Sketches in New Zealand

W. Tyrone Power

First published by Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans in 1849

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

Epub © 2013 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927279-79-3

[TITLE PAGES]

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SKETCHES IN NEW ZEALAND

WITH PEN AND PENCIL.

BY W. TYRONE POWER , D. A. C. G.

From a Journal kept in that Country from July 1846, to June 1848.

CROIX-ILE HARBOUR, COOK'S STRAITS.

LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1849.

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[DEDICATION]

TO

SIR CHARLES TREVELYAN, K. C. B.

THESE SKETCHES ARE DEDICATED,

AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT

FROM HIS OBLIGED SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.

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[PREFACE]

PREFACE.

I AM aware that some apology is necessary for venturing to intrude such slight and incomplete sketches on the public: and the only excuse I can make is, that they are a mere transcript from a journal and sketch-book, kept for my own amusement. The most I can hope is, that, in affording an hour's light reading, I may at the same time convey the impression, so strong in my own mind, of the fitness of this colony for English emigrants of all classes, and perhaps induce a spirit of enquiry which, in better hands, may exhibit all the advantages of this beautiful and promising country.

It only remains for me to thank those kind friends to whom I am indebted for some of the sketches, which have been selected from a great number placed by them at my disposal, and more particularly by my fellow traveller, the Honourable W. Yelverton, Royal Horse Artillery. The sketches by Mr. Dillon Bell and Mr. Gilfillan were given me in New Zealand, at

a period when I anticipated, as little as they could have done, that they would be submitted to the public: and I should hesitate in making use of them for such a purpose, were I not sure that I can depend on their kindness, to pardon me for trespassing on the ample store of interesting subjects they have collected.

Bath: May, 1849.

[CONTENTS]

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION – – - Page xvii

CHAP. I.

Departure from Sydney. The Capital of New Zealand. Leave Auckland. Wellington. Waikanahi. Maories. Capture of a Whale. Whaling Station at Kapiti. Camp at Porirua. Life in Camp - - - - - 1

CHAP. II.

Roughing it at Porirua. Narrow Escape. Spirited Adventure. Supineness of the Enemy. Horokiwi Valley. Field Service in New Zealand. Rude Travelling - - - 14

CHAP. III.

Appearance of the Country. Trade at Wainui. Grand War-dance. Friendly Natives at Waikanahi. Korero at Otaki. At the Porirua Camp again - - - - 23

CHAP. IV.

Rough Travelling. Impressions of the Country. Bush Costume. Outpost Occupations. Prospects of a Move - - - - 36

CHAP. V.

Departure from Wellington. Port Underwood. Pleasant Sailing. Effect of wild Scenery. Rauperaha. Memoirs of two great Men. Catching a Weasel asleep - - 41

CHAP. VI.

Reach Wanganui. The Taua Retreats. Landing the Troops. Trade of the Settlement. Christmas-day at the Antipodes - - - - Page 53

CHAP. VII.

Dull Quarters. Native Visitors. Inconveniences of the "Tapu." Conveniences of the "Tapu." Consequences of breaking the "Tapu." Advantages of the "Tapu" - - 58

CHAP. VIII.

New Zealand Tactics. Advantage of employing Steamers. An eligible Depot. Building the Stockade. Native Jollifications. Moral Force in Pig-driving. Characteristics of well-bred Pigs - - - - - - 64

CHAP. IX.

Good Companions. Shooting. Birds. Pig-hunting. The "Kiwi." "More Pork." Variety of Fish. Kawai Fishing. Whitebait and Oysters - - - - 71

CHAP. X.

Move to New Quarters. Rebellious Pigs. The Land Question. History of Wanganui. A Hint to go. Officious Meddlers. Unlucky Accident - - - - 79

CHAP. XI.

Startling Incident. Savage Murder. Domestic Tragedy. Capture of the Murderers. Ruse de Guerre - - 86

CHAP. XII.

Rumours of War. Conduct of the Prisoners. Ruin of the Settlers. Opening the Ball. Skirmish in the Town. A great Chief shot - - - - - 94

CHAP. XIII.

Wariness of the Enemy. Reinforcements. Reconnoissance. Tamati Waka. Te Whero Whero. More Skirmishing. Clumsy Equipments - - - Page 102

CHAP. XIV.

Narrow Escape. Truce. Nelson. Produce. Croix-ile. Middle Island. Price of Land. High Rate of Labour - 108

CHAP. XV.

Wellington. Porirua. Mischief of Absenteeism. Want of Concentration. Commercial Schemes - - - 116

CHAP. XVI.

Wanganui. Otaki. Land Sales. Objects of the Purchasers. Fictitious Bargains. Proprietorship of Waste Lands. Nine Points in the Law favour the Natives. Recent Government Purchase. Journey to Wanganui - - - - 127

CHAP. XVII.

Good and Evil. Maori Ethnology. Missionary Influence. Change of Character - - - - - 141

CHAP. XVIII.

River Scenery. Retaining Fees. Interior of a Maori "Pa." Diving Belles - - - - - 150

CHAP. XIX.

Leave of Absence. "Eno Wanganui." Rough Journeying. Deplorably fine Climate. Maori Encampment. Injudicious Measures. Law and Equity. Danger of meddling with Law. Guilty, or Not Guilty - - - - - 154

CHAP. XX.

Otaki. Architectural Improvements. Advantage of keeping the Natives employed. Wellington again. Inducements to emigrate. Climate and Productions. Prospects of Settlers. Preponderance of the native Population. A New England - - - - - Page 179

CHAP. XXI.

Under Weigh. Imported Labour. "Put Money in thy Purse." New Zealand Company. Costly Loan. "Imperium in Imperio." New Associations. Voyage to New Zealand - - - - - 195

CHAP. XXII.

Port Jackson. Sydney. Overland Route - - 204

CHAP. XXIII.

Leave Sydney. Enter Torres Straits. Coral Reefs and Sandbanks. Straits Depot. Booby Island - - 213

CHAP. XXIV.

Fish out of Water. Undeveloped Resources. Depots and Consulates. Straits of Lombok. Appenam. Campongs. Trade and Enterprise. Malay Characteristics. Rajah of Lombok. Cock-pits and Markets. Military Power - - - - 219

CHAP. XXV.

Singapore. Investiture of Sir James Brooke. Succession of Gaieties. Straits of Malacca. Pulo Penang. The Mountain and Plain. Universal Tolerance. Motley Population. Chinese Emigration. European Society - - - - 233

CHAP. XXVI.

Sail for Calcutta. Hooghly River. Doorgah Poojah. Natch Girls. City of Palaces. Madras - - Page 246

CHAP. XXVII.

Point de Galle. Aden. Bab-el-Mandeb. Suez. Crossing the Desert - - - - 254

CHAP. XXVIII.

Cairo. Riding the high Horse. The Streets and People. The new Mosque. Mosque of Sultan Hassan. The Nile. Mehemet Ali. Alexandria. Egyptian Men-of-War. Change of Climate. Malta. Gibraltar - - - 260

APPENDIX - - - - - 273

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

[Illustrations 1 and 4-10 are missing from the copy digitised]

1. Mr. Gilfillan's Farm, Matarawa, Wanganui River, Frontispiece

2. Croix-ile Harbour, Middle Island (wood-cut) Title-page

3. Rauperaha, Chief of the Ngatitoa (wood-cut) Page 51

4. Native fishing Pa, Wanganui - - - 54

5. English Stockades and fortified Houses, Wanganui - - 94

6. Tamati Waka Nene, Chief of the Ngapui - - 104

7. Tunu-haere Pa, Wanganui River - - - 150

8. Interior of a Maori Pa, Wanganui - - - 160

9. Peri-kino, Wanganui - - - - - 166

10. Dillon Bell's Fall, Mount Egmont - - - 194

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[INTRODUCTION]

INTRODUCTION.

CONSIDERABLE interest has been felt with regard to New Zealand ever since the publication of Cook's Voyages made the world acquainted with the natural advantages and capabilities of these "Green Isles" of the Southern Seas.

Several unsuccessful ventures were made, at different times, by private enterprise, to form a settlement in one or the other of these islands, but being unsupported by government, and backed by very little capital or continued energy, they never surmounted the first obstacles and trials they encountered.

While systematic colonisation could not obtain a footing, individual enterprise was more successful; and numbers of white men, principally English and Americans, might, as long as twenty years ago, have been found in occupation of the best sites for whaling, sealing, and trading with the natives. They lived on sufferance among the Maories, who appear to have

been generally glad to have them for neighbours, as they profited by their superior knowledge of mechanics, and obtained from them arms, ammunition, and clothing, in exchange for provisions, and for the use of the land they occupied, or, not less profitable, in payment for other delicate services; it being expected that every European should take a Maori helpmate from the tribe among whom he sojourned, however short the period might be.

The number of Europeans living in this way were, in 1838, estimated at 2000; and from their influence with the natives, and the vicious example they sometimes set, they had already become a source of considerable anxiety to the missionaries; and the prejudice and ill-will entertained against them by the latter body appear to have been extended, without discrimination, to all subsequent settlers, and to have been perpetuated to the present time.

The missionaries had established considerable influence among the chiefs of the northern part of the island as early as 1831, and appear to have constituted themselves the governors of the country, as regards all foreign influence. The English government, in that year, actually accredited an officer to them, who, through their mediation, presented the chiefs with a national flag, which was subsequently inaugu-

rated in the presence of the crews of several English and American ships, and saluted with twenty-one guns by H. M. S. "Alligator." Principally through their management, a nominal confederation of native chiefs was formed, – a declaration of independence sanctioned; and the country, which had no native name, was christened "Na Terrene," which sounds as if it had some meaning, but which, in reality, is nothing more than a corruption and mispronunciation of New Zealand.

All these proceedings were sanctioned and approved at home; for they had a specious look, and one might fairly expect a considerable advance in civilisation from a people professed to be capable of self-government. This, however, was very far indeed from being really the case. The only confederation that had ever existed among any of the tribes, had been for purposes of war and rapine. Each sept considered itself perfectly independent, and held no communication with any other with the view of common government. There did, about this period, exist a sort of alliance between the Ngapuhi and Waikatos, who carried on the most devastating wars, in which whole tribes were exterminated, or driven from their land; and which convulsed the island from one side to the other, causing most of the

changes in the ownership of land, to readjust which still threatens considerable difficulty.

