Zealand, been placed at the disposal of the Bishop for sectarian and religious purposes.

I am not aware of anything further that could be attempted for the advancement of the condition of the New Zealanders, with the exception of endeavouring to raise the highest possible standard of morality among our own countrymen by excluding all improper persons from places of trust or influence under the Government. I regret to say that hitherto this circumstance has not received from the Government of New Zealand that attention which it so eminently deserves. It is to be hoped that a person of Captain Fitz Roy's character for religion and morality

will avail himself of every opportunity of remedying the evils committed by his predecessors.

Persons in England will scarcely believe that some of the officers of the late Government, and many persons now in the Commission of the Peace, are openly and unblush-ingly immoral, and sadly contaminating the natives by their conduct. However difficult it might be for Government to check such conduct in private settlers, they might at least prevent it in their own officers, and in persons whom they place in situations of honour and trust.

Having thus stated my views regarding the improvement of the condition of the aborigines, it might perhaps be necessary that I should also state what positive benefit the European population could expect to receive for the outlay attendant upon it. I am aware that the simple feelings of humanity and benevolence, and their gratification by conferring good upon our fellow-creatures, would be an ample reward to some; but there are others who require a more substantive remuneration.

To the European settlers of New Zealand, and all others interested in the prosperity of the Colony, the advantages resulting from the preservation and civilisation of the aborigines would be great and manifold, not only in the security for life and property which they would enjoy with a well-disposed and peaceable native population, but also in the great additional amount of effective labour which they would acquire by instructing the natives in the arts of life, and converting them to habits of industry. The native population of New Zealand is even now one of the strongest inducements to settle in New Zealand, because of the cheap, abundant, but perhaps inconstant supply of labour which they afford the Colonists. How

much greater would the inducement become, if the natives were thoroughly civilised! New Zealand has in its native population an advantage over any of the other Australian Colonies; for while all the Colonies are obliged to expend such vast sums of money in the importation of labour, we are saved in a great measure from such expense, because of our native labour. The English public, especially manufacturers and merchants, are also deeply interested in the welfare of the New Zealanders; for there is no other class of people who, in proportion to their number and means, consume so large a quantity of British manufactures as the natives of New Zealand.

So much has been already published regarding the peculiar habits, manners, and customs of the New Zealanders, that it is scarcely necessary that I should trouble you with many more remarks on that subject. The most remarkable as well as the most repulsive of their customs are now fast disappearing. In a few years hence, little will remain of the character of the ancient New Zealander: he has already thrown away the weapons of his old and cruel warfare, and assumed the more deadly ones of the European – but on that account the less likely to be used. The native dress and the native mat have, in a similar manner, been exchanged for European garments. So that the New Zealander is neither the savage that he was in former years, nor the thoroughly-civilised man. He is in the transition state from the one to the other; and if he be properly and humanely treated, his passage will not be a long one.

LETTER XVI

LETTER XVI

Colonial Society. A Native Entertainment. Social Condition of Auckland. Unmarried Ladies few and highly esteemed. Pretensions of the Government Officers. Effects of the Attempt to establish an Official Aristocracy. Attempt to reconcile the Government Officers and Private Settlers. Places of Public Amusement. Morality of Auckland. Clergy and Churches. Religious Dissensions transferred from the Living to the Dead. Refusal to bury the Dead. Bishop's College. Public Institutions, Reading-Room Library. Mechanics' Institute. Agricultural Society, Total Abstinence Society. Lodges. Philharmonic Society. Charitable Institutions.

November, 1844.

You have requested me, in your last letter, to give you an account of the present state of society in our Colony – a task I confess rather difficult to perform even by any person, but especially by one so little qualified to do it justice as I must acknowledge myself to be. Being yourself resident in a Colony, I have much difficulty in believing that you are serious in asking information on such a subject; and I think even you would feel somewhat puzzled if any of your own friends in England were to make a similar demand upon yourself regarding the Colony in which you live, although upwards of half a century in advance of this country. If any indifferent person were to ask me about the state of society in this country, I should at once tell him that I was not in society, and that I knew nothing about it, as I saw no good purpose to be served by disclosing the nakedness of the land in which we live: for

society, as you are well aware, we have not in any of the Colonies – not even in Sydney. People's occupations, habits, feelings, and even prejudices, forbid the existence of what is understood by that term in the mother-country. As far as New Zealand is concerned, the aborigines are really the only people who are entitled to consider themselves as yielding any respect to the usages of society. They have their parties, their assemblies, and their feasts, in full perfection. The chief of this district, a short time ago, entertained his friends, amounting to upwards of four thousand, during several days. The entertainment must have cost him altogether nearly, if not upwards, of a thousand pounds. The amusements were varied and interesting, consisting of mock fights, dancing, weeping, speechifying, &c. &c. The monster meeting, as the Irish would call it, lasted nearly a week. How many scores of tons of potatoes, hundreds of pigs, and thousands of sharks and eels, were consumed, I cannot exactly say; but I am certain the quantity must have been very considerable. At the conclusion of these monster feasts, the party inviting invariably makes presents to his guests: the value of these presents is, generally speaking, high, and corresponding to the dignity of the chief and the importance of the tribe. On the occasion alluded to, a tent upwards of a quarter of a mile in length was erected, and closely covered over with the very best Witney blankets that could be obtained in Auckland. When the festivities were over, the guests made a general rush towards the tent, each person endeavouring to help himself to as many blankets as he could.

This, however, is not exactly giving you the information you demanded; for I imagine you are more desirous of knowing the social condition of the Europeans than that of the natives, although to many persons the one is of

more interest than the other; but I ought to remember that you are not a professed admirer of the uncivilised: indeed, there are unhappily few in your Colony who are, or who even treat them with common humanity.

When you speak of the state of society in New Zealand, do you refer to Auckland in particular, or to all the settlements? If the latter, I must at once say that I am not in a condition to comply with the request, as there are some of the settlements that I have not visited, and others of them may have changed very much since I saw them.

If I succeed in giving you an idea of the state of things in Auckland, you may at least imagine what they are in the other settlements.

The elements of society in Auckland – indeed in all new settlements – are rather of a mixed character, and possess more of the negative or repulsive than the positive or attractive quality. It is therefore somewhat difficult to form anything like an harmonious union of such incongruous atoms. The great cement, female influence and female attraction, is unhappily rather scarce in our Colony. Would you believe it? there are not certainly more than four or five unmarried ladies in the whole place, and one or two of them are hopeless old maids – it was so long before they visited the shores of New Zealand, where the bitterness of their sorrow must be increased by the feeling that had they but arrived a year or two sooner, their fate might have been different.

The proportion of ladies married and unmarried, as compared with gentlemen, is very small. You may therefore suppose how highly they are esteemed. They are of a truth in danger of being too highly esteemed, and of even esteeming themselves a great deal more than they could do

in any other country, however superior they may be, and probably are.

It would be scarcely possible to say into how many grades the society of this place is divided. – Section would perhaps be a better name than grade; for if you sift narrowly the merits of the various sections, you will, generally speaking, find, with few exceptions, that they are much upon a par. The Government officers assume to themselves the highest place, simply, I suppose, because they live upon the rest. Both Captain Hobson and Mr. Shortland endeavoured to establish what they called an official aristocracy – a class of exclusives consisting of the refuse or cast-off officers of the Botany Bay Government. You know what sort of character these persons generally bear; you may therefore suppose what a loss those in our little community sustained who were not admitted to the fashionable circle. Periodical dinners and evening parties were the order of things for a long time, each vying with one another as to who should make the finest appearance. Lord John Russell's admirable lecture to the Governor, enjoining economy and simplicity of style and living, was little attended to by the officers of Government at least. The extravagance and presumption of the Government officers during the first year or two of the settlement were really incredible. No man, be his birth, education, and manners ever so good, was reckoned as being entitled to any standing, or even common respect, unless he were a Government officer. Perhaps it was an advantage to the settlement that the conduct of the Government officers was so outrageously ridiculous, as that circumstance tended not a little to cause the people to despise both them and their aping after gentility. It is, at all events, fortunate that few if any of the settlers ever at-

tempted to imitate their example. Had the officers of Government been less absurdly exclusive, it is likely the case might have been different, and others, as well as themselves, might in the end have become the ruined victims of senseless extravagance and silly vanity. The effects upon the Government officers have been sadly injurious: nearly the whole of them have been ruined in their means, and many of them in character. Some have contracted large debts to the public which they can never expect to pay; and some have even appropriated public money for the purpose of keeping up their foolish extravagance; and several have lost their situations, and been obliged to quit the Colony altogether. Such being the effects of an attempt to keep up false appearances in a new Colony, you need not feel surprised that what is called society is rather at a discount.

I felt somewhat amused, some time ago, when Captain Fitz Roy innocently taunted me in Council with the remark, that "I surely could not have been in the society of Government officers, when I could not for a moment suppose that they could be influenced by the consideration which I referred to." The cause of this remark on the part of the Governor was my having objected to the payment of a large salary to Mr. Spain, one of the Commissioners of Land-Claims, and stating the largeness of salary as a not unlikely reason for the great delay in deciding on the claims. The Governor, when he made the observation, was not aware how much I, and every other settler, despised the society of most of the parties in question. I told him at once that I never had made an associate of the Government officers in New Zealand, and that I had no wish whatever to be connected with them in any way. Having but recently arrived in the Colony, he was rather

surprised, if not annoyed, at the estimation in which I held these worthies; but he is long before now satisfied that I was justified in speaking of them as I did.

In many of our Colonies, the Government officers are enjoined, indeed they feel it to be a part of their duty, to cultivate the friendship and society of the private settlers. New Zealand has been, however, in that, as well as in many other respects, an exception to any other Colony and country. But it is due to Captain Fitz Roy to say, that he has, since his arrival, made every effort to generate a friendly feeling between the settlers and the Government officers; and he has, to a certain extent, been successful in his well-meant endeavours. Besides affording the Government officers an opportunity of frequently meeting some of the settlers at private dinners, he and Mrs. Fitz Roy are in the habit of giving evening parties, quiet and solemn enough to be sure (for there is neither card-playing nor dancing allowed), but still calculated to bring people in a friendly way together. These parties were, at the commencement at least, more like the meetings of the Society of Friends (in this case they were enemies) than anything got up for merry-making, as many of the persons assembled were not even on speaking terms with one another. By frequently looking at each other's faces, it is possible they may have gradually discovered some likeable points or features, as the silent assemblies have now become regular conversational and pleasant meetings.