There was no authority, no representation, and no government; and the only thing like a confederation, that can be discovered, is that of a few missionaries at Waimate and the Bay of Islands, whose representations of the state of civilisation and of the social condition of the natives led to those mistaken notions regarding them, which were at the bottom of all the first troubles and difficulties.

The disavowal of British authority over New Zealand, admitted the right of the French, or of any foreign nation, to obtain sovereign jurisdiction; and expeditions were planned, both in France and Germany, to colonise a portion of these islands, with the ultimate view, no doubt, of extending their jurisdiction over the whole of them. An emigrant ship, accompanied by a French frigate, actually arrived in the southern island, and anchored at Akeroa, only a few days after the English flag had been hoisted; thus saving the colony from another dilemma, that might have ultimately proved more troublesome and irremediable than any of the rest.

The New Zealand Company, acting on the authority of Her Majesty's ministers, that New Zealand was an independent country, and the natives

free to dispose of their lands as they pleased, dispatched their agent, Col. Wakefield, to make purchases of lands for the purpose of colonisation on a large scale.

The public interest felt in the plans of the Company, and the number of emigrants who, under its auspices, were finding their way to New Zealand, awoke ministers to the necessity of resuming the authority which had been too thoughtlessly disclaimed: Captain Hobson was dispatched as consul to the confederation, and instructed to obtain a cession of the sovereignty from the native chiefs, "over such territories as may be possessed by British subjectS" over which territories he received a commission to act as lieutenant-governor.

Immediately on his arrival. Captain Hobson took measures to obtain the cession of the sovereignty, not only of "the territories possessed by British subjects" but of the whole of New Zealand; and a treaty was concocted at Waitangi, which was signed by 512 natives, who, by a pleasant fiction, were supposed to represent a population of 120,000 souls, or thereabouts. These signatures were obtained partly at Waitangi, where the proclamation, blankets, and tobacco, were received with acclamations; and partly by the influence of a missionary, who made a rapid

tour in a small coasting vessel, calling at the most convenient localities, and obtaining the signatures of all who came on board to dine or trade till the list was swelled out to the number of 512; quite sufficient, if looked upon as representatives of the mass, only that they do not appear to have been empowered to act for the general good. Moreover, a great many tribes never saw such a treaty or heard that it was in process of formation; and many individuals who did sign it knew as much what they were about, as if requested to put their mark to an acceptance for a hundred pounds, – and cared as little. This official farce concluded, measures were at once adopted to check the evils which had been caused by the renunciation of the sovereignty, the principal of which was the sale of lands to Europeans.

Captain Hobson complains, almost immediately after his arrival, "that there are nine hundred claims which involve twenty millions of acres," and "that tracts of country, in some cases five hundred miles square, are claimed by single individuals." The difficulty of arranging these claims was increased tenfold by the want of any system of recognised right of property among the natives, the same lands having been frequently sold to different parties by the victors and vanquished, or without the shadow of a right

at all; yet all parties, natives as well as Europeans, were determined to vindicate their claims, and stand out for their rights. I have heard of lands having been sold by a tribe in anticipation of conquest, in the same way that well-tatooed heads were sometimes sold to virtuosi while still playing a conspicuous and important part on their owners' shoulders, the purchaser leaving it to the honour of the seller to deliver the property at the first convenient opportunity. 1

Colonel Wakefield, the New Zealand Company's agent, had six months' fair start before Governor Hobson's arrival, and before the proclamation was published, which declared any future sales of land by the natives to be null and void. As might be expected, he made the most of his time, and acquired a title, such as it was, to very large tracts of land on both sides of Cook's Straits.

Swarms of speculators came into the field from the Australian colonies, and it is amusing to see the perfect indifference they evinced to the quality of their titles; and the same tracts of land were sold by some of the chiefs over and over again within a few weeks, without reference to any previous sales. The real object of the purchasers, in most cases, was to use the titles thus acquired as a means of annoyance to the

New Zealand Company or to the local government, with the view of enforcing compensation for a renunciation of their fictitious claims.

The value of the trade in flax, oil, and native articles of produce, were among the principal inducements held out to emigrants in the New Zealand Company's circulars. Strange to say, however, almost simultaneously with the arrival of settlers, these sources of trade began to fall off, and now the quantity of oil and flax collected in the colony is scarcely worth mentioning. The whalers, by killing the whales and cubs which frequented the coast at the breeding season, rapidly decreased their numbers, and now there are not half-a-dozen boats employed in coast whaling between Wellington and Teranaki, where, a few years ago, every convenient nook and bay had its establishment. The natives have ceased to prepare flax for the market, in favour of other occupations, by which they can supply their wants equally well, without so much trouble to themselves; and although the flax plant grows wild, in the greatest abundance, in all parts of the country, the preparation of the fibre is not likely to be resumed, unless some easier method of preparing it than any now known be discovered. Another great inducement to speculators was the apparent cheapness of land, which, if

those who returned from the country might be believed, could be purchased in any quantity for a mere song.

With these views the New Zealand Company formed their schemes; and when the richness of the soil and the salubrity of the climate are taken into consideration, it is not surprising that they should have looked forward with confidence to the perfect success of their plans.

It is probable that if the Company had waited for information from Colonel Wakefield before sending out their settlers, he would have sufficiently demonstrated to them the error in their calculations as regarded the facility of procuring land. Almost immediately after his arrival he reports to the Company, "That the laws of property are very undefined in this part of New Zealand;" that neither Rauperaha, or Hiko (the two greatest chiefs in Cook's Straits) possesses the power of absolute disposal of any portion of the land in the Straits; and he complains of "the uncertainty in the ownership of land, which has been usurped by tribe after tribe in a series of years;" proving how soon he had discovered that the chiefs had no right to alienate the lands of their tribe, and on what questionable title they sometimes professed to claim it.

The New Zealand Company, depending on the reports they had heard, or determined to run any risk rather than check the tide of their popularity, then at its height, sold tens of thousands of acres, before learning that they were actually possessors of a single rood of the soil, and sent six or seven shiploads of settlers out so fast on Colonel Wakefield's heels, that he was obliged to make any arrangements he could for their reception. Under these circumstances, he was glad to procure land any where, and almost on any terms; and as fast as it was procured, it was apportioned to the new arrivals as they came thickly in, with the hope that, in many cases where the title was defective, or the purchase incomplete, the difficulties might be removed, and all parties satisfied, by after arrangements.

There would have been very little difficulty in this, if the matter had continued to rest between Colonel Wakefield and the natives; but, in the meantime, mischievous, interested meddlers intervened, who used every possible exertion to increase the embarrassments. The natives were instructed to put in new claims, to refuse all compromise, and, in many instances, to deny all knowledge of any bargain having been made. They were generally advised not to sell their lands on any terms, or, having sold them, were

recommended not to stand by the agreement. To increase the discontent of the natives, and further to embarrass the settlers, they were represented as outcasts from their own land, and slaves whom the Governor would soon reduce to subjection.

The natives appear to have been cajoled and sympathised with, and taught to believe they had been cheated and abused, till almost all of them determined to resist the occupation of the lands; and even those who could not but admit that their lands had been fairly purchased, considered themselves swindled and ill-used, and consequently bore no good will to the settlers.

The sudden influx of population, into what a few months before were savage wilds, surpasses any thing known in the annals of colonisation. The total value of property at Wellington in the first year was estimated at 200,000l., of which 18,000l. is reported to have been laid out in building houses, stores, and mills, and 15,000l. was the estimated value of the coasting vessels belonging to the port. 2

The sudden increase in the value of land, and the large sums paid for eligible localities in Port Nicholson, added considerably to the difficulty of coming to an amicable arrangement with the natives, who were astonished and mortified to see so much value put upon what they had parted with for so little. It was explained, that a tenth of all lands was reserved for their benefit, the value of which would soon be so much enhanced by the surrounding settlements, that they would far exceed the original value of the whole tract: – but it was not found easy to make even a savage comprehend that it was for his advantage that he should be deprived of nine tenths of his property.

There would, however, have been no ultimate difficulty in coming to an arrangement, if It had not been for the jealousies and opposition on the part of Europeans, with which the company and its settlers had to contend. The first and principal opponent was the local government, with its crew of interested advisers, who appear in every instance to have supported the natives in standing out against compromise, or by instructing them to make the most exorbitant demands, and who at last suspended all surveys, and directed Europeans in no case to retain possession, of

land to which any native should merely assert a claim.

Unfortunately for himself and the colony, Captain Hobson, instead of acting independently, appears to have allied himself to the Northern party from the very outset. Acting on the interested views of his advisers, and without even taking the trouble to visit the southern settlements, whose geographical position, as well as the wealth, commerce, and number of settlers, gave them, at any rate, a claim to be considered, he pitched upon Russel, a barren and unoccupied spot in the Bay of Islands, as the seat of his capital. It would have been difficult to make a worse selection, in any point of view, as he speedily discovered, though not till he had enriched many of the land-sharks, who followed obsequiously in his train. 3

This first blunder might, one would think, have induced the Governor to make a more careful examination before committing himself a second time; and as he was sent to govern a colony, not to found one, it might have been supposed that he would, temporarily at least, have made his head-quarters where the largest population was to be found. The original spirit of the Lieutenant-Governor's instructions, that he should administer the government "over such

territories as might have been acquired by British subject," seems by both the first two governors to have been made quite secondary to the new order of things brought about by the treaty of Waitangi; and their object appears to have been to propitiate the natives, at any cost to the settlers.