Besides the above meetings, and an occasional evening party at the houses of one or two of the Government officers, there have been during the season two or three public balls in the settlement, and at least as many dinners. The dinners are generally got up by some scheeming publican,

who avails himself of any event of importance to impress the inhabitants with the propriety of celebrating it by a public dinner, which he is generously prepared to provide at a small cost.

There are few places of public amusement in Auckland, unless two billiard-rooms and a small theatre may be called by that name. The billiard-rooms are connected with public-houses, and are only frequented by some idle Government officers and Government clerks. The theatre is open once a-week: it is a bad speculation, and certain to fail; it is chiefly under the patronage of sawyers and sailors.

The tone of our society is upon the whole rather superior to that of the neighbouring Colonies, and even neighbouring settlements, and it is even fast improving. Character and respectability are deemed of some importance, and a man who is practising open immorality, or even impropriety of conduct, is not now associated with. The distinction is being established on the proper foundation, and it is therefore likely to lead to good results. If the Government led, or even aided public opinion, as it ought to do, our public morality would be of a high order; but, unfortunately, sufficient attention has not been given to this important subject. Immoral, openly immoral, persons are still in the employment of Government, and holding commissions as magistrates of the Colony.

Our Government is not sufficiently alive to the fact, that the prosperity of a country or Colony depends more upon the morality of the people than the fertility of the soil. Morality is certain to beget industry, and industry prosperity. If the first be wanting, the other two are seldom enduringly present.

Judging by the number of our churches and clergymen,

you would say that we were not only a moral, but a highly religious community. In the town of Auckland itself there are four places of public worship, and four clergymen besides the Bishop and the superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions. The Episcopal Church is a large, and rather a handsome building, which cost about £3,000. Its building was commenced when labour and materials were very expensive; the same money would at the present moment pay for the erection of two churches as good, if not better, than St. Paul's, as it is called. The Wesleyans have, with creditable energy and perseverance, erected a very neat wooden chapel, in which the Rev. Mr. Buddle officiates. Mr. Petit Jean, the indefatigable clergyman of the Church of Rome, has also succeeded in building a chapel, which is attended by a very numerous congregation.

The Presbyterians, who form a large, if not the very largest portion of the European population, have manifested an indifference regarding religious matters altogether unworthy of the followers of John Knox. The dissensions and divisions in the parent church may, however, to a certain extent account for, if not excuse, their conduct in that respect. The inability, if not impossibility, of procuring the services of a suitable clergyman, has most likely prevented them from attempting to build a place of worship. It is to be hoped that one or other of the parent churches will assist them in permanently establishing Presbyterianism in New Zealand.

Both at Tomaki and Epsom, two districts in the neighbourhood of Auckland, there are English chapels either built or being built: there is also a native chapel not far from the township. With the exception of the Bishop, and the English clergyman of Auckland, who is called Chaplain to the Governor, no minister of religion receives

any support from the Government. Each sect is properly left to pay its own clergymen. This is a much better plan than affording assistance to every religion indiscriminately, as is the case both in Van Diemen's Land and in New South Wales.

While there are so many different religious sects in Auckland, it is rather extraordinary that we are so far from those unhappy disputes and dissensions which prevail so much in other Colonies. The fact can only be accounted for by the other fact of the people being left to support their own clergymen. At the commencement of the Colony, when Episcopacy promised to itself to be in the ascendant, we were threatened with a full effusion of intolerance and bigotry. Before the arrival of Mr. Churton, the Episcopal clergyman, a common burying-ground was laid out in the vicinity of the town, where people of all persuasions were in the habit of burying their dead: when, however, he had succeeded in establishing himself as what he calls clergyman of Auckland, he began to exact fees for the performance of the service for the burial of the dead, and at last persuaded the Governor to make over the whole burying-ground to the Church of England, by which means he acquired what he called a legitimate right to exact these post-mortem taxes. Many persons, especially the Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, were opposed both to the fines and to the service of the Church of England; but neither would be permitted to bury their dead in the common cemetery unless they submitted to the imposition. The Roman Catholics were in the end assigned a piece of land on the opposite side of the road; but the Presbyterians stood out for their right to the common ground, and refused that which was offered to them. These absurd and senseless disputes were pro-

minently brought under my notice by the fact of a poor Presbyterian having come to me one day to request my advice regarding the burying of his child, who was drowned the day before. The poor man applied to the Episcopal clergyman for permission to bury his child in the common cemetery; but it was refused, unless he paid the fees, and consented to have the usual service performed. Being a rigid Presbyterian, he objected, and applied to the Surveyor-General to ascertain if there was a Presbyterian burying-ground. He was informed that land had been laid out for it, but it was refused by some of the Presbyterians, and he could not be permitted to bury his child there. In this perplexity, the poor man consulted me. I went with him a second time to the Surveyor-General's Office, and requested to see a map of the town and lands around it. Having obtained the map, I asked one of the surveyors to show me the Presbyterian burying-ground upon the plan, which he did. I then, in his presence, told the man to bury his child in that spot, and we should see who would venture to prevent him. The poor man accordingly took my advice, and all the Presbyterians now bury their dead in the same place.

It is perhaps well that bigotry and intolerance have thus betaken themselves to the tombs of dead men, instead of the habitations of the living, as they do in other countries. We are at the antipodes in New Zealand: that circumstance may account for the difference between us and the people of England as far as these matters are concerned.

With churches and burying-places, then, you must allow we are pretty well supplied. The means of education have not hitherto been quite so well attended to. The Bishop of New Zealand is now, however, about remedying this evil by the establishment of a Grammar-school and

a College at the Tomaki, within four miles of this town. The elements of a general education will be taught at the School, while a knowledge of the higher branches of science may be acquired under competent teachers at the College, which is to be under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Cotton, a gentleman of high literary attainments. Mr, Hutton, I believe, is to conduct the school; he is also well qualified for that duty: so that, as far as the means of obtaining a liberal education are concerned, New Zealand will ere long be superior to most of our Colonies. And the Bishop is eminently entitled, in that respect at least, to the gratitude of the Colonists. While his zeal in religious matters may be called excessive and intolerant, his anxiety to promote the education both of natives and Europeans is deserving of the highest praise.

To show you still further the progress of society in our embryo capital, I may mention that a Reading-room or Library has been in existence for upwards of two years. It is maintained by means of annual subscriptions, and is well supplied with most of the fashionable and periodical literature of England. A Mechanics' Institute, with a tolerably good library attached to it, has also been added to the number of our public institutions.

A respectable wooden building has been recently erected, for the purpose of a Lecture-room, a Museum, and a Library; but we are sadly in want of the necessary apparatus for the illustration of any scientific or philosophical subjects. Our lectures have, in consequence, been not as yet very numerous or very interesting. The Library is at present the most valuable part of the institution.

An Agricultural Society has been formed by the farmers and settlers, for the purpose of promoting improvements in agriculture, as well as in the rearing of stock.

The Society has already published two short but very valuable Reports, which have been drawn out with much judgment and accuracy by its chairman, Dr. Johnson. They contain very valuable information regarding the climate and capabilities of this part of the Colony, together with most useful, comprehensive, and minute calculations of the expense of purchasing, clearing, and cultivating various kinds of soils, as well as the productions and profits of cultivation.

A Total Abstinence Society is another of our most flourishing institutions. At the commencement of the settlement, when labour was high and money plentiful, the cause of Temperance was not so well supported as it is at present. It is not fair, however, to attribute the change altogether to altered circumstances, and the existence of a paper currency instead of sovereigns and Spanish dollars. The Total Abstinence Society has done its own full share of good.

A Masonic and an Odd Fellows' Lodge are found in almost every country, and Auckland has the benefit of one of each kind. But not approving of secret societies, and believing that nothing good should be hidden, I am not a member of either, and know nothing about them, save the fact of their existence.

Some lovers of music, of whom there are a considerable number even in our small population, hold regular weekly meetings under the name of a Philharmonic Society, and contribute not a little to the refined amusements of the settlement.

In enumerating our various social institutions, I should not forget to mention the services which have been rendered to our settlement by Mrs. Fitz Roy, who has originated several humane and highly-beneficial societies for the relief

of distressed and indigent persons, as well as for the education of children. These useful societies and schools are superintended by herself and the other ladies of the settlement, and are calculated to confer the greatest benefits on the objects of her kind and generous care.

I have now given you all the evidence I can to enable you to judge for yourself as to our social condition and prospects of social advancement. I think, on the whole, you must admit that we bid fair to equal, if not to rival, our friends in the neighbouring Colonies. If our exertions are aided and supported by our friends at home, there is every reason to hope that New Zealand will eventually become a great and a prosperous Colony, in an agricultural, commercial, social, and moral point of view.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

Conflict at the Bay of Islands. Result of Government Impolicy. Friendly Feeling of the Natives towards the Settlers. Reflections on the Present State of the Colony. Bay of Islands Residents entitled to Compensation. Impolicy and Injustice of seizing upon or taxing the Lands of the Aborigines. Poverty of the Settlers. Injustice of imposing a Land Tax. Representative Government. Property Rate Ordinance a good basis for Qualification. Right of Discovery considered. The Dispute between the New Zealand Company and the Government. Agreement of Lord John Russell. The proper understanding thereof. Church Missionaries – unfair Charges preferred against them by the New Zealand Company.

WHILE the foregoing Letters were in the press, the report of an important and disastrous event in connexion with the subject to which they refer has reached this country. As that event is in itself of a very serious nature, and as it is likely in its results to affect materially the future condition of New Zealand, it is deserving of some notice.

The preceding pages offer ample evidence of the extraordinary and unheard-of position of our Government in New Zealand, and of the unhappy, but inevitably unhappy, state of feeling which has existed from the commencement towards our Government, both on the part of the European and native population. As far as the natives are concerned, that feeling has been gradually assuming a graver character, until it has heightened into a full and determined resistance to the exercise of our authority, and ultimately ended in the subversion of that authority, in the defeat of our troops and the destruction of one of the oldest settle-

ments in New Zealand. The fatal conflict and defeat of our countrymen at the Bay of Islands is to be deplored on various accounts. Its present effects are sufficiently bad and distressing, but the contemplation of the probable and future results is still more so as regards the prosperity of both races. The measures of the Government have, at length, entailed upon New Zealand the evil of a war of races, and upon England the shame and the disgrace of most likely adding another race of aborigines to the long list of those which our grasping and cruel policy has already destroyed. It is in vain to attempt to deny the fact – the Government of New South Wales, the Government of New Zealand, the misrepresentations of Sir George Gipps, the folly of Captain Hobson, and the culpable neglect of the Colonial Office, are alone to blame. The chief Heki may be persecuted, captured, and executed as a rebel by our Government; he may be abused and reviled as a cannibal by Mr. Buller: but whatever Heki may be called, and however he may be treated, he manifests at least a strong love for his own country, and even qualities which have entitled a Bruce, a Wallace, and a Tell to the name of patriots.

Day after day, and year after year, has the Government of New Zealand been warned of the impolicy of its conduct towards the natives; but every admonition was rejected and despised, and those who ventured to predict and who had the sense to foresee the effects of the wrong position the officers of Government had assumed, and the errors they were committing, were reckoned as the enemies of good government, and disturbers of the peace. Truth, however, will sooner or later prove itself; and unworthy deeds, however much they may for a time be mistaken for real merit and desert, will in the end reveal themselves in their true light and character. Sir George Gipps and

Captain Hobson for a long time deceived the country and deluded the Colonial Office with the belief that they had acquitted themselves as became the agents of a civilised country, and a nation which not only possessed, but actually practised, honour and good faith in all its dealings. When they were deputed by the Home Government to establish British authority in New Zealand, they were requested to obtain the cession of sovereignty from the chiefs with their intelligent consent, and on no other terms was British authority to be obtained or attested. How far Sir George Gipps and Captain Hobson discharged the trust reposed in them, may be inferred from the late conflict at the Bay of Islands. It is needless to assert, that had they obtained the intelligent consent of the natives, such an unhappy occurrence never would have happened. The intelligent consent of the natives was never obtained either by Captain Hobson or Sir George Gipps, and the treaty by means of which they pretend to have obtained the cession of sovereignty has not been signed by one-third of the chiefs of New Zealand; neither did any of those who were induced to sign it comprehend its full meaning; nor is even the treaty which it is pretended they have signed the same in substance or in meaning with that which was in their own language submitted to them, as any person may perceive by looking at the official and literal translation in the Appendix to these Letters.

Sir George Gipps imagined, without knowing anything at all about their real character, that the New Zealanders were much the same as the unfortunate but scarcely-human beings who roam powerless and homeless through the desert plains and arid wastes of New Holland. Having taken these premises for granted, he did not deem it necessary to be very particular in adhering to the strict letter of his

instructions. While he satisfied what he considered the expedient humanity of the Colonial Office by the appearance of a treaty which he knew it was necessary to exhibit before Missionary Societies, (for Sir George Gipps served an apprenticeship in the West Indies during the excitement about the Slave question,) he and his Council assiduously investigated all the available books on the law of nations, especially the best American authorities on the manner in which the North American Indians had been deprived of their possessions: by such means he discovered that the natives of New Zealand were savages, and being so, as a matter of course they had no property in the land where Providence placed them – land which the Divine and Papal right of Discovery had bestowed upon the first Christian nation whose subject or servant should happen to visit their country.

By such sophistry and political dishonesty did Sir George Gipps attempt to found the Colony of New Zealand; and by a series of acts similar in character, and based upon these principles, has the present humiliating and disgraceful position of our Government been brought about. The "jugglery and thimble-rigging" of Sir George Gipps have ruined the original settlers of New Zealand, and brought about what is considered rebellion on the part of the natives, which will most likely end in the complete extermination of that unfortunate people, and in a dreadful sacrifice of life and money on the part of our country, – a sacrifice compared with which the acquisition of New Zealand, even by the fairest means, would be a miserable recompense.

It is well to note the prominent causes of the disturbances and disaffection of the natives of New Zealand, inasmuch as if we can discover that they have a real and substantial foundation, they are much easier to be removed

than if they were merely the result of wantonness, an inherent love of strife, or enmity towards our countrymen. In a letter addressed to Lord Stanley two years ago, I warned the Colonial Office of the effects that would inevitably result from the conduct of the Local Government. That letter was, as a matter of course, unheeded. It was, most likely, accompanied by another letter from Mr. Shortland, informing His Lordship that I was mistaken in my apprehensions, statements, and fears; that everything would go on smoothly and prosperously; that the natives would quietly submit to be treated like savages; that the loss of lands, the imposition of Customs, the destruction of their trade – even absolute poverty and wretchedness – would work no change in their feelings, or exhaust their patience. Honesty would have been the best policy in New Zealand, as everywhere. Our Government should have candidly and openly stated their views at the commencement. If they intended taking possession of the lands of the natives, they should have told them so at once. But they deceived not only the natives, but the Europeans also; for while they pretended at first to respect the rights and properties of both, their ulterior motives were very different. By the Treaty of Waitangi, they induced the natives to believe that they meant to confer upon them the rights of British subjects, and to secure to them the full enjoyment of their own laws and landed possessions. Something, certainly, was understood by the natives regarding a first offer to the Government of any lands they should feel disposed to alienate; but they never for one moment understood that the Government was to be the sole and exclusive purchaser. Had they been informed that such was the intention, not a chief in New Zealand would have signed the treaty. This gross and unjustifiable deception

lies at the root of all the mischief which has attended our occupation of that unfortunate country. Fraud has been practised by the Local Government, and the natives have lost all confidence in our good faith, and respect for our moral character. If that were not the case, we might have supposed that the recent measures of Captain Fitz Roy would have insured peace; but they have not had that effect, for the simple reason that the natives had no faith in our integrity, or in the permanence of our measures. They had also sense enough to see that these measures were conceded through fear of themselves, and as matters of necessity more than of favour and right; and they apprehended, too justly, that the right would be withdrawn the moment we were ia a condition to do so with safety. They therefore availed themselves of our known weakness, to get rid of our Government altogether. For their quarrel is with the Government, and the Government only. They have on every occasion regarded the private settlers with friendship and good-will; and they would have continued to do so, so long as the settlers took no part against them with the Government. In their imprudence and folly, the Government have, however, determined upon involving the settlers in their own unjust quarrel with the natives, by causing a Militia Act to be passed, compelling the settlers, under severe penalties, to arm themselves against the aborigines. The effects of such a measure cannot be contemplated without dread and horror. How Captain Fitz Roy, against his own conviction, should have introduced and passed that measure, can only be accounted for by the frequent request of the Government, and the importunity of some inconsiderate settlers. The conduct of Heki and his people at Kororarika, their kindness and humanity towards the private settlers, should have warned the Govern-

ment of the imprudence and folly of setting the two races against one another. The Militia Bill, if it be not attended with even more disastrous consequences, will at least have the effect of driving all the settlers out of the country; for who would remain in a Colony where he was compelled, at the will of a despotic Government, to fight, not against real enemies, but against kind and friendly natives, whenever the officers of a Government, always remarkable for folly, required and demanded that he should do so?

The defeat of our troops at the Bay of Islands is both humiliating and distressing; – humiliating to our Government, as a further proof of the incapacity of their servants and officers in New Zealand; and distressing, not simply on account of the loss of life and property, however great it may have been, but because it is likely that there must be a still further and a still greater loss of both before the authority of our Government can again be established. It is needless to conceal the fact, that Kororarika has been lost through a series of the grossest blunders and misconduct. It was, in the first place, highly imprudent, with so small a military force, to provoke Heki by again erecting the silly flagstaff after he had so frequently cut it down. A mere point of honour might have been, for a time at least, conceded to prudence and common sense. The flagstaff should not have been erected until we had strength sufficient to defend it. The force sent for its defence should have been also under the command of an experienced officer, and not committed to persons of doubtful courage and known inexperience. Neither Colonel Hulm, the officer commanding the troops, nor Captain Bennett, the officer of Engineers, was present at the taking of Kororarika. After the attack commenced, every error more

fatal than another was committed on the part of our people. The military were useless, because their officers were deficient both in prudence and courage. Captain Robertson, of the "Hazard," with about forty-five seamen and marines, alone, and unsupported by the military, succeeded in effectually checking and dispersing about two hundred natives. Had the other officers, and the military, in particular, behaved like that young but gallant commander (who was unfortunately dangerously wounded), the town of Kororarika might have been defended and saved. The conduct of the military officers has been, by all accounts, highly reprehensible: they were neither fit to command nor to lead the unfortunate men under their charge. Even the magazine was left without a single person in charge of it; and it is supposed that some native girls who were permitted to remain in the building where it was placed were the parties who set fire to it, naturally wishing that their own countrymen should prevail. Why such things should have happened, and why the town should have been abandoned to plunder, pillage, and fire, after the natives were repulsed, is certainly most unaccountable, and ought to be made a subject of investigation.

The loss of property at the Bay of Islands, including houses, goods, money, and personal property, cannot be estimated at less than £60,000. When or what amount of compensation the Government will make for that loss, it is hard to say; but certain it is that the European settlers are entitled to full compensation, for their property was not destroyed because of a quarrel between them and the natives, or in an attempt to defend their properties, for they were not threatened, but simply in a quarrel – a national quarrel between the Government of this country and the aborigines of New Zealand. Still more, the settlers

were prevented by the armed Police Magistrate of the Bay of Islands from making any effort to save their properties. They were told they would be shot if they ventured to leave the blockhouse, where they were collected like a lot of sheep to be slaughtered, if the natives felt inclined to do so. But the natives respected the persons and property of the Europeans until the latter was abandoned by the Government, and then they looked upon it as a lawful prize.