In the second hunt for a capital, a spot was pitched upon on the Waitemata, in the Gulf of Hauraki, and denominated "Auckland," which still continues to be the seat of government. 4 Its principal merit is a good harbour and its connection with the interior by navigable streams; it is well situated for trade with the natives, and is an excellent military position: but placed as it is at the northern end of the islands, as far removed very nearly as it can be from the other settlements, it will not, I think, long continue to be the chief town in New Zealand. Everything seems to point to the central position of Cook's Straits as the most convenient spot for commerce and communication, and I believe that before many years are over, the greatest population will be found in one of the beautiful bays on the southern side of the Straits, where there are all the advantages of position, a better and more equable climate than in any other part of New Zealand, and easy communication with

the Wairau and other large plains of the interior, suitable for agriculture or stock-keeping.

At Auckland, for the first few years, the anomalous position was seen of a Governor, troops, officials, and all the paraphernalia of colonial and legal administration without colonists, the only representation of that portion of the community being a collection of land-sharks, Pecksniffs, and jackals, who were on the alert for what could be picked up. There were not labourers sufficient even to put up the Governor's house; and the abstraction of a few mechanics from Port Nicholson for this purpose raised a storm of indignation among the southern settlers, at whose expense they had been brought out.

Scarcely any notice was taken of the southern settlements, beyond sending down an official with a small detachment of troops, on the presumption that the settlers were disposed to resist the constituted authorities. The Governor's delegate was received with open arms, and returned to Auckland with addresses of congratulation and expressions of the satisfaction of the settlers at being once more brought under the authority of the home government, instead of having to report their insubordination and resistance, as was hoped and expected.

It would be painful as well as uninteresting to the

general reader, to enter into a detail of events of the succeeding three or four years, which passed in an uninterrupted succession of petty disputes and undignified quarrels between the local government and the settlers, in which each party appears to have acted with the steady determination of causing the greatest amount of annoyance and embarrassment to the other. 5

The appointment of a new governor only seemed to hasten the catastrophe, and an increased spirit of bitterness and personal ill-will was perceptible throughout the colony. Commerce was ruined by the constant vacillation of the council, which one day imposed a tariff, and then almost without warning declared the ports free; so that merchants never knew on what grounds to base their speculations.

The government pre-emption right was annulled, and the only fee required from purchasers was 1s. per acre, to the manifest disadvantage of those who had invested capital at 20s., 25s., and 30s. per acre, which had previously been the upset prices, besides leading to a system of jobbing and chicanery in direct dealings between Europeans and natives, which could only lead to mutual distrust and ill-will.

The settlers were beggared by jobbing in town-

lands, which, in some instances, rose to the most preposterous prices. In fact, at one time, land, per foot, was selling at a higher rate in Auckland than it could be purchased at in London.

Lots were sold to private individuals, and repurchased by government; and it is reported that many of the officials, in the loose way in which the public business was carried on, managed to take advantage of the times to feather their own nests.

At Auckland all this was going on in the small space of a few acres, comprised in the town-lands, beyond which the settlement could not be said to exist. No cultivation took place; trade was at a stand-still; and the emigrants, unable to get possession of their lands, or ruined by jobbing, hung about the town till their capital was got rid of and their patience exhausted. 6

In the south, owing to the opposition of the officials and the subordination of the natives, very little more could be done. Most of the settlers were confined to the townships, or their immediate neighbourhood; the purchase of land was checked altogether, and every difficulty thrown in the way of arrangement. It must have been a melancholy thing to see these settlements, which had commenced with such energy

and vigour, so utterly paralysed and prostrated; to see the shipping which had filled the port, gradually dwindle away; the bustle and activity of improvement subside, and despondency and disappointment succeed to the joyous confidence that animated all parties at the early period of the settlement.

This state of things continued almost without change, and without any prospect of improvement, till the colony was reduced to its last gasp; all the capital of the settlers was gone and nothing was incoming, and, as a natural consequence, the Governor's finances got into disorder. No gold or silver came into the treasury, while the expenditure continued to be extravagant, and, as a last resource and the completion of ruin, debentures were issued, unbased on any capital, and not representing coin in any shape, as no means were provided for the repayment. 7

The natives, encouraged by protectors and by interested parties, resumed their land in almost every instance; and in some cases, as at the Valley of the Hutt, the land appropriated to settlers was seized by tribes who had not a shadow of a claim, with the view of getting compensation for relinquishing possession of it. The respect and awe with which the

natives looked upon Europeans was soon shaken by the expressions of contempt and abuse that were bandied about between the government and settlers, and was finally destroyed after the lamentable massacre at the Wairau, as the murderers were allowed to go at large with impunity, while their conduct was even applauded by the authorities. From this period all restraint appears to have been cast off by the natives, and the cry rose simultaneously from one side of the island to the other, in consequence of their aggressions and the threatening attitude they were assuming. 8 The officials, for the first time, appear to have awoke to the state of the country and the necessity for restraining the bad spirit that had so long been encouraged; and then might be heard the superintendant at Wellington, the mischief-making protector, and even the Governor, all at once craving assistance and military force to put down the armed assemblies, which, having fooled them to the top of their bent, now defied them.

At the Hutt, a large armed force of the natives were in possession of the settlers' lands; at Porirua, Rauperaha and Rangihaeta treated settlers and government with like contempt, and robbed, burnt, or destroyed, as seemed good to themselves. At

Wanganui, war parties annoyed and robbed the settlers with impunity, and declared their independence of British rule and contempt for all authority; while in the north a combination of chiefs, headed by Heki and Kawiti, surprised the town of Russel, expelled the inhabitants, and burnt it to the ground, declaring their intention to resist the introduction of British supremacy into their country.

The ferment among the natives, so general and simultaneous, is not difficult of explanation, and might have been anticipated, or provided for, had a little common sense been exerted. It must be remembered that, at the period when the first settlements were formed, the natives had been accustomed to have white people among them, but always in a subordinate position, and making themselves useful, either by their mechanical knowledge or superior information. The prospect of an increase in the number of such useful assistants and allies was looked forward to with satisfaction by the natives generally; but they were quite unprepared for the numbers which actually did arrive, still less for the independent tone and high ground which they at once assumed. After the first surprise was got over, the natives began to adapt themselves easily to the new order of things, and reaped largely from the

abundance of capital which was poured into the country, and very little discontent was apparent so long as prosperity lasted. Adversity soon came, and with it increased bitterness in all disputes; money became very scarce, and the demand for native supplies and native labour totally ceased. Good feelings arising from mutual benefits began quickly to evaporate, and there was plenty of time and spare excitement to bestow on the differences about land and other matters which, had there been more profitable occupation for the unruly spirits, would have been easily arranged. After the removal of the local government and its expenditure from Russel, the powerful native tribes in that neighbourhood became discontented, particularly as, since the establishment of law and order, the whaling-ships, which had been a profitable source of trade to them, ceased to frequent the Bay of Islands. It was a desire for a renewal of the old order of things, and the recollection of the scenes of self-indulgence, drunkenness, and savage debauchery in which they had been accustomed to engage, and by which they had profited greatly, that principally brought Heki and Kawiti into the field. In the south there were no such definite objects in view, but there was a general feeling of discontent and ill-humour,

the effect of idleness and undefined expectations acting on a savage and excitable temperament. Fortunately for the colony, many chiefs, both in the north and south, stood by the government; some of them incited thereto by an inclination for a better state of things, some because more was to be made by being on our side, and the chief part by remembrances of old feuds and bad blood with the tribes who had taken the field, and who, they feared, might make them the next victims after having driven out the Europeans.

The massacre at the Wairau, our expulsion from Russel, and the disastrous reverse at Ohaio-Wai, signalised our first encounters with the natives, and gave them a degree of self-confidence and contempt for Europeans that by no means tended to bring back things to a good footing.

At this period the colony had reached the lowest deep; to fall farther would have been to cease to exist. Bankruptcy, dissension, misgovernment, and reverses in the field had nearly given it the last stroke, when Capt. Grey, Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia, was sent to the rescue, and his coming was hailed with universal satisfaction as the harbinger of better days.

Capt. Grey had early distinguished himself by his

studies in the senior department of the Military College at Sandhurst, but is more generally known by the enterprise and talent displayed in his exploratory journies in South Australia, and his humane, if not feasible, theories for governing the natives. Owing to the talent displayed in these works, and the celebrity they obtained for him, he received the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia, where he arrived under precisely similar circumstances as those which caused his nomination to New Zealand. He repressed extravagance with a strong hand, reduced the government expenditure to the smallest possible compass, and established a revenue on which to base his future operations. His measures were at first so unpopular, that it was feared he would have to be recalled; in fact, public feeling against him was carried to such an extent that the tradespeople even refused to supply him with goods.

But the advantage of the changes wrought by him in the rapid improvement of the finances of the colony, and its generally increasing prosperity, soon produced a revulsion in the feelings of the settlers; and when the public service required that he should leave South Australia to extend the same benefits to New Zealand, the people, who had lately been so bitterly op-

posed to him, thought themselves aggrieved by his removal.

With the arrival of Governor Grey, the most energetic and vigorous measures were at once adopted to vindicate the laws; and it was determined to bring matters to an issue with all the chiefs who were openly hostile to the government. These prompt measures had an immediate effect in confirming the well-disposed natives in our favour, and in frightening the doubtful ones into subjection; so that, far from the number of our enemies actually in arms being increased, as was anticipated, it was found that they would have to stand the brunt of the war alone.

As it was, we had quite enough to do; and it was not till after some skirmishing that the rebels under Heki and Kawiti were finally shut up in their Pa at Rua-peka-peka. The approach to the Pa was most difficult, owing to the nature of the country, which was very hilly, and covered with intricate forests, through which a road had to be cut as the force advanced. The friendly natives were active and valuable allies; and Ripa and Tamati Waka Nene particularly distinguished themselves by their indefatigable zeal and courage.