Captain Fitz Roy has been blamed for having re-erected the flagstaff when he had not a force sufficient to defend it. But it must be borne in mind that the flagstaff was not erected until he might, in reason, have expected a reinforcement from Sydney before the natives could have made preparations for attacking. If there be blame, it is justly attributable to Sir George Gipps, who allowed five or six weeks to elapse without sending the troops, for no other reason than because he could not charter a vessel but at a rate which he considered too high. This miserable attempt to save freight has been the means of sacrificing Kororarika – perhaps the Colony of New Zealand.

There is no excuse for Sir George Gipps, as Major Robertson, an experienced officer, was sent to Sydney expressly to give a fair report of the state of the Colony as to military resources, and a Mr. D'Oyly, a respectable settler, from New Zealand (now in England), addressed a letter to Sir George Gipps, urging upon him, by every argument that a man could make use of, not to lose a single day in despatching troops: but he fatally neglected doing so until it was too late. Sir George Gipps has much to answer for in connexion with the unfortunate Colony of New Zealand.

The New Zealand Company blame Lord Stanley, but

very unjustly, for the evils that have befallen New Zealand. They ought, in fairness, to blame where it is justly due. Sir George Gipps, Captain Hobson, and Lord John Russell are the parties primarily, really, and deeply implicated in the ruin of New Zealand. Lord Stanley will certainly be to blame, and much to blame, if he now yield to the New Zealand Company, and give the settlers even prima facie titles to lands which he knows they have not fairly purchased from the natives. If he do so, and attempt, as Sir Robert Peel proposes, to impose a tax upon the waste or unoccupied lands of the natives, he will then indeed be to blame; for he will by so doing cause a union, a determined resistance on the part of all the tribes against our Government. He will cause a war from which little credit or profit will accrue to our country – a war which can only be terminated by the ruin of the present European population of New Zealand, and the total destruction of the unhappy aborigines. It is vain to suppose for one moment that the natives will either pay the tax, or submit to have their lands confiscated: they will neither do the one nor the other – but they will resist the latter at the risk of sacrificing life itself. Whoever knows their character will have no hesitation in believing they will do so. And if they do, let our military strength be ever so great, years must elapse before we can conquer the New Zealanders, a war with whom will be even worse than that which our Government waged so long, and with so little advantage, with the natives of Ceylon. Until New Zealand shall be, like Ceylon, riddled through and through with military roads, no force, however powerful, will be of any avail against the natives.

The usefulness and importance of New Zealand, as a Colony, does not by any means consist in adding it to the

many other fields where abortive attempts are made to found Colonies according to the Wakefield system. The value of New Zealand is great in a commercial point of view, if we should never send another European settler to it. It is already a good and an extensive Colony, if properly governed. The natives are great consumers of European goods and manufactures; they are also producers to a very large extent; and if peace and order are maintained, the Colony will increase in wealth and population without any direct importation of labourers and paupers from England. Capital, and security for life and property, are alone wanted; and these are not likely to be introduced by the confiscation of the lands of the aborigines, and the war which will inevitably follow such an unwise and unjust attempt. The Government of New Zealand should be simply and purely a matter of police; it should neither interfere with the rights of the natives or Europeans, by carrying on a profitless traffic in lands or land-taxes. Land should be regarded like any other species of property, and taxed according to its value. Neither the natives nor the Europeans will willingly submit to any other system. The private settlers at the present moment pay, by the General Property-Rate Ordinance, a tax upon the full value of their lands. Why it should be attempted, as Sir Robert Peel proposes, to impose an additional tax upon lands over and above that which is paid at present, is rather difficult to understand, or to reconcile with justice. As far as the old settlers are concerned, it is surely punishment enough to have reduced them to poverty by keeping them five years out of their lands, without now, when few of them are able to make them available, imposing a tax, the effect of which will be, as in the case of the natives, to confiscate them to the Crown. If the Govern-

ment want any additional evidence of the misery and ruin in which their policy has involved the settlers of New Zealand, they have it abundantly in the fact of Captain Fitz Roy having brought a Bill before his Council with the view of imposing fines upon all those who would not take up their grants or title-deeds within a certain day. Could he by possibility have given stronger evidence of the absolute poverty and wretchedness of the party in question, than by introducing such a measure? Can any person for a moment suppose, that these parties, who have been for five years endeavouring to prove their claims to land, would now neglect or refuse to take up their Crown grants (the very thing they were striving to obtain) if they had the means of paying the necessary fees? The truth is, that his predecessors have so ruined the unfortunate claimants, that they cannot now procure the necessary sum to pay the fees; and yet these are the people whose properties the Home Government now contemplates specially to tax for the crime of holding lands in New Zealand, and having been made paupers by the unjust acts of their own servants! It is to be hoped that Lord Stanley has too much humanity to order anything so cruel and unjust as this measure. It is surely quite enough that they should, like all the other people in the Colony, contribute to the general revenue according to the value of their properties. It is punishment enough for them to have sunk their means in lands which at the present time are unavailable, if not valueless, and from which they have never derived the slightest income.

Objections have been raised by Sir James Graham against extending to the inhabitants of New Zealand the benefits of a Representative Government, on the plea that there are two races of people, the one of which is not in a

condition at present to exercise the right, and that it would be unfair towards them that the other should, to their exclusion, be invested with what is, in truth, nothing but their right, and the birthright of every British subject in every part of the British dominions, excepting convict settlements, and some conquered Colonies of small importance. The fitness or unfitness of the aboriginal population has nothing whatever to do with the claims of the European settlers, which would not be in the least strengthened or weakened by the existence or non-existence of the native population: the matter at issue is, simply, whether persons selected by the people would attend better to the interests of the Colony than the mere nominees, and frequently the mere tools, of the Governor? If it can be proved that the latter are the best, then it follows that New Zealand, and every other Colony, should be governed by the nominees of the Crown and Governor. The existence of a native population is no reason whatever for withholding from New Zealand a Representative Government, based upon proper qualifications on the part of the electors and elected. If the aborigines attain to these qualifications, then by all means let any and every one of them who does so have a voice and an interest in the representation. In New Zealand there is, at the present moment, an excellent basis for qualification and representation in the Property-Rate Ordinance. The qualification of members, as well as the number of the votes of the electors, might be fixed and determined by the amount of money they pay in direct taxes. Those who contribute nothing should have no votes; and those who do contribute should be entitled to a certain number of votes, in proportion to the amount of taxes paid by them. The Pro-

perty-Rate Ordinance embraces the two elements of representation, life and property. The Government might, therefore, with great facility, found upon it a proper representative qualification, without any injury whatever to the aboriginal population, who, the moment they contributed towards the maintenance of Government by becoming rate-payers, would become entitled to vote at the elections. There is no injustice in admitting or excluding them on that principle, and there is, therefore, no reason for withholding the benefits of Representative Government from the Europeans because the natives do not choose to qualify.

The municipal institutions, so favourably spoken of by Sir Robert Peel, will never give satisfaction. It is a useless and expensive attempt at setting up an imperium in imperio, which is certain to prove a failure. These complicated attempts at Government merely tend to impoverish an already poor and ruined country, and give the people not the slightest control over the extravagance or profligacy of their rulers. It is nothing else than a device for throwing on the shoulders of the people the expense of maintaining a lot of useless officers, such as sheriffs, gaolers, police magistrates, clerks, bailiffs – together with prisons, court-houses, &c. &c. Let the people of New Zealand demand their rights, according to Mr. Burge, and if the Government withhold them, then let them refuse to pay taxes, and have the question fairly tried before a court of law in England. It is worth their while to contribute money themselves for the purpose of trying the case of the first person whose property shall be sold by the Government for refusal to pay the taxes. This will bring the matter to issue either one way or another; it will de-

cide whether or not British subjects lose their birthright by going to a Colony. If so, few persons will feel disposed to go to New Zealand.

The attempt of the New Zealand Company to prove to the Government that it was possessed of the Divine and Discovery right of robbing the aborigines of New Zealand is so outrageous, so inconsistent with morality, and so contrary to the first professions and pretended practice of the Company itself, that it is deserving of some notice. The self-interest of the Company appears in this case to have altogether overcome its humanity, and sense of right and wrong. The Agents and Shareholders of the Company have striven hard to force the Government of this country to resume the old buccaneering system of Spain, and for no other reason than because they themselves have duped a number of our countrymen by sending them to New Zealand to occupy lands never purchased by their Agent. That, and that alone, is the reason of the change in the views of the New Zealand Company. The right which they contend for is not, however, in existence; it is a right that never did exist. It has its origin in the falsehood and impudent pretensions of ancient priestcraft. The Pope of Rome, who pretended to be the Vicegerent of Christ, and who claimed for his Master all the kingdoms of the earth, did certainly, during the dark ages of the world, claim, by virtue of his office, a right to the whole earth. A portion of that right he preposterously yielded to Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, whose agents availed themselves of it for the perpetration of every species of violence and robbery on the Continent and Islands of America. But what has Protestant England, or any other nation of Europe, to do with the infamous falsehoods of an old Romish Pop2? Does that justify them in perpetrating such a

daylight robbery as seizing upon the lands of the aborigines of New Zealand, or any other people whom they may choose to call uncivilised? The New Zealand Company cannot even produce a Bull from the Pope of Rome himself, conferring upon them or the Government of England the lands and properties of the inhabitants of New Zealand. The King and Queen of Spain had even a better pretence for robbery and killing the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, than they have for plundering the New Zealanders. The morality and Christianity of England have indeed become very scarce, when such a question would be deliberately debated in her National Assembly – and not only debated, but actually recommended to the Government by a Select Committee of the House of Commons. What an example to set before the other nations of Europe, especially France, which is now rioting and intoxicated with the blood of the victims of Africa and the innocent inhabitants of Tahiti!! Let the aristocracy of England, however, beware how they enlighten the people on the rights of property. It is quite possible that their own doctrines in reference to the lands of the aborigines of New Zealand may be, some of these days, brought to bear upon their own landed possessions. There are waste and unoccupied lands in England as well as New Zealand, and the question may be asked, why these lands should be left waste and uncultivated, while there are thousands and tens of thousands who are perishing from want simply because they cannot obtain ground sufficient to grow the necessaries of life? The right which is claimed against the native chiefs of New Zealand and their possessions might with equal justice be urged against the aristocracy of England, and their parks and pleasure-grounds. It is nothing else than the right of the man who has not,

to take from him who has – the plea on which the robber and thief might excuse themselves for the commission of robbery and theft.