The New Year of 1846, and the seventh year since the establishment of the colony, was spent by the

troops in front of the Pa, at Rua-peka-peka, where operations had already commenced, and shells and rockets thrown in; while the rebels on their side showed great spirit in several skirmishes. Batteries were erected at the distance of 160 and 350 yards from the Pa, and a constant fire kept up, which succeeded in breaching it, though probably without causing much loss to the enemy, as it was afterwards found they had formed bomb-proof excavations, in which they were safe from both shot and shell. 9

On the 11th of January (Sunday), no one being observed in the Pa, some of the natives crawled up, and it was discovered that it was empty. A signal was made to the nearest stockade, and Captain Denny, with the grenadier company of the 58th regiment, immediately effected an entrance, and was supported by troops and sailors who rapidly poured in through the breach. The rebels, who had not anticipated an assault on the Sunday, were on the outside of the Pa, and, on finding that it was taken, made a desperate attack to recover it, but were repulsed with considerable loss. Our loss amounted to twelve killed and thirty wounded, the greater part of whom fell while rashly pressing on the natives in the retreat through the forest. The rebels suffered great straits

from want of provisions after they were driven out of the Pa, and met with very little sympathy or assistance from the natives, who were awed by the energy beginning to be evinced by the government. Under these circumstances, it was not long before Heki and Kawiti sued for peace through the good offices of Tamati Waka, offering to give compensation in land, or to agree to any terms the Governor might be pleased to impose.

Having arranged the more pressing troubles in the north, Governor Grey lost no time in proceeding to the neglected settlements of the south, where he expressed himself surprised "with the results of the exertions of the settlers made to develope the resources of their adopted country, and to found a colony in every way worthy of the parent state." He at once took measures for removing the intruders from the Valley of the Hutt, and even refused to listen to their proposition to abandon their land on receiving compensation for their crops; and he required a specific day to be named on which the valley should be evacuated. The high ground thus taken with the natives, instead of being suitors to them through their ambassadors the Protectors, had an immediate effect; and an address was transmitted to the Governor, from most of the influential chiefs, including "Te

Rauperaha," asking for his protection and, assistance.

Much of this, however, was only for the purpose of gaining time, while some of the chiefs were determined to precipitate matters, and to commit the rest by an act of open hostility. With this view, a party, in the beginning of March, 1846, passed the outposts of the troops, in the Valley of the Hutt, and plundered sixteen or seventeen houses, retreating before they could be attacked. The country at the head of the Valley was so inaccessible that the Governor hesitated to pursue the marauders, and wisely, instead, adopted a plan which threatened to cut off their retreat, by the establishment of a post at Porirua, close to their only line of communication with the coast. This plan was fortunately successful, as the natives had no means of subsistence in the forests; and their rear being threatened, they at once fell back on Pauhatanui, abandoning the Hutt, and withdrawing the field of operations from the neighbourhood of the settlements.

An officer. Lieutenant Page of the 58th, was the first to find that the enemy's position in the Hutt had been evacuated, and, on examination, it proved most fortunate that the Governor's good sense had been acted on instead of the rash advice of those who

counselled an attack at all risks. It was found that the forest which had been held by the enemy was traversed by a single narrow track, almost impassable to Europeans. At the distance of a mile and a half, the path ascended a narrow ridge of rocks, having a precipice on each side, covered with jungle. The ridge was so narrow, that only one person could ascend at a time, and led to a hill with a broad summit, on which a stockade had been constructed, so as completely to command the path, which was rendered more difficult by an abattis built across it.

The rear of the position was quite as inaccessible as the front, and on each flank was a precipice. From the number of huts, it must have been occupied by from three hundred to four hundred men. This is a very good specimen of the sort of position usually selected for defence by the Maories, and one that might have caused us severe loss, but for the better tactics of Governor Grey, who had succeeded in making the enemy abandon it without costing us a man.

In the beginning of the following month a barbarous murder was committed by some of the natives under the protection of Rangihaeta, who refused to give them up; moreover, making the road "tapu" 10

which communicated between the coast and Wellington, and otherwise acting in a hostile manner.

It had been the Governor's intention to wait for fine summer weather to begin field operations against the rebels; but it was found necessary at once to put a stop to such outrages, and as a check upon them, troops were sent round to occupy the point at Porirua.

In the meantime Rauperaha continued to make declarations of friendship, and was liberal in his offers of advice and assistance, though there were not wanting circumstances to excite suspicion.

Shut in, as Wellington is, by forest-covered mountains, it was evident that means must be immediately taken to open out communications with the interior, for military as well as for agricultural purposes. These were undertaken without delay, and within a few weeks Governor Grey had on hand works that ought to have been commenced years before, and

which might have obviated the chief difficulties that had now to be contended with.

From this period everything appeared to promise favourably. The roads were commenced, and the troops fortified their position at Porirua: Rauperaha continued to profess friendship, and the rebels, though still in arms, offered no interruption to the troops, and ceased to molest the settlers. This calm, however, was only in seeming, for on the 16th of May a party of natives, about two hundred strong, attacked the advanced outpost in the Valley of the Hutt, and were repulsed, though not till they had inflicted a severe loss on us.

The natives were led by a Wanganui chief, Mamaku, who selected the half-hour just before dawn to make his attack. The outpost was in a partial clearing surrounded by dense bush and fallen trees, through which the Maories approached close to the sentry, and would probably have tomahawked him before the alarm could be given, had not his dog sprung upon the nearest Maori and pinned him. The dog was wounded and the sentry tomahawked, though not before the alarm was given. It came too late, however, to save the piquet, who were imprudently quartered in a canvass tent, which formed a conspicuous object in the surrounding darkness; so that

they were almost all shot down by a single volley before they had time to extricate themselves. The men, though taken by surprise and at disadvantage, turned out rapidly, and maintained their ground, ultimately succeeding in driving off the enemy, though they had lost twelve men killed and wounded.

The Governor, who had gone to Auckland, lost no time returning to Wellington, and with his presence commenced the operations detailed in these sketches, and which ended in the capture of Te Rauperaha, in baffling the taua from Wanganui, compelling Rangihaeta and Mamaku to retreat from Pauhatanui, clearing the vicinity of the Wellington settlements from such unpleasant neighbours, and allowing roads to be constructed, the land to be cleared, and thus laying the foundation of the present prosperity.

In Auckland there has been no further necessity for a resort to arms, while the strength of the Europeans is rapidly increasing, and the construction of fortifications and roads are adding to the security of the settlements.

The natives are every day becoming more attached to the English government, and more inclined to peaceable occupations and the acquisition of property; and, if the present goodwill can only be maintained

for a few years, they will become entirely weaned from their inclination to resort to arms, form useful members of society, and be a blessing instead of a curse to the colonists.

At Wanganui, the old causes of quarrel have been amicably arranged; and we can count some of our firmest friends among those who were so lately arrayed in arms against us; many of them are now to be seen at the distance of three hundred miles from their own country, waging useful war against the forest-trees, or working on the roads, under the superintendence, in many instances, of the very men against whom they were formerly in arms.

Copper has been added to the exports from the north, and coal and iron have been found in abundance in the south; and there is now every prospect of the country justifying what was predicted of it in 1839, – "that there is no part of the earth in which colonisation could he effected with a greater or surer prospect of national advantage" 11

1 See Appendix I.

2 In the first half year of 1842, the Customs duties &c. levied at Wellington were 9000l., and the total amount of shipping which entered the port was 126 ships, registering 16,842 tons. At Nelson, the number of ships entering the port in the same period was fifty-eight, registering 14,719 tons; and the Customs duties levied were about 2,500l.

3 See Appendix H.

4 See Appendix III.

5 See Appendix IV.

6 See Appendix V.

7 See Appendix VI.

8 See Appendix VII.

9 See Appendix VIII.

10 The "tapu," or, as it is more frequently called, "taboo," is the practice alluded to by Cook and all subsequent travellers in New Zealand, the Society and Sandwich isles, and in most of the islands of the Pacific. The ceremony is usually performed by the "Ariki," or priest of the tribe, and can be applied to roads, fields, store-houses, men, beasts, &c. which are thus rendered sacred, and cannot be used, or meddled with, under pain of death, till the "tapu" is removed. The custom has now almost disappeared in New Zealand, or is confined to a few pagan tribes, and even with them it is gradually sinking into an unmeaning form.

11 Marquis of Normanby to Captain Hobson, August 14th, 1839. See Appendix IX.

CHAPTER I.

SKETCHES

IN

NEW ZEALAND.

CHAPTER I.

DEPARTURE FROM SYDNEY. – THE CAPITAL OF NEW ZEALAND. – LEAVE AUCKLAND. – WELLINGTON. – WAIKANAHI. – MAORIES. – CAPTURE OF A WHALE. – WHALING STATION AT KAPITI. – CAMP AT PORIRUA. – – LIFE IN CAMP.

SYDNEY. – I got on board the "Castor" frigate at daylight on the morning of July 17th, 1846, just as they had weighed anchor, and were dropping down the harbour with the sails scarcely lifting to the morning breeze. I could not help admiring the beautiful little bays and sandy coves, the wooded and rocky islets, and the number of pretty villas and gardens dotted about the hills on both sides of the lake-like expanse, and which were seen to the best advantage as we drifted slowly down towards the Heads.

I cannot say that I have any great desire to return to Sydney; for, though an exceedingly pretty place, and blessed with a healthy and generally pleasant climate, it would not be an agreeable residence for any length of time. The country, for a considerable distance round, is barren and uninteresting, affording no field sports worth speaking of; and the horses, though very cheap, are coarse, ugly, ill-broken, and generally vicious.

In the summer the town is scarcely habitable from the hot winds and dust; and, worse than all, it is now, with the exception of New Zealand, the place the farthest removed from all communication with Europe. But, in spite of many faults, Sydney is the best of our military stations for the officer, from the healthiness of the climate, and the cheapness of all the necessaries and most of the luxuries of life. For the common soldier it is exceedingly demoralising, from the vicious habits of most of the lower class, and the prevalence of all the drunkenness and low debauchery that may be looked for in a convict population.

After a comfortable voyage of eleven days, we dropped anchor at the entrance of the river Thames, and ran in with the flood tide on the following morning. The appearance of the country is barren

THE CAPITAL OF NEW ZEALAND.

and uninteresting. It consists of low, rolling hills, covered with fern; Mount Eden, and one or two other black, scoria-covered, volcanic hills, are in the distance, but their sterile look does not make the landscape more inviting. How heart-chilling to the emigrant must be the first glance at his adopted country, where the eye wanders over such a bleak and dreary expanse, without one pleasant spot to rest upon!

We anchored opposite the town, or rather the straggling village, of Auckland, which, at first sight, has by no means a prepossessing appearance; an effect that is unluckily confirmed on a closer inspection. There is no wharf or landing-place but the muddy beach, on which I was put on shore from one of the "Castor's" boats, and had to wade my way up to the barracks through a sea of mud.

On reporting myself, I found that I was destined to be sent off at once to the south, where there had been a fresh outbreak among the natives. Fortunately for me, the "Castor" was under orders to sail for Port Nicholson, to render what assistance she could; SO that I was to go down in her, instead of in one of the miserable little coasters, to which I must Otherwise have been consigned. There was very little time to become acquainted with Auckland, but

I took a stroll through it, and saw nothing but a beggarly collection of poverty-stricken huts and wooden houses, without any of the bustle and briskness that betokens business and prosperity. This, however, could hardly be otherwise, as the colony was only just beginning to recover from six years of blundering experiments and maladministration.

Groups of Maories squatted about the sunny side of the street with pipes in their jowls, a few half-drunken loafers (beach-combers, as they are called here) hanging about the numerous pot-houses, here and there a sleepy-looking shopkeeper leaning against his own door-post in the vain hope of a customer, and one or two Maories going from house to house with loads of wood on their shoulders for sale, were the only symptoms of vitality at the seat of government. The streets and roads were unpaved, and, in some places, knee-deep in mud; and the whole town had a slatternly and neglected look, that reminded me of some of the ill-selected and deserted locations in the backwoods of America.

I sailed again on the following morning, after less than twenty-four hours' acquaintance with Auckland. On getting outside the Heads we encountered a bitter wintry gale, such as one rarely sees except on this coast and in the English Channel; it was

WELLINGTON.

luckily in our favour, so we scudded away gallantly under close-reefed top-sails and fore-sail, the old barkie occasionally giving a roll that would send everything flying. It was fortunate for me to have fallen in with such a fine ship; the officers, too, were old acquaintances of mine in China, so that I was in as comfortable quarters as I could wish for, and far better than I was likely to meet with again for some time.

The gale took us all the way to Cape Palliser, which we rounded on the sixth day, and got into Port Nicholson before dark the same evening. The entrance to the port is through a channel about three miles in length, with high precipitous hills on either hand, and deep water everywhere, except on one reef which runs some distance into the channel, leaving, however, abundant space for a ship to work in.

Wellington has scarcely a more pleasing effect than Auckland at first sight, from the houses being thinly scattered along three miles of sea-shore, with precipitous forest-covered hills overhanging them. There are, however, some good wharves and quays, a capital hotel, and a good many large brick-built shops and stores, showing that there is more capital,

or a more enterprising population, than at the seat of government.

I went ashore and reported myself, and was informed that I should be required to join the field-force at Porirua with as little delay as possible. I was greatly amused to see the warlike look of most of the people I met, and who, in the guise of militia-men, were marching and counter-marching with most praiseworthy zeal. The guards, too, were mounted by the militia, as all the soldiers were away at Porirua, or the Hutt. A fortnight previously, before Rangihaeta and Mamaku retreated from the Hutt Valley, nearly the whole of the male population of Wellington was under arms, and, for some time, had an opportunity of indulging in the pleasures of military life, in mounting sentry, doing picket duty, and patrolling the muddy roads in the wet and cold winter nights.

I was making my arrangements to land myself and traps on the following morning, when I heard that Capt. Graham had just received a letter from Governor Grey, requesting him to set sail for Porirua immediately, as there had been more fighting, and Te Rauperaha, one of the greatest chiefs in the district, had been made prisoner for assisting the rebels. We started within an hour, with a fair wind.

WAIKANAHI.

which carried us to the island of Mana the same evening, where we anchored at a distance of about five miles from Porirua.

The Governor came off as soon as we anchored; when, to our surprise, orders were given to get under weigh for Kapiti, an island about fifteen miles off, and where we anchored the same evening. It appeared that Rangihaeta was retreating in the direction of the coast, and the Governor was anxious to contrive means to intercept and annoy him by the intervention of the tribes through whose lands he would have to pass.

The barge and cutter were ordered away after breakfast on the following morning, and the men directed to take their arms. On arriving at Waikanahi, after a pull of a couple of hours, we found all the natives at prayers, or learning their lessons from the native catechists. Some of the pupils were old grey-headed men, busy in the mysteries of the alphabet, and far more submissive and orderly than a class of English school-boys. At the conclusion of the lessons, which was probably hastened by our arrival each class, after singing a hymn, marched off and dispersed at word of command. Three or four hours were then spent in speech-making on the part of the Governor and the chiefs, and it ended in their

consenting; to aid and assist us to the best of their ability; and, as an earnest of their good faith, they gave up one of Rangihaeta's emissaries, who had been sent to ask assistance from them.

In the afternoon we went to the church, a fine, large building, of native construction, and very creditable to their taste and ingenuity. The service was read with much emphasis by a native teacher, who afterwards gave us a long sermon of which, of course, I did not understand a word; but it had an edifying effect on the audience, if one may judge by the close attention they paid. Almost the whole congregation had prayer-books and bibles in the Maori language, though they appeared to know the church-service by heart; even the young children gave the whole of the responses correctly and without hesitation. They repeat the responses simultaneously, and with the greatest attention to the punctuation, so that it produces a rhythmical effect, which, with the musical intonation they give it, is not unlike recitative.

The men are fine muscular fellows, and have pleasant, good-humoured looking countenances. A taste for European clothing appears to be general, and almost every one had some article of English dress. A few among them were quite dandies.

CAPTURE OF A WHALE.

dressed in chesterfields, or paletots, with cap, gloves, boots and straps complete. These favoured individuals had evidently a great opinion of their personal appearance, and were the centre of attraction for all the little coquetries of the young girls. The "Pa" is a large one, containing about 400 inhabitants; it has extensive plantations of potatoes, kumeras, and wheat, about three miles off.

Last year this tribe sent 450 bushels of wheat to market, for which they obtained 7s. per bushel (157l.). This had set them up for the winter in blankets and tobacco, and had encouraged them to plant more than four times the quantity this year. We just left the church in time to see the whale boats from Kapiti in pursuit of two whales; both of them were struck, but unluckily they crossed one another, and the lines got entangled: to save the boats it was necessary to cut one of them, so that the whale got off, though not till after an animated chase by half-a-dozen boats. The other whale was killed within a quarter of a mile of us, after a hard struggle for his life.

We were to have returned to Porirua on the following day, but a gale of wind set in which obliged us to remain quietly at our anchorage, where we were completely sheltered from both wind and sea.

In the course of the morning a whale boat came alongside from the whaling station at Kapiti, with a request for medical assistance for some of their women. The assistant surgeon was requested to go, and I accompanied him.

We arrived at the station just in time to see them cut up the whale they captured yesterday; it was a female of a piebald colour, and about seventy feet in length. The value of a whale of this size is estimated at about 300l., and the capture of four of them would pay all the expenses of the station for a season. There are about fifty or sixty Europeans employed on this station, which is now the largest in New Zealand, though a few years ago there were no less than seven establishments on Kapiti alone, and all larger than this.

There are only four European women at the station, the greater part of the men being provided with Maori sweethearts to keep house for them. These last, it is said, make by far the best helpmates, being sober, thrifty, and hard-working; they attach themselves very strongly to their white partners, putting up with their frequent ill-usage without complaint, and are always cheerful and good-humoured. They are extremely inexpensive too, their dress consisting of a calico gown and a blanket, and their only luxury

CAMP AT PORIRUA.

an occasional pipe of tobacco, the cost of which they fully repay by obtaining potatoes and fish, without charge, from their relations. On our return to the ship it rained and blew very hard, so that I could scarcely have conceived it possible for an open boat to live in such weather – at times we seemed almost to fly over the crests of the waves, but, with the aid of the powerful twenty-feet steer oar in the experienced hands of the whalers, we rode safely over them, scarcely taking a drop of water on board.

We got under weigh from Kapiti the following morning (August 11th), and ran to our old anchorage under Mana, where I bade adieu to my friends of the "Castor" with some regret, after spending three weeks most pleasantly with them.

On landing at Porirua we found, to our great surprise, that the whole of the soldiers had returned from the Horokiwi Valley. There had been no fighting since the skirmish in which Ensign Blackburne was killed; In fact, owing to the dreadful weather and the impenetrable nature of the country, nothing more had been attempted except to throw some shells into the enemy's intrenchment, and which had no effect. The camp is a miserable place in the midst of sand hills on the sea shore, and completely exposed to the violent gales which are very frequent

at this season. There is a slight stockade round the small reed huts in which officers and men live, without chairs and tables, and with only a couple of blankets for a bed: this in a dry climate might be well enough, but here, where it has poured incessantly for six weeks, it is no joke.

It was a startling change for me, so recently from the luxurious habits of China, and the comforts of Sydney and of the "Castor," to find myself left on the shore in such a place, a stranger in a strange land, and unprepared to fall into the habits of my companions, exposed to rain and wind, with coarse fare and coarser lodging, my clothing ill adapted to the climate, and altogether inexperienced in the scrambling state of society where the rule appears to be "every man for himself, and God for us all." It was a most uncomfortable though not an unexciting scene, from the constant arrivals and departures, rumours of war, alarming reports, the anxiety for news from the outposts, the numerous shifts and resources to employ time and extract amusement from such limited resources, and the ingenuity required to supply the commonest wants. In the evening thirty-six of us sat down to dinner, consisting of native beef, biscuit, and rum. Our utensils were tin and pewter plates and tin cups,

ROUGHING IT AT PORIRUA.

which latter served alternately to contain the soup, the grog, and the coffee. He was a lucky man who had knife, fork, and spoon, very few had all three, some none at all; and these last fared badly in the general scramble, and met with but little pity or assistance from their more fortunate neighbours.

CHAPTER II.

CHAP. II.

ROUGHING IT AT PORIRUA – NARROW ESCAPE – SPIRITED ADVENTURE. – SUPINENESS OF THE ENEMY. – HOROKIWI VALLEY. – FIELD SERVICE IN NEW ZEALAND. – RUDE TRAVELLING.