The disputes between the New Zealand Company and the Government maybe complicate and difficult to adjust; but that is no reason for a national outrage of the principles of humanity. If Lord John Russell enter into an unauthorised agreement with the New Zealand Company, – if, as they assert, he guaranteed them the possession of certain lands before he knew that they had fairly purchased them, – that is surely a lame excuse for a national robbery. The claims of the New Zealand Company upon this country do not depend upon the conduct of Lord John Russell, or any other Minister of the Crown. It is in vain for them to urge an agreement with Lord John Russell as a claim against the country. The case of the New Zealand Company is a very simple one, and may be easily understood if divested of the mass of useless paper in which it has been enshrouded by Mr. Buller and Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield. The New Zealand Company, or their Agent, in common with many other British subjects, purchased, or alleged to have purchased, lands in New Zealand when it was an independent Colony. After these purchases were made, the Government of England, for certain purposes, deemed it advisable to obtain possession of New Zealand as a Colony. After New Zealand was so obtained, it was still further deemed necessary to institute an inquiry into the titles of parties holding or claiming lands in New Zealand, with the view of ascertaining how far they had fairly become possessed of them. An Act professing this for its object was passed by the Legislative Council of New South Wales (New Zealand being at the time a dependency of that Colony). That Act laid down

certain principles and certain rules for the guidance of the Commissioners appointed to investigate the claims. One of these principles was, that the Crown had an absolute right to all lands purchased by all British subjects from the inhabitants of New Zealand (no exception being made in favour of the Company). The Commissioners were, however, authorised to recommend grants of certain portions of these lands in favour of the purchasers, in every case proportioned to the amount of money paid to the natives. The remainder of the lands were, as a matter of course, declared to be vested in the Crown.

All the private settlers were dealt with by this rule, and the New Zealand Company were in precisely the same position, excepting that in their case, as being a colonising body, it was deemed politic to grant them a charter, the terms and conditions of which were, however, little different from those of the private settlers, and by no means relieving them from the necessity of proving their title to the land claimed by them: in fact, a special Commissioner, Mr. Spain, was appointed by the Home Government to investigate their claims. The agreement of Lord John Russell, so far from presupposing that the New Zealand Company were to be placed on a different footing, as respected the necessity of proving a primary purchase, actually required that any lands "assigned to them should be taken in that part of the Colony to which they had laid claim, in virtue of contract made by them with the natives, or others, antecedently to the arrival of Captain Hobson." It was precisely the same as the assurance made to the other settlers – "that they would not be dispossessed of any lands equitably purchased from the aborigines." The same assurance which encouraged the private settlers to continue the occupation and cultivation of their lands,

was intended, in a similar manner, and to the same extent, to encourage the New Zealand Company to continue their colonising operations. They, in the first place, assured Lord John Russell that they had fairly purchased certain tracts of country. On the faith of that assurance, Lord John Russell, as the Minister of the Crown, agreed that for the amount expended by them "on the purchase of lands in New Zealand from the natives, chiefs, and others – in the taking up, chartering, and despatching ships for the conveyance of emigrants thither," &c. &c, they "shall be secured by a grant from the Crown to them, under the public seal of the Colony, of as many acres of land as shall be equal to four times the number of pounds sterling which they shall be found to have expended in the manner and for the purposes above mentioned." To show still more clearly that this arrangement was made on the faith of a primary purchase having been made by the Company, the eleventh clause of the agreement asserts the same right on the part of the Crown as was claimed in the case of the private settlers: – -"The Company forego and disclaim all title, or pretence of title, to any lands purchased or acquired by them in New Zealand, other than the lands so to be granted," &c. Can it for a moment be supposed, whatever Lord John Russell may say now to suit party purposes, that he intended by that agreement to give to the New Zealand Company any lands that he did not believe them to have previously fairly purchased? Had he not presumed that the New Zealand Company had fairly purchased these lands, is it not reasonable to think that he would either have restricted the Governor to purchase for them the lands in question, or to seize upon them in accordance with the new doctrines? He neither did the one nor the other:

but he actually, and almost immediately, sent out a Commissioner from England to see that these lands had been fairly purchased previously to the issuing of Crown grants in favour of the Company. And so well aware was the New Zealand Company itself of the understanding on which that agreement was made, that their Agent actually appeared before the Commissioner and attempted to prove the purchase from the aborigines; and it was not until he had completely failed in that attempt, that he bethought him, with his usual happy ingenuity, of claiming the land irrespective of a primary purchase from the natives. The fact of the New Zealand Government itself, at the very time when that agreement was entered into, being in the habit of purchasing waste and unoccupied lands from the natives with the knowledge and approbation of Lord John Russell, would still farther show that His Lordship had not then embraced the new views regarding the rights of what are called civilised nations, to seize upon and to occupy the lands of the inhabitants of uncivilised countries. Lord John Russell, in his instructions to his own officers, directs them, on the contrary, to obtain for the Government lands by equal and fair contracts with the aborigines. If, on the other hand, he had assumed that the New Zealand Company had no claim by purchase to the lands for which he proposed giving them Crown grants, and if he did not then believe in the right of the Crown to seize upon these and all other lands of the aborigines, the only other course left to him was that of instructing the Local Government to enter into arrangements with the native owners for the lands in question. Had he intended so to act, and did he believe that he was committing the country by the agreement he had made, he would doubt-

less have applied to Parliament for a sum of money to carry out the arrangements by the purchase of the said lands from the aborigines; but he neither did the one nor the other, and it is therefore quite fair to believe that both he and the New Zealand Company thought, at the time they had made the arrangement, that the land had been fairly purchased. How could they by possibility be of a contrary opinion, when even the Agent of the Company, after he was aware of the arrangement entered into with Lord John Russell, writes to Governor Hobson to the following effect, in a letter dated August 24, 1841: – "It is presumed in the arrangement, that the Company has acquired a valid title from the natives to a very large territory on both sides of Cook's Straits." Further, the Agent requests "that an extension of time should be awarded to the Company for the selection of their lands, until the Commission has decided on their titles." He even still further provides and proposes "that if any part of the said lands shall, upon due inquiry, be found not to have been validly purchased from them before the date of the alleged purchase by the New Zealand Company, full compensation shall be made to the natives, or the previous purchaser, as the case may be, by the New Zealand Company." Why should full compensation be made to the natives by the New Zealand Company, if the Crown and the country were bound by Lord John Russell's agreements and Mr. Pennington's award (a mere arithmetical calculation of the amount of money expended) to give unconditional grants to those lands? The Court of Directors, in a letter dated April 30, 1842, "entirely approves and commends" the conduct of the Agent in "the important negotiations with the Governor;" and "with reference to the claims of the natives alleged to be unextin-

guished, the Directors, feeling the importance of placing the Company's title to all lands within its settlements above all doubt or question, authorise their Agent "to take such steps to that end as" he "may deem most advisable," and "for that purpose" "they place at" his "disposal the sum of £500 and 1,000 acres of land."

These were the views of the Agent and Directors of the New Zealand Company before the claims to land were investigated by the Commissioner. Their ideas, however, changed when the Commissioner made the following declaration regarding Port Nicholson, the first and most important of their purchases: – "After I had examined all the natives I could find who had been parties to the conveyance to the Company, and having given it my best consideration, I came to the conclusion that if I proceeded to make my final report, it must have been most unfavourable generally to the Company's title, and left it, or rather its purchasers, in possession of a very inconsiderable portion of the district." So well aware was the Agent of the Company of the invalidity of his claims, that the Commissioner says he actually proposed that he should make his "report without resorting to the tedious mode of examining native witnesses," but simply holding a kororo, or general talk, with some of the natives of the district. The Commissioner naturally, and perhaps justly, accounts for the mistakes committed by the Company's Agent because "of the limited extent of information in the possession of the Agent of the Company, at the time of his arrival, as to the native custom in selling land." Every person who has purchased land in New Zealand must concur in the opinion that it requires much time and labour to discover the real owners of even a very limited quantity of land. How, then, can it be supposed that Colonel Wakefield, in

less than three months, could have effected the purchase of the immense tracts which he claimed? It is well known that he had never even visited same of the districts which he reported to the Directors he had purchased on behalf of the Company. But whatever loss the blunders or mistakes of their Agent may have entailed upon the New Zealand Company, and however numerous the parties may be who have suffered through the unjustifiable conduct of that Company in selling lands that they never purchased, there is still no reason whatever why this country or this Government should be called upon either to violate a national contract, or to advance a large sum of money, in order to put the New Zealand Company in possession of lands which they should have fairly purchased before they sold them. The claim of the Company against the Government is not one whit stronger than that of any other private settler in New Zealand; and which of them, if he had failed, like the Company, in proving his title, would have ventured to claim compensation from the House of Commons for his own folly or misdeeds? Why, then, should the New Zealand Company do so? Very shame, because of the numerous and highly-respectable persons whom they have ruined by their proceedings, should have prevented them – if they had any – from appearing so frequently before a British public. Lord Stanley, if he has any regard for the welfare of the inhabitants of the Colonies over which he presides, should immediately, by way of warning and example to others, institute an inquiry into the conduct of the New Zealand Company towards their settlers, and, by the sad disclosures which must inevitably follow such a just proceeding, overwhelm them in that flood of public indignation which they now so ingeniously attempt to direct towards himself.