WHEN first the soldiers came to Porirua after Mamaku and Rangihaeta had retreated from the Hutt Valley to Pauhatanui, there was no accommodation whatever for them. They were landed on the beach in the depth of winter, and for some time were exposed to unparalleled privation and misery. They built huts for themselves of fern, flax, and reeds, as soon as they could; and were for some weeks engaged from morning till night in felling timber, dragging it through the bush to the water's edge, and rafting it to the camp. Often, after toiling from dawn till dark, they would have to turn out and get under arms several times in the night, on an alarm from the sentries, or the appearance of prowling scouts from the enemy. The season, too, was unusually cold and wet, so that for several successive weeks there were few men who ever had

NARROW ESCAPE.

dry clothing on by day or by night. The only land communication with Wellington was by a forest path, so bad and impracticable, that all supplies had to be sent round by sea; and even this, from the stormy weather, was very precarious. The bare necessaries of life were all that could be obtained, and luxuries were never thought of.

In the meantime Rangihaeta and his followers were in a strongly fortified Pa at Pahautanui, about three miles from Porirua, from which they might have harassed and annoyed us exceedingly, but they either wanted perseverance and energy, or, as is more probable, were sorely puzzled, baffled, and annoyed by the untiring ubiquity of the gun-boat, under the command of a midshipman of the "Calliope," who, on more than one occasion, taught them a severe lesson, and acquired for himself the title of "Kai-tangata," or man-slayer. On one occasion, in cruising at the head of the bay, not far from Pauhatanui, he got aground very near a wooded point where a number of the enemy were hidden. There was an immediate rush on their part through the shallow water to seize the boat, and they advanced rapidly upon him, yelling and brandishing their tomahawks. Our young commander, nothing daunted, waited till they were well within reach, then gave

them a volley from the small arms and a round of grape and cannister, that sent them back howling, and a great deal faster than they came.

On another occasion this officer, with the Hon. Mr. Y – – – of the artillery, Captain L – – – of the 58th, in a whale boat manned by officers and seamen, who volunteered for the expedition, set off before daylight with muffled oars, to ascertain, if possible, the real position and strength of the enemy's Pa, of which much had been heard, but nothing positively known. The danger was considerably enhanced by their having to cross a bar into a small stream that led through shallows for a mile almost to the foot of the hill on which the Pa stood, and where, in case their approach was discovered, it would have been easy to have cut them off. A dark morning favoured the enterprise, and they got safely ashore without giving the alarm; and while a party remained by the boat, and others kept a look-out, the midshipman, followed by Mr. Y – – – , crawled through the brush-wood, and up to the Pa. Not satisfied with an inspection of the outside, they climbed the outer fence to get a view of the interior, when they were at last perceived by an old woman, who set up a most hideous yell, and alarmed the sleeping inhabitants with shrieks of "E pakeha!" "E oia!" (the strangers! the

soldiers!) which in a few seconds roused every man, woman, and child. Our friends lost no time in taking the hint to be off, and, without much minding whether they descended head or feet first, they plunged down the hill to the shore, where the boat's crew, alarmed by the uproar, were all ready for a start. M'K – – - and Y – – – jumped into the stern sheets and pushed off just as the Maories were on their track, and they had to run the gauntlet for nearly a mile, owing to the windings of the small stream. Every man pulled his best, and they passed safely over the shallows, well piloted by Captain L – – – , where, if he had got aground, or made a mistake in the intricate channels, it would have been hard for any of them to have escaped. When they came to the bar, they jumped into the water, launched the boat over it, and, with an hurra in token of their triumphant escape, they rowed rapidly across the bay, leaving their baffled pursuers on the beach, to vent their fury in idle menaces and maniac expressions of disappointed vengeance and hate.

The prestige of these adventurous exploits had an excellent effect in keeping the enemy uneasy, even on their own ground, and made them unwilling to venture much into our neighbourhood, which was a good thing for us, for had they kept up a guerilla

warfare, something in the style of the Red Indians, they might have cut us up tremendously in the first two months, or, in fact, at almost any period, as officers and men were constantly passing singly, or in small parties, between the different posts and from Porirua to Wellington. As soon as the stockade was completed at Porirua, a large proportion of the force was moved on to take possession of two or three commanding points in the neighbourhood of Pauhatanui, and from one of which it was intended to try the artillery on the Pa. Rangihaeta and Mamaku, already disheartened, and informed of everything that was going on in our camp, lost no time in moving off, abandoning a Pa which it would have cost us much time and trouble, and probably many lives, to have taken by assault. This Pa, though not nearly so strong as Rua-peka-peka, Ohaiowai, and some of the others taken in the north, was nevertheless very well fortified, and stockaded with a masked fence in front, and with flanking angles commanding all the faces.

A portion of the force was left at this post, while the main body pushed on and nearly surprised the enemy. When the advanced guard reached the ground, the fires were still burning, and there is very little doubt that we should have come up with Ran-

FIELD SERVICE IN NEW ZEALAND.

gihaeta here, had not timely information been given him by some of our kind friends.

After passing through the Horokiwi Valley, without much time to rest, with little food, and exposed to all the rigour of an unusually bitter winter, Rangihaeta at last turned at bay on the hog-backed spur of one of the mountains that runs parallel with the coast as far nearly as the Manawatu. No position could have been better chosen or more unassailable. On two sides it was nearly perpendicular bush-covered mountain; and in front was the rising and narrow crest of the hill, densely covered with forest, except where some large trees had been felled to form a kind of breastwork, covering the front of the position. To reach this required considerable activity, even when unencumbered and unopposed; and, from the narrowness of the ridge, there were few places where more than two or three persons could advance abreast.

A fruitless attempt was made to storm the breastwork in spite of all obstacles, and cost the lives of Ensign Blackburne and three or four of the leading men, who were shot down without being able even to see the enemy. Every expedient that had a prospect of success was adopted to surmount this obstacle, but, as the position was impregnable

in front, and, from the nature of the country, could not be turned on the flanks and rear, the troops, who by this time were suffering great privations, had to be withdrawn.

No real object was to be gained by forcing the position, which could only have been done with considerable loss, as the enemy had all the country open behind them, with numbers of similar positions to make a stand upon, where they could inflict severe loss on the attacking party, at scarcely any risk to themselves. Moreover, they were falling back on their friends and supplies, while we were getting almost out of reach of ours.

The soldiers were exposed for days to the pelting rain and bitter winds, lying at night on the wet ground, and, during the day, wading through mud and water, struggling through mountain torrents, among fallen timber, and the all but impenetrable forest, their clothes in rags, and their boots torn to pieces by the sharp stones and broken branches. From the want of roads and transport, they were harassed by fatigue parties; rations went astray, or became the prize of those who could seize them first; so that often, while the parties in the rear were wasting food, the advanced guard and piquets were almost starving.

FIELD SERVICE

A party of friendly natives, under Lieutenant Servantes and Messrs. Scott and Swainson, were left to watch the movements of the enemy, and the troops returned to Porirua and Pauhatanui, half starved, more than half naked, and worn out with exposure and the harassing duties they had had to perform.

News came in this morning (August 13th) that Rangihaeta had decamped from his position in the Horokiwi, but in what direction deponent sayeth not. The native allies will move off in pursuit tomorrow, and I have volunteered to accompany them for the purpose of trying to procure provisions on the way, as there is great difficulty and uncertainty in the present mode, where every thing has to be sent from the camp, a distance of ten miles, and no means of transport but the Maories' shoulders. The difficulties too will increase with every additional mile of forest and mountain they put between us. Porirua itself is very inefficiently supplied, from there being no practicable road from Wellington: what there is, is a mere foot-track, and that so bad as to be scarcely passable. The consequence is, that we are obliged to depend on our supplies being sent round by sea; and very lately a store vessel was six weeks

on the way, though, with a good road by land, the supplies might have been forwarded in six hours.

In a day or two after the enemy's move, I found myself travelling alone and on foot by the strange wild forest paths, having no other guide but a very vague description of the route, and which I had the satisfaction of knowing was at the same time that to the enemy's position; and whether my luck would lead me into the hands of friends or foes, appeared to be very much a matter of chance, and, in my happy ignorance of country and people, I should not have known one from the other if I had fallen in with them.

It would have puzzled any one to have recognised the booted and spurred lounger of the demesne at Sydney, in the tired and jaded ragamuffin, plodding through the woods and over the rocks, wading and plunging through rivers, bogs, and morasses, his face and hands blackened by exposure and torn by thorns and broken branches, his clothes in rags, his boots only kept on to the feet by bandages of wild flax, and his whole baggage, consisting of a blanket and a shirt, strapped across his shoulders – "quantum mutatus ab illo Hectore!"

CHAPTER III.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.

CHAP. III.

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. – TRADE AT WANUI. – GRAND WAR-DANCE. – FRIENDLY NATIVES AT WAIKANAHI. – KORERO AT OTAKI. – AT THE PORIRUA CAMP AGAIN.

THIS is the worst country I ever saw for field operations. The forest is so thick as to be almost impenetrable: it is everywhere a mass of evergreen trees and shrubs matted and twined together with supple-jacks, creepers, and wild vines. In the whole district there is not one single road, and the tracks by which communication is kept up between the different posts are scarcely broad enough for one man to pass: they are everywhere obstructed by roots, fallen trees, and gullies, and are generally knee-deep in mud. The whole of the country in this neighbourhood appears to be a succession of precipitous hills, and deep, dark, boggy ravines, covered everywhere with a vegetation more dense even than a tropical jungle.

The climate at this time of year is cold and wet.

with furious gales of wind, so that the soldier becomes dispirited and loses all heart when exposed to such continuous misery and discomfort. The commanding officers become disheartened from the same causes, and from the many natural obstacles that hamper them on all sides; without roads, communication, or information, and with a dispirited force, they lose all energy, and, finding that they can do comparatively little, do nothing at all.

On my way through the "Pukerua Bush" I fell in with a party of four friendly natives, who told me that our people had come up with Rangihaeta on the Pauha mountain above Wainui, and that there had been a skirmish, in which six or eight of the Port Nicholson Ngatiawas had been killed and wounded. I pushed on as fast as I could, and at the end of about nine miles emerged from the bush at Pukerua into some cleared land, where an English missionary had lived, but which was now deserted from fear of the rebels.