Before concluding these remarks, it may be right to notice some of the aspersions which the friends and supporters of the New Zealand Company have attempted to cast on the Missionaries, and Church Missionaries of New Zealand in particular. The Missionaries of New Zealand are accused, among various other crimes, of exercising the most extraordinary political influence over the Government of the Colony. A charge more unfounded than this could not by possibility be preferred. To my certain knowledge, the Missionaries and Church Missionaries exercise no political influence whatever in New Zealand. With the exception of their unfortunate interference with the natives in persuading some of them to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, they have in no other respect taken any part, or exercised the slightest influence over the politics of the Colony. That, and that alone, is the only part of the political conduct of the Missionaries which is deserving of censure. They would, however, be very wrong if they shut their eyes to any attempts made by the New Zealand Company, or any other parties, to inflict injury upon the objects of their long and special care. They may have complained because the New Zealand Company attempted to seize upon and to occupy lands not fairly purchased from the aborigines; as the friends and guardians of the natives, it was their duty to do so; and that is, most likely, the cause of the great enmity of the New Zealand Company towards them. The Missionaries are accused, not of neglecting the natives, but of exercising too much watchfulness over their interests. It is doubtless rather inconvenient to certain parties that they should have done so; but does it not subject the parties complaining to the imputation of not having themselves altogether acted fairly in all their transactions with the aborigines? Why do not

the other purchasers of land in New Zealand complain of the conduct of the Missionaries? Have they not the powers of perception as well as the Agents of the New Zealand Company? Besides the crime of attending to the interests of the natives, the Church Missionaries in particular are still further charged with the offence of not neglecting the interests of themselves and their families. They are accused of having made very extensive purchases of land from the aborigines. That they made rather extensive purchases of land from the aborigines, no person can deny; but I, for my part, can see no greater crime in a New Zealand Missionary attempting to provide for his family in the only way which was open for him to do so, than in a Clergyman of the Church of England, or any other church, doing the same thing at home. Why should a Missionary be supposed to be divested of all regard for his family, and of every anxiety to promote their interests? What other provision could a New Zealand Missionary make for his son, but that of establishing him on a farm in the country where he was born and brought up? I must say, the charge of land-jobbing comes with rather a bad grace from the New Zealand Company, which has itself so closely followed the example of the Missionaries – with, perhaps, the simple difference, that the Missionaries invariably paid, and paid well, for their lands, and that the New Zealand Company seek to obtain them without any payment.

Let the Missionaries be all looked after, and blamed. where blame is justly due; but let them not be unfairly charged with sins which they have not committed. The New Zealand Company unfairly connect the Missionaries with the department of Protectors of Aborigines, established and maintained by Government: but although

the Chief of that department, Mr. Clarke, was at one time a Missionary of the Church of England, it does not fairly follow that the Missionaries are still responsible for Mr. Clarke's conduct. Then why should they be made parties to every quarrel that the Company may have with Mr. Clarke and his establishment?

[APPENDICES]

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX No. I.

TREATY OF WAITANGI.

GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL TRANSLATION OF TREATY OF WAITANGI.

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 authorised, 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 constitutions, alike to the native population and to her subjects, has been graciously pleased to empower and authorise 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 confederated and independent chiefs of New Zealand to concur in the following articles and conditions: –

Article 1st. – 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 2nd. – 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

APPENDIX No. I. TREATY OF WAITANGI.

LITERAL AND TRUE TRANSLATION OF TREATY OF WAITANGI.

THE Victoria the Queen of England by her kind remembrance to the chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, and by her desire to preserve to them their chieftainship and their land and let peace ever remain to them and to live in quietness – she has thought it a right thing to send here one chief as an overlooker of the aboriginal men of New Zealand, that they, the native chiefs, may consent to the Kawanatanga 5 of the Queen in all places of the land and the islands, because a great many people of her tribe have settled in this land and are still coming. – Now, that the Queen is desirous to explain the Kawanatanga, that no evil may result to the aborigines or to the Europeans living without law – now was good the Queen to let go me William Hobson he Kapitana i te Roiara Nawi 6 as Kawana 7 for all the places of New Zealand given up now and after to the Queen, saying she is to the chiefs of the assembly of the tribes of New Zealand and other chiefs besides these laws spoken.

Now the first, – The chiefs of the assembly, and also all the chiefs (who) have not joined the said assembly, concede absolutely to the Queen of England for ever the Kawanatanga all of their land.

Now the second, – Now the Queen of England explains, consents to the chiefs to all the people of New Zealand, the entire chieftainship of their land, of their settlements, and of all their property. But now the

chiefs

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 3rd. – 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, Lieut.-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 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.

chiefs of the assembly and all other chiefs give up to the Queen the buying of other land places please the person to whom the land belongs to the amount of the payment agreed upon by them, and the purchaser appointed by the Queen to buy for her.

Now the third, – This is the arrangement come to for the consenting of the Kawanatanga of the Queen, and the Queen of England protect will all the aborigines of New Zealand and give to them the whole laws exactly like her things to the people of England.

(Signed) W. HOBSON, Lieut. -Governor.

Hearken, That we, that the chiefs of the assembly of the tribes of New Zealand now collected at Waitangi, and we also the chiefs of New Zealand, to see the meaning of these words and take them, and we consent to them all – therefore we sign our names as a sign.

This is done at Waitangi on the 6th of the days of February in the year 1840 of Our Lord.

APPENDIX No. II.

PROTEST.

We, the undersigned, subjects and citizens of Great Britain, France, and the United States of America, now residing in New Zealand, and holding property in land either directly by gift or purchase from the aboriginal inhabitants, or by grant or purchase from other European or American residents, having understood that an Act, entitled "An Act to empower the Governor of New South Wales to appoint Commissioners with certain powers to examine and report on claims to grants of land in New Zealand," has been passed by the Governor and Legislative Council of New South Wales, the object of which is to disannul our titles to such land, thereby despoiling us of our honestly and lawfully-acquired possessions, and altogether tending most disastrously to affect and injure our present and prospective prosperity, do hereby solemnly protest and appeal to our respective Governments against the pretended right and authority of the Governor; and Council of New South Wales to enact or enforce such an arbitrary and unjust measure, which equally violates our rights as private individuals, and as subjects of civilised. and enlightened Governments. We further protest and appeal against the right and authority of the said Governor and Council of New South Wales to interfere with or deprive us of any part or portion of our landed or other possessions in New Zealand, under any pretext or pretence whatsoever, on the following just and reasonable grounds, namely: –

I. That to interfere with or in any manner to dispossess us of the whole or any part of our landed or other possessions in New Zealand, would not only be an act of the grossest injustice and oppression as far as our rights as private individuals are concerned, but also, in a national point of view, an unprecedented infringement and breach of that faith and good feeling by which all nations and governments are bound to respect and regard one another; seeing that before and since we had acquired possession of and titles to land in New Zealand, its existence as an independent nation, and its political relations to other powers, had been distinctly and unequivocally recognised and fully understood by the Governments of Europe and America, but especially so by the Government of England, as will appear from the following facts, viz.: –

1. The recommendation of Mr. Busby by the British Government to the native chiefs of New Zealand as their accredited agent, and his residence for a long period among them in the capacity of British Resident and Consul.

2. The recent appointment of Captain Hobson to succeed Mr. Busby as British Consul in New Zealand, prior to his appointment as Lieut.-Governor, and in the event of his not being able to succeed in securing from the native chiefs the cession of their national independence and sovereignty to the Crown of England.

3. The granting a national flag to New Zealand, as appears from a notification of the Governor of New South Wales, dated August the 17th, 1835, which states –

"For general information – that a despatch had been received from the Right Honourable the Secretary for the Colonies, convening His Majesty's approbation of an arrangement made by this Government for complying with the wishes of the chiefs of New Zealand to adopt a National Flag in their collective capacity."

In the same document, it is further notified, that

"The register of vessels built in New Zealand, and granted by the chiefs, and certified by the British Resident, shall be considered as valid instruments, and respected as such in the intercourse which these vessels may hold with British Possessions."

4. The imposition of a foreign tax or duty on all New Zealand goods or produce imported into British ports – a duty which we have on all occasions been compelled to pay.

5. The published instructions of the Marquis of Normanby, the late Secretary for the Colonies, to Captain Hobson, on his appointment as Consul to New Zealand, wherein he distinctly acknowledges that New Zealand was then regarded by England to be an independent nation, as will appear from the following extracts: –

"On the other hand, the Ministers of the Crown have been restrained by still higher motives from engaging in such an enterprise. They have deferred to the advice of the Committee appointed by the House of Commons in the year 1838 to inquire into the state of the aborigines residing in the vicinity of our Colonial Settlements, and have concurred with that Committee in thinking that the increase of national wealth and power promised by the acquisition of New Zealand would be a most inadequate compensation for the injury which must be inflicted on this kingdom itself, by embarking in a measure essentially unjust, and but too certainly fraught with calamity to a numerous and inoffensive people, whose title to the soil and to the sovereignty of New Zealand is indisputable, and has been solemnly recognised by the British Government. We retain these opinions in unimpared force, and though circumstances entirely beyond our control have at length compelled us to alter our course, I do not scruple to avow that we depart from it with extreme reluctance."

"I have already stated that we acknowledge New Zealand as a sovereign and independent State, so far, at least, as it is possible to make that acknowledgment in favour of a people composed of numerous dispersed and petty tribes, who possess few political relations to each other,

and are incompetent to act or even to deliberate in concert. But the admission of their rights, though inevitably qualified by this consideration, is binding on the faith of the British Crown. The Queen, in common with her Majesty's immediate predecessor, disclaims for herself and her subjects every pretension to seize on the Islands of New Zealand, or to govern them as a part of the dominions of Great Britain, unless the free and intelligent consent of the natives, expressed according to their established usages, shall be first obtained."

II. That many of us who had not previously procured land from the aboriginal owners of the soil, were still induced to emigrate to New Zealand, and to invest large sums of money and other property in the purchase of land from the white population, not only in reliance upon the faith of the pledge given by the civilised Powers of Europe and America to uphold and maintain the national independence of this country, but, above all, by the promises made in the Proclamation issued in the name of the Queen of England, in the instructions of the Secretary of State to Captain Hobson, and by Captain Hobson himself, both on his arrival in New South Wales and in this country, that the rights of private individuals should be held inviolate; in proof of which, we adduce the following extract from the Marquis of Normanby's instructions already referred to: –

"It is further necessary, that the chiefs should be induced, if possible, to contract with you, as representing Her Majesty, that henceforward no lands shall be ceded, either gratuitously or otherwise, except to the Crown of Great Britain."

Thereby clearly declaring, that until and before the natives had engaged in that contract, it was lawful and just both for them to make sales and gifts of their lands, and for Europeans to purchase or otherwise receive titles to the same from them.

Again: –

"You will, however, at the same time, take care to dispel any apprehensions which may be created in the minds of the settlers, that it is intended to dispossess the owners of any property which has been acquired on equitable conditions, and which is not upon a scale which must be prejudicial to the latent interests of the community."

III. That it is still a matter of uncertainty what part, if any, of this country has been ceded in sovereignty to the Queen of England, as more than nineteen-twentieths of the most influential chiefs have either declined or never been requested to sign the treaty with the Queen of England – and that almost all those who have signed it now acknowledge and assert, that they did so in ignorance of the real circumstances of the case – never apprehending, that by becoming parties to such a contract, they were in the least degree compromising their own or their country's independence: moreover, that several of those who signed the treaty did shortly thereafter – on comprehending, in a measure, its nature and ob-

ject – seriously and earnestly request to have their signatures erased from the same.

IV. That even if it were the case that all the aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand had ceded the sovereignty and independence of their country to the Crown of England, we still maintain that no act of theirs or of the British Government could have a retrospective view, or could, in any way, disannul the pledge they had previously given, not only to surrender certain portions of their territory to European and American settlers, but also to defend and protect them in the peaceable possession of the same.

V. That this measure, if carried into effect, must inevitably lead to engender serious quarrels between the native population and any emigrants the Government of England may hereafter settle upon the lands we are thus threatened to be deprived of – as it is well known to every one conversant with the native character, that they are particularly jealous on this head, and feel that their individual character and the honour of their country are affected by the permission of a stranger to settle upon any land sold to Europeans without the consent and approbation of the original purchaser.

VI. That the Bill passed by the Governor and Legislative Council of New South Wales is not in accordance with any existing law of England, or founded upon any Act of the British Parliament – but has been devised and framed by an irresponsible body of men who neither represent us, nor even the Colony which they legislate for – and whose interests are, in every respect, diametrically opposed to ours, and who have, on all occasions, manifested the utmost eagerness and anxiety to crush the rising energies of this country.

VII. That we are not conscious of having committed any offence whereby we have deserved to have our lawfully and honestly-acquired property confiscated by the Governor and irresponsible officers of one of Her Majesty the Queen of England's Penal Settlements for the punishment of the most abandoned and depraved of her subjects: and moreover, that we cannot help regarding it as a most grievous insult, that the land of our adoption should in any manner be connected with or made an appendage of a Colony so notorious as New South Wales.

APPENDIX No. III.

PROPERTY-RATE ORDINANCE.

AN ORDINANCE FOR IMPOSING A RATE UPON PROPERTY, AND FOR REPEALING THE CUSTOMS' ORDINANCE, SESSION 1, NO. 3, AND THE CUSTOMS' ORDINANCE, SESSION 3, NO. 6.

(Passed the 28th day of September, 1844. )

Whereas an ordinance was enacted by the Governor of New Zealand, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, Session 1, No. 3, entitled An Ordinance to repeal within the said Colony of New Zealand an Act of the Governor and Council of New South Wales, passed in the third year of her present Majesty's reign, entitled An Act to repeal an Act relating to the Revenue of Customs in New South Wales, and to provide for the general regulation thereof; and also a certain other Act of the said Governor and Council of New South Wales, passed in the fourth year of the reign of her said present Majesty Queen Victoria, entitled An Act for increasing the Duties on Spirits, Wines, and other Goods and Merchandise, imported into the Colony of New South Wales and its Dependencies; and which said Acts of the Governor and Council of New South Wales were adopted and are now in force within the said Colony of New Zealand and its dependencies; and to make provision for the collection of certain duties on goods into and for the general regulation of the revenue of Customs in the Colony of New Zealand and its dependencies. And whereas an ordinance was enacted by the Governor of New Zealand, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, Session 3, No. 6, entitled An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance enacted by the Governor and Council of New Zealand, Session 1, No. 3, to repeal certain Acts of the Governor and Council of New South Wales to make provision for the collection of certain duties on goods imported into and for the general regulation of the revenue of Customs in the Colony of New Zealand and its dependencies. And whereas the commerce, agriculture, and general prosperity of New Zealand would be greatly promoted by removing all restrictions on the free intercourse of shipping with all its numerous ports and harbours; and to that end it is expedient that all duties imposed upon goods imported into the Colony, and all provision made for the regulation and protection of the Revenue of Customs, by the said recited ordinances, should be repealed; and that, in lieu of the said duties of

APPENDIX. 369

customs, a revenue should be raised by rates upon property within the Colony. Be it therefore enacted, by the Governor of New Zealand, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows: –

1. On and after the first day of October in this present year, the said recited ordinance, Session 1, No. 3, and the said recited ordinance, Session 3, No. 6, shall be repealed; and all goods which shall have been warehoused under the provisions of the said recited ordinances, or either of them, and which shall be in bond on the said first day of October, shall be free from all duties which would have been payable thereon if the said recited ordinances had not been repealed.

2. On and after the first day of November next, there shall be raised, levied, and collected, and paid in manner hereinafter mentioned, in respect of all property and nett yearly income, within the Colony of New Zealand, a yearly rate, according to the scale in the schedule hereunto annexed.

3. Property liable to the rate hereby imposed, shall comprise every description of property, whether real or personal; and, for the purposes of this ordinance, the value of such property shall be taken to be the marketable value thereof at the date of the return hereby required to be made in respect thereof.

4. Income liable to this rate hereby imposed shall comprise the nett yearly profits of any trade, business, or profession; rents arising from real property, interest on money lent, pay, salaries, annuities, pensions, and every other description of income whencesoever or from whatever source the same respectively may be derived; and, for the purpose of this ordinance, the amount of such income shall be taken to be the probable amount thereof for the year following the date of such return.

5. In lieu of the rate hereby imposed, it shall be lawful for any person liable for the payment of the same, to make composition for such rate, by paying the yearly sum of £12.

6. Such rate or composition shall become payable in four equal quarterly payments, and be paid on the first day of November, the first day of February, the first day of May, and the first day of August in every year; and the first of such quarterly payments shall be made on the first day of November next. Provided always, that any person who may be liable to such rate or composition may pay the whole of such yearly rate or composition in advance.

7. On the first day of November in this and every succeeding year, every person resident within the Colony who shall be possessed of property of any nature or kind whatsoever, which, alone or together with any such clear yearly income as aforesaid, shall in the whole amount to the sum of £50 or upwards, shall deliver to the Collector of the District, or cause to be left at his office, a return in the form or to the

effect in the schedule hereunto annexed, setting out in words at length the amount of the rate payable by him according to such scale as aforesaid in respect of the property and income for which the return shall be made.

8. The return hereby required to be made shall contain a declaration that the sum named therein is the highest rate payable by the person making the return, in respect of the property and income possessed by him.

9. When any person possessing property or income liable to the rate hereby imposed shall intend to make a composition in lieu of such rate, such person shall state his intention so to do upon the face of the return, instead of setting out in manner hereinafter required the precise amount of rate that would otherwise have been payable in respect of such property or income.

10. If any person shall knowingly and wilfully make an under-estimate of the amount of the rate payable by him in respect of such property or income, or both, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour.

11. If any person hereby required to make such return as aforesaid shall fail so to do for the space of one calendar month from the time appointed under the provisions of this ordinance for the making of such return (notice in writing of such default having been first personally served on such person), he shall, on conviction, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding £20, to be recovered in a summary way, on the information of the Collector of the District.

12. If the rate or composition payable on any of the aforesaid quarter-days shall remain in arrear for the space of one calendar month or upwards, such rate or composition shall thereupon and thereafter be increased by one-fourth part for every calendar month for which it shall have been in arrear.

13. If any such rate or composition as aforesaid shall at any time have been in arrear for the space of three calendar months, such sum, together with any further sum which may have become due in respect thereof by virtue of the last hereinbefore contained, shall be recoverable by summary proceedings against the person liable for the payment of the same, and shall be leviable by distress and sale.

14. At the expiration of one calendar month from the day on which returns are hereby required to be made, the Collector of the District shall cause a statement of all returns which shall have been made to be posted in some conspicuous place or places within the district, and shall forward a copy thereof to the Colonial Secretary for publication in the Government Gazette. Such statement shall contain the name and description of the person making the return, and the amount of the rate for which such person shall have declared his property and income to be liable under the provisions of this ordinance.

15. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Collector of the District, on the evidence of two respectable householders, that in any return a

true statement of the rate hereby imposed has not been made, the Collector in such case is hereby authorised to require from the person making such return a detailed statement in writing, setting forth a description and enumeration of the property and income in respect of which such return shall have been made, and of the estimated value thereof – or in any such statement shall have made an under-statement of the rate payable by him.

16. Any person who shall fail to make such statement as aforesaid for the space of one calendar month after receiving notice thereof in writing from the Collector of the District requiring him so to do, or in any such statement shall have made an under-estimate of the rate payable by him, shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding £25, to be recovered in a summary way.

17. When any property set forth in such detailed statement as aforesaid shall become the subject of any action or suit in which the person making such statement shall be a party, in which the value of such property shall be a national question, a copy of such statement, showing the value of the property as estimated by the person making the return, certified under the hand of the Collector of the District, may be given in evidence by the opposite party.

18. Any person making any payment under the requirements of this ordinance may demand a receipt for the same; and every collector or other person receiving such payment is hereby required, upon demand made, to give such receipt accordingly.

19. All monies by any collector or other person under authority of this ordinance shall be accounted for and paid over monthly to the Colonial Treasurer, or his agent, to the use of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, for the public uses of the Colony, and the support of the Government thereof.

20. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be held to extend to the property or income of any aboriginal native of the Colony.

21. It shall be lawful for His Excellency the Governor to appoint persons to act as collectors of rates leviable under this ordinance, subject to the approval of Her Majesty. Such collectors shall be removable, on reasonable cause, by His Excellency the Governor.

22. Be it further enacted, that there may be allowed to any collector or collectors who may be so appointed to collect the rates hereby imposed, for and in respect of all costs, charges, and trouble attending the collection thereof, any sum not exceeding five per cent, on the gross receipts of such collection; and that the sum so to be allowed may be deducted monthly by any such collectors from the gross proceeds of such collection.