The view from the top of the mountain at Pukerua is very extensive and beautiful. In one direction Mount Egmont rears his snowy scalp at a distance of 200 miles; to the westward is the table land of Mana, and the bold highlands of Cape Terawiti; to the south are D'Urville's Island, the peaks

GOOD INTENTIONS FRUSTRATED.

of Kapiti, and the snowy range of Cook's Alps, almost as stupendous as their European namesakes.

The rest of my way was a painful march over sharp rocks and loose shingle to Peri Peri, from which place to Wainui there is a fine beach, as hard and as smooth as a macadamised road. As I approached Wainui, I could distinctly hear shots in the mountains above, showing that the fighting was still going on, so I quickened my pace in hopes of joining our party before nightfall.

At Wainui I found Capt. Stanley, with a detachment of seamen from the "Calliope" frigate, which was at anchor under Kapiti, at a distance of about five miles. He confirmed the accounts I had heard about the fighting, recommending me at the same time not to attempt to ascend the mountain till the following day, when he with the seamen, and Major Durie with the armed police, intended to join the friendly natives. Both his good intentions and mine were knocked on the head, however, by the arrival of a party of the Wainui people from the scene of action, who told us that the whole force would be down in the course of the evening. Presently the main body made its appearance, all of them apparently in high glee, shouting, laughing, and firing their muskets as they

came along, till the arrival of the parties bearing the bodies of the dead and wounded changed the laughing shouts into lamentation, and the loud wailing tangi arose from all sides.

It is a thousand pities they came down, as it appears that Rangihaeta had been driven to bay in a position where he was nearly surrounded, and where, with the assistance of the seamen and armed police, who were to have gone up next morning, the whole affair might have been finished, and the rebels extirpated. It would have been an excellent thing, not only from the moral effect, but also from our getting rid of the greatest collection of robbers, murderers, and vagabonds that have ever been brought together in New Zealand. There are among them some of the principal perpetrators of the Wairau massacre, the murderers of the Gillespies and Rush, the marauders of the Hutt, and in fact nearly every obnoxious character in the South.

I heard from Scott and Servantes fearful accounts of the miseries they had endured in the pursuit, and which were of course still harder on the enemy; who, in addition to all other sufferings, were nearly in a state of starvation and almost naked. Ever since the commencement of the re-

TRADE AT WAINUI.

treat from the Horokiwi, they had been exposed to the bitterest weather on the tops of the mountains, in the midst of gales of wind, rain, and snow. It was supposed that many of Rangihaeta's people must have perished from cold and hunger, and this was confirmed by three of his women, who surrendered themselves at Wainui, in the last stage of misery and want. It was reported also that six of the enemy had been taken at Waikanahi, whither they had gone at every risk in the hopes of obtaining food.

I made arrangements with Urumutu, the chief of Wainui, to furnish the friendly natives with 3000 lbs. of pork, and 300 baskets of kumeras; and I procured some flour and tobacco from Kapiti. I had no money to make these purchases, but Urumutu was perfectly satisfied to take a check payable at Porirua, or Wellington. It was a pleasant instance of candid and unsuspicious trustfulness, particularly as no similar purchases had been made before; and what little knowledge the natives had previously had of government paper, in the shape of debentures, had been anything but profitable to them, or of a character to make them respect official credit.

Aug. 2lst. – All day long there has been a continual howl over the dead and wounded, and to-

morrow the bodies will be carried to Waikanahi to have a tangi there: till this is all over, there is no chance of getting a Maori to stir, although we have been reinforced by the arrival of Captain M'Donogh with a strong body of militia.

The government brig made her appearance on the 22nd, bringing a supply of salt provisions and biscuit to form a small depot here. I went off to her, and got a good ducking in going through the surf: this, however, is a trifle, as I don't think I have known what it is to be dry since the first hour I landed at Porirua, either by night or by day. The strange part of it is, that no one takes cold, or suffers in health in the slightest degree from the continual exposure. As the brig was to return to Porirua immediately, and the wind was fair, I determined to run round in her to make arrangements for continuing the supplies.

I reached Porirua the same evening, and started again early the following morning for Wainui on foot, although the weather continued bitterly cold, wet, and blustering. On my way through the Pukerua bush I fell in with two Englishmen, and was surprised to recognise in one of them a quondam poaching acquaintance of Tonbridge, and whom I had not seen since a boy at school, some ten years ago. He told

GRAND WAR-DANCE.

me that he had been in the country for six years, and, like all the labouring class, he spoke of it in the most glowing terms. The cheapness of food and clothing, the temperate and healthy climate, the fruitful soil, and various productions, leave scarcely anything for the poor man to desire. I had a painful walk over the rocky shore to Wainui, with a gale of wind and rain in my teeth, and by the time I reached my destination my boots were in shreds, and I was half dead with cold and wet.

Aug. 24th. – The friendly natives are now encamped outside Wainui Pa, in two long huts, open in front, and not less than 100 feet in length. They were busy, when I visited them on the following day, cleaning their arms, singing "hakas," and making speeches, while waiting till the old women opened the native ovens, which, well filled with pork and kumeras, sent up an appetising steam in all directions. After the feast they had a grand war-dance, in which the Wainui people joined, so that there were not less than 600 performers. It was the most barbarous sight I ever witnessed, and one that utterly defies description. One must suppose hell to have broken loose to imagine such yells, screams, hideous contortions of face and body, firing guns, clashing tomahawks, and frightful sights and sounds. Many

of the women joined in the dance, nearly naked, throwing up their arms, distorting their faces, and every muscle convulsed like so many frenzied Hecates. An old hag, ugly, and withered as the witch of Endor, with only one eye, and bent nearly double with age and decrepitude, inspired by the discordant sounds, seemed to forget her infirmities, flinging her naked and withered limbs about, rolling her bleared eye, her tongue lolling out from her toothless jaws, making her natural hideousness fiendish and disgusting beyond description.

In the fury of the war-dance yesterday, our friends had breathed nothing but hatred and vengeance, and one might have expected them to breakfast on Rangihaeta and his men without salt this morning; but they are now, on the contrary, as mild as lambs, and one can scarcely imagine that the placid, good-humoured, indolent fellows of to-day are the jumping demons of yesterday. As no entreaties would move them. Captain Stanley, the seamen, and the armed police and militia started this morning for Waikanahi to see if example would have any effect.

Four days have been spent in ineffectual efforts to induce the Maories to move, and Captain Stanley has tried every argument, but to no purpose, although there is no doubt but that a few days' perse-

FRIENDLY NATIVES AT WAIKANAHI.

verance would be crowned with perfect success. It is a pity, for, from the state of the prisoners, it is evident that the rebels are scarcely able to keep body and soul together, and that by keeping on their track they would be compelled to turn and fight, or separate into small parties and make submission, or escape as they best could.

The change from Wainui to this place has been for the worse in every respect; and the natives are exceedingly sulky, and unwilling to assist us in any way, notwithstanding their promises to the Governor.

The friendly natives arrived this morning from Uruhi. Each sept divided itself from the main body under its own particular chief, as they approached the Pa, alternately rushing forward, yelling, and firing their guns. In the expenditure of ball cartridge, and carelessness as to its direction, they are not unlike a party of Bedouin Arabs on a jollification of the same kind. At each invitation from the Pa, the different parties would run on about a hundred yards, then suddenly drop on their hams, repeating the ceremonial till a chief went out, who led them with one last unanimous rush to the gates. Muskets were then laid aside, hands shaken, noses rubbed, news talked over; and, while the feast was preparing, a considerable majority sat

down to indulge in a "tangi," as an expression of their pleasure at meeting. I noticed one old fellow, rather expensively got up, in a gold-laced hat and brown paletot, with a face tatooed like an ancient piece of carved oak, who kept up a series of howls and moans for full a couple of hours, the tears trickling all the while down his venerable nose.

Aug. 28th. – There seems to be no longer any hope of doing anything against Rangihaeta, as our people suffered too much in their last sojourn in the mountains for us to expect them to repeat the experiment. There is to be a great "korero," or public meeting, at Otaki to-morrow; and to this Captain Stanley has determined to go, and make a last effort. We found an immense assembly of natives, feasting and making long-winded speeches; quite the public dinner style. They were of course very great in talk, expressing the highest opinion of the absent Governor and the English "rangatiras" who were present; in fact, nothing could be more complimentary, unless it was the laudation of their own prowess and wisdom when they came to talk of themselves.

Rangihaeta's sister was present, and addressed the meeting in favour of her absent brother, making, at the same time, some very unparliamentary remarks on the aggressions of the pakehas, and the want of pluck

"KORERO" AT OTAKI.

of the Maories in not resisting them, as her illustrious brother was doing. An old chief requested her to resume her seat, informing her, at the same time, that she was the silly sister of a sillier brother, and no better than a dog's daughter. He then put it to the meeting whether pigs and potatoes, warm fires, and plenty of tobacco, were not better things than leaden bullets, edges of tomahawk, snow, rain, and empty bellies? All the former, he distinctly stated, were to be enjoyed in the plain; the latter they had had painful experience of in the mountains; and was it to be expected that they – and he confidently relied on the good sense of the meeting – could be such fools as to hesitate for a moment? The applause of the old chief's rhetoric was unanimous; and it received no slight help from the timely appearance of a procession bearing the materials for a week's feasting. First came a couple of hundred hogs, their throats cut, and grinning from ear to ear; three hundred baskets of eels stewed in Karaka leaves followed, and then innumerable kits of potatoes and kumeras. Here was an end to all our hopes: they were smothered under this titanic heap of comestibles, and could only be released by dint of long and strong efforts of tooth and nail.

Otaki is a most savage place, and gives one a

better idea of the natives in a state of unmitigated barbarism than anything I have yet seen. Men, women, and children, were all nearly in a state of nudity, or, at best, only wrapped in a mat or blanket, and their only occupations appeared to be gluttonous feasting, licentious revelry, obscenity, and bragging.