23. All words in this ordinance denoting a male person shall be taken to include a female also.

Property Rate.

Name. Date.

Place of Abode.

I hereby solemnly declare that the rate payable by me in respect of my property and income under the provisions of the "Property Rate Ordinance, Session 4, No. 2," and according to the scale in the schedule to the said ordinance annexed, does not exceed the sum of (the sum in words at length.)

(Signed.)

{Or, as the case may be,)

I hereby give notice that I intend to make a composition in lieu of the rate payable by me in respect of my property and income during the ensuing twelve months.

(Signed.)

When the property or income, or both taken together, of any person, shall not exceed

Rate.

£50 ...... £0
100 ...... 1
200 ...... 2
300 ...... 3
400 ...... 4
500 ...... 5
600 ...... 6
700 ...... 7
800 ...... 8
900 ...... 9
1000...... 10
Composition ...... 12

APPENDIX No. III. *

ADDRESS TO THE GOVERNOR.

To His Excellency ROBERT FITZ ROY, ESQ., Captain in Her Majesty's Royal Navy, Governor and Commander-in-chief in and over the Colony of New Zealand, &c. &c, &c.

May it please Your Excellency,

IT is the custom of the people in almost every country, but especially in our native land, upon the occurrence of great events, to manifest their appreciation of the same by some public and united demonstration. We are desirous in that respect, although far removed from the land of our birth, to follow the example, and to convey to Your Excellency, as the Representative of our gracious and beloved Sovereign the Queen of Great Britain, our grateful approval and high appreciation of the measure recently passed by Your Excellency and Council for the amelioration of the condition of the people of this Colony. To yourself personally, we cannot help feeling and expressing that we consider it must be a matter of high satisfaction and cause of just pride to be the happy instrument of effecting in one of the remote Islands of the Pacific, by the establishment of free and liberal institutions, that which the wise and enlightened in England, of whatever party, seek so earnestly, so strenuously, but almost hopelessly, to accomplish.

The civilisation of the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands is so intimately connected with the great change which has taken place in this Colony, that we may certainly believe, that what must appear to every man as a matter of wise policy, will be regarded in a much higher light by all who are interested in the welfare and advancement of our race.

The improvement, even the preservation of the aboriginal inhabitants of recently-discovered countries, is still a matter of doubtful experiment. To the European inhabitants of New Zealand, and to Your Excellency in an especial manner, has been committed, under Divine Providence, the task – we would rather say, the high and honoured trust, of carefully settling this important point, and of proving to the world that civilisation, properly so called, is the harbinger of safety, peace, love and happiness, and not the destroying demon which has hitherto too frequently assumed its name.

While we would therefore desire to convey to Your Excellency the

full expression of our thanks for the boon conferred upon our Colony by the establishment of Free Trade, and our estimate of the civil, social, and political advantages thereby insured to us, we would also seek to elevate our conceptions and our feelings, and to believe, as we do hope, that New Zealand will be remarkable, not only as the first of England's Colonies which has almost in its infancy been governed in accordance with those principles, which, though universally acknowledged just, are still from circumstances difficult, if not impossible, to carry out in old and long-inhabited countries; but that she will also be eminently remarkable above all other European Colonies, in the fact that her aboriginal inhabitants form an exception to the unhappy fate in which such people have hitherto been involved through intercourse with civilised men.

With the fullest confidence in Your Excellency's sincerity, anxiety, and ability to carry out the high and benevolent scheme of extending to the innumerable inhabitants and Islands of the Pacific the blessings of that civil, social, and religious liberty which are now about being enjoyed by the people of this Colony, and in the hope that New Zealand may be deemed worthy to become the centre of the civilisation of this important part of our globe, we would conclude with the most fervent wishes for the continued health and happiness of Your Excellency, of Mrs. Fitz Roy, and of every other member of Your Excellency's family.

We have the honour to be, Your Excellency's most obedient and Most humble Servants, &c. &c. &c.

Auckland, New Zealand, Oct. 1, 1844.

APPENDIX No. IV.

PROCLAMATION.

By His Excellency ROBERT FITZ ROY, Esq., &c. &c.

WHEREAS by a proclamation, bearing date the 26th day of March, 1844, it was notified to the public, that the Crown's right of pre-emption would be waived over certain portions of land in New Zealand: And whereas the terms and conditions set forth in such proclamation, on which the right of pre-emption would be so waived, have in some cases been disregarded either by persons making purchases of land from the natives without first applying for and obtaining the Governor's consent to waive the right of pre-emption, or by much understating the quantity of land proposed to be purchased from the natives: And whereas certain persons have misrepresented the objects and intentions of Government in requiring that a fee should be paid on obtaining the Governor's consent to waive the right of pre-emption – -on behalf of Her Majesty – who, by the Treaty of Waitangi, undertook to protect the natives of New Zealand, and, in order to do so, has checked the purchase of their lands while their value was insufficiently known to their owners.

And whereas the evil consequences of misrepresenting the motives of Government, and asserting that to be a mark of oppression – even of slavery – which is in reality an effect of parental care – are already manifest, and are certain to increase seriously if the cause be not removed.

And whereas the natives of New Zealand have become perfectly aware of the full value of their lands, and are quite alive to their own interests, however indifferent at times to those of their children.

Now, therefore, I, the Governor, acting on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, do hereby proclaim and declare that from this day no fees will be demanded on consenting to waive the right of pre-emption; – that the fees payable on the issue of Crown grants, under the following regulations, will be at the rate of one penny per acre; and that, until otherwise ordered, I will consent, on behalf of Her Majesty, to waive the right of pre-emption over certain limited portions of land in New Zealand, on the following conditions: –

1. Application to be made in writing to the Governor, through the Colonial Secretary, to waive the Crown's right of pre-emption over a certain number of acres of land at or immediately adjoining a place dis-

tinctly specified; such land being described as accurately as may be practicable.

2. The Governor will give or refuse his consent to waive the Crown's right of pre-emption, as His Excellency may judge best for the public welfare, rather than for the private interests of the applicant. He will fully consider the nature of the locality, the state of the neighbouring and resident natives, their abundance or deficiency of land, their disposition towards Europeans and towards Her Majesty's Government, and he will consult with the Protector of Aborigines, before consenting, in any case, to waive the right of pre-emption.

3. No Crown title will be given for any Pah, or native burying-ground, or land about either, however desirous the owners may now be to part with them: and, as a general rule, the right of pre-emption will not be waived over any land required by the aborigines for their own use; although they themselves may now be desirous that it should be alienated.

4. The Crown's right of pre-emption will not be waived over any of that land near Auckland which lies between the Tamaki road and the sea to the northward, or over any land reserved for the use of the aboriginal natives.

5. Of all lands purchased from the aborigines in consequence of the Crown's right of pre-emption being waived, one-tenth part, of fair average value, as to position and quality, is to be conveyed by the purchaser to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, for public purposes, especially the future benefit of the aborigines.

6. All transactions with the sellers, all risks attendant on misunderstandings, on sales made improperly, or on incomplete purchases, must be undertaken by the buyers until their respective purchases have been allowed and confirmed by grants from the Crown.

7. As the Crown has no right of pre-emption over land already sold to any person not an aboriginal native of New Zealand, and whose claim is or may be acknowledged by a Commissioner of Land-Claims, no grant will be issued to any other than the original claimant, or his representative, whose claims have been or may be investigated by a Commissioner, and recommended by him to the Governor for a grant from the Crown.

8. Land so obtained is to be surveyed at the expense of the purchaser, by a competent surveyor, licensed or otherwise approved of by the Government, who will be required to declare to the accuracy of his work, to the best of his belief, and to deposit certified copies of the same at the Colonial Secretary's Office, previous to the preparation of a Crown grant,

9. Copies of the deed or deeds conveying such land are to be lodged at the Colonial Secretary's Office as soon as practicable, in order that the necessary inquiries may be made, and notice given in the Maori as well as the English Gazette, that a Crown title will be issued; – unless

sufficient cause should be shown for its being withheld for a time, or altogether refused.

10. No Crown grants will be issued until, at least, twelve months after the receipt at the Colonial Secretary's Office of certified copies of the surveys and deeds of sale above-mentioned; and on the issue of grants, fees at the rate of one penny per acre will be required by Government.

11. The Government, on behalf of the Crown and the public, will reserve the right of making and constructing roads and bridges, for public purposes, through or in lands so granted; the owners being fairly compensated by other equivalent land, as settled by arbitration.

12. No Crown grants will be issued under the foregoing arrangements to any person or persons who may be found to have contravened any of these regulations; and the public are reminded, that no title to land in this Colony held or claimed by any person not an aboriginal native of the same is valid in the eye of the law, or otherwise than null and void, unless confirmed by a grant from the Crown.

Given. &c. this tenth day of October, 1844.

ROBERT FITZ ROY, GOVERNOR.

APPENDIX No. V.

A TABLE of the Mean Temperature of the Air at Auckland during the Years 1840-41, 1841-42, 1842-43, and 1843-44.

A TABLE of the Mean Temperature of the Air at Auckland during the Years 1840-41, 1841-42, 1842-43, and 1843-44.

A TABLE showing the Weather, enumerating the Showery, Rainy, and Dry Days in the Years 1840-41, 1841-42, 1842-43, and 1843-44.

A TABLE showing the Weather, enumerating the Showery, Rainy, and Dry Days in the Years 1840-41, 1841-42, 1842-43, and 1843-44.

A TABLE of the Quantity of Rain that fell at Auckland from September 1843, to September 1841.

A TABLE of the Quantity of Rain that fell at Auckland from September 1843, to September 1841.

By making an allowance for absorption, as the rain gauge employed is made of painted wood, and also for evaporation, the quantity of rain that fell during twelve months may be estimated at 31-50 inches.

THE END.

LONDON: H.I. STEVENS, 8, PHILPOT LANE, FENCHURCH STREET, CITY.

5 Kawanatanga is not a native word; it has been used by the Missionaries since the arrival of Governor Hobson, to express Governorship.

6 He Kapitana i te Roiara Nawi is some kind of gibberish which cannot be translated.

7 Kawana intended for Governor.

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