The Pa is a very large one, strongly fortified, and adorned with obscene figures, among which the Egyptian symbol of fertility, if not an object of adoration, is so conspicuous as to make it evidently one of admiration. The country between the Pa and the mountains is an exceedingly beautiful grassy plain, wooded in park-like clumps, and with the Otaki river meandering through it, making it one of the loveliest spots I ever saw. As there was nothing to be done here, I took the opportunity of a returning whale-boat to cross over to Kapiti.

Crossed on the following day from Kapiti to Waikanahi in a whale-boat, and was nearly capsized in a squall which split our lug-sail from top to bottom. Arrangements were made this morning for a move, and the militia, after receiving their rations, marched for Porirua, it being found impracticable to make the friendly Maories take to the bush again; and without them our small force could do nothing. We have at any rate the satisfaction of knowing that

AT THE PORIRUA CAMP AGAIN.

the enemy have been entirely driven out of the district, and, after all the privations and misery they have suffered, it is barely probable that they will venture to repeat their aggressions. Their own mode of warfare is so desultory, and sustained with so little continued energy, that they were quite unprepared for a systematic pursuit that kept them alert at all hours, and, during six weeks of the bitterest winter weather, gave them no repose. Among themselves, two or three days of active exertion are invariably followed by a period of perfect supineness, giving the enemy time to rest and to recover from any loss they may have sustained.

The remainder of our men moved off in the course of the day; and I went on board the Calliope with Captain Stanley, to go round in her to Porirua.

Sept. 1st. – At the Porirua camp again – and very seedy. I thought that I was going to have a return of my Chinese acquaintance, "fever and ague;" but it passed off, leaving the old feeling of languor and debility. It has been caused by over-exertion and exposure on a constitution so lately shaken by the fevers and unwholesome climate of China.

CHAPTER IV.

CHAP. IV.

ROUGH TRAVELLING. – IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRY. – BUSH COSTUME – OUTPOST OCCUPATIONS. – PROSPECTS OF A MOVE.

Sept. 10th. – We have, for the first time since I landed in New Zealand, had three successive days of fine weather; and I must say, that when it is fine it is the most delicious and invigorating climate that I know. I set out this morning on horseback for Wellington, over the most execrable road that ever was seen: a day's steeple-chasing would not give one so much trouble, or more risk of falls. Within the first two miles I nearly lost my horse in a quicksand, and had to dismount to pull him out: for ten miles farther there was scarcely any footing; and it was a succession of plunges, jumping, slipping, stumbling, and falling among interlaced roots, fallen trees, deep holes, bogs, streams, and gullies. Several times I pulled up, believing it impossible for a quadruped to get over some of the places; but, on seeing tracks on the other side, I put my horse at it.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRY.

believing that what had been done once might be done again: besides,

"Should I wade no more.
Returning is as tedious as go o'er."

The last few miles are by a narrow and broken path at the edge of a precipice, with a mountain stream leaping and brawling at the bottom. In spite of the difficulties, I enjoyed my ride exceedingly; thanks to the fine weather, the beauty of the forest, and the exhilarating songs of the birds.

The views from the hill-tops near Wellington are very beautiful, extending over many a mile of sea and mountain, valley and forest, till the distance is closed up by the snow-capped range of the Tararua mountains, their peaks glittering in the brilliant sunshine. The small settlements near Wellington look cheerful and thriving, and have a green and pleasant effect after the sombre colour of the forest, reminding one of the green sward of "Old England." There is certainly some charm in this country that makes one like it, in spite of the discomforts one endures; and I can only account for it by the strong resemblance there is to England in temperature and productions, in the green grass-covered slopes and the babbling brooks. It is pleasant to be greeted on the road in one's own language; to see the rosy-cheeked children

rolling in front of every cottage door; to chat with the labourer at the roadside, or stop at his hut for a glass of milk. It is all homelike and pleasing, especially when one feels, at the same time, invigorated and braced by the temperate climate and dry atmosphere, which one appreciates the more highly after having been in the tropics, often pining for the sight of green grass and running water, and where, in the midst of stagnant lagoons and malarious swamps, one may sigh in vain for such refreshing influence; where, too, oppressed with lassitude, every nerve unstrung, and debilitated in every limb and muscle, one can scarcely imagine the light heart, the elastic step, and feeling of vigour, one so soon acquires here.

I rode out again to Porirua after a few days' stay in Wellington, and on my way met Y – – – , of the Artillery, the most travel-worn object one can imagine, his clothes in tatters and cased in mud from head to foot. The bush costume of the officers in New Zealand consists of a blue serge shirt, coarse trowsers, hobnail boots, and a cabbage-leaf hat or cap; as like the dress of the street orderlies as anything can be. It is a pity that those who identify a soldier with his red coat, gold lace, feathers and trappings, cannot see the reverse of the picture. How shocked

OUTPOST OCCUPATIONS.

many a young lady would be, who had had her head turned by a military dandy at home, to see the same individual on service in New Zealand, smoking coarse tobacco in a short black pipe, drinking strong grog made of execrable spirits, and in a costume worse than any she ever saw worn by a farm labourer or a groom's understrapper!

Nov. 28th. – Hiatus valde deflendus in my log-book. Since my last entry I have been at Porirua; the time has slipped away uneventfully, but without being dull, or ennuyeux. I have combated the devils blue most manfully, by dint of hard work; and, so far from time hanging heavily on my hands, I have generally found the day close without my having done half of what I had intended. I have planted a large piece of ground with peas, beans, cabbages, &c.; have made a large fence round my garden, and have been superintending the erection of my "wattle and dab" mansion at "Ballybotherem." I have never been engaged in so much hard manual labour in my life before: in fact it would take a tolerably good strong horse to draw some of the loads of manuka and fencing stuff that I carry down from the hills.

Dec. 5th. – I received a very mysterious official this morning, directing me to proceed to Wellington

at once, to prepare to embark on board the "Calliope" for service. This looks anything but pleasant, as it forebodes a detachment up the coast, probably to Wanganui, where we shall have again to go through all the discomforts we endured here at first, only increased by the greater distance from all supplies and means of communication with the settlements. Such a prospect is not at all encouraging, particularly just as I have gone to considerable expense and trouble to make myself comfortable here, supposing that it would be my quarters for some time. However, I must not growl before I know what is coming: it may possibly be an expedition against one of the coast tribes, or a dash against Rangihaeta, and then to return; in either of which cases I shall be glad to be of the party: "things without remedy should be without regard," and go I must.

CHAPTER V.

DEPARTURE PROM WELLINGTON.

CHAP. V.

DEPARTURE FROM WELLINGTON. – PORT UNDERWOOD. – PLEASANT SAILING – EFFECT OF WILD SCENERY. – RAUPERAHA. – MEMOIRS OF TWO GREAT MEN – CATCHING A WEASEL ASLEEP.

Dec. 10th. – I was sitting down to breakfast this morning when the sharp rattle of a gun from the "Calliope" gave notice that they were ready to get under weigh. A boat was waiting for me, so I was soon on board, and in half an hour we were bounding along like a racehorse through the beautiful lake-like harbour, closely followed by the little "Victoria," the government brig.

Most of the Wellington people were collected on the beach; handkerchiefs were waved from almost every window, and the flag at the Superintendent's house was lowered to half-mast as an expression of regret. Nature herself, in her sunniest attire, seemed to have taken a holiday, to make a fete of our departure, like the gaping citizens, who, in idle groups, were watching us from the beach, and perhaps speculating on the probability of a

portion of our small party being embowelled and digested by hungry cannibals before we were a week older. Of such a consummation there is no very great improbability, as we shall be landed and left to our own resources in a place of which very little is known beyond the fact that it has been the scene of more cannibalism and savage crime than any other spot in New Zealand. It is the place of refuge for most of the chiefs who were in arms against us only a few months ago, and the highroad of communication with the powerful and ill-disposed tribes of Roturua and Taupo.

If we had been inclined to look at the dark side of our prospects we could scarcely have done so on such a day as this, when earth, sea, and sky seemed to vie with one another for the palm of brilliancy and beauty, and the air was so light and elastic that it was a pleasure to inhale it. Such days are almost peculiar to New Zealand, and make one forget and forgive a thousand discomforts.

We rapidly passed through Port Nicholson, and a few tacks carried us out of the Narrows, where we were at one moment almost becalmed under the hills, and at the next plunging, like a restive horse struck with the spur, as we were caught by a squall from one or other of the numerous gullies and ravines that

PORT UNDERWOOD.

seam the sides of the mountainous and precipitous coast. On getting out into the straits we found it almost calm, and, as little or nothing was to be done with such a light breeze, we stood across to Port Underwood, in the Middle Island, and dropped anchor there just before sunset. Nothing could exceed the wild and picturesque beauty of this magnificent lake-like bay, surrounded by green and forest-covered mountains, almost as untouched as when Cook first entered it, in his good ship "Resolution," and, finding no anchorage, made fast to the trunk of a tree with a halser.

Here and there, in little, picturesque bights and sandy bays, or in the angle of a rocky glen, might be seen the rude hut and small patch of garden-ground indicating the presence of a European: a retired whaler, perhaps, or run-away sailor; or mayhap an escaped convict, who lives on year after year in the same solitude, rarely exchanging a word with a countryman, his life almost perfectly idle, and possibly, to his surprise, perfectly harmless: his wants are amply supplied by his patch of potatoes and cabbages, his pork is furnished by his Maori neighbours, the bay teems with fish, and his only society is his Maori wife and a family of half-a-dozen semi-cannibals, the heirs of his estate, who

help to paddle the canoe, catch fish, pigeons, and wild-fowl. Here, year after year, the monarch of all he surveys, he goes on the same unchequered round, satisfied that he lives without toil, his sympathies not extending beyond his own bay, careless of what becomes of the rest of the world, and uninterested in its events.

Got under weigh about noon on the following day, and glided almost imperceptibly through the bay into the straits. It was nearly calm, and the weather delightful; we were all satisfied that it should remain so, not being in the least hurry to arrive at our destination, quite certain that it will be long before we shall find ourselves in such good quarters again.

I have an affectionate remembrance of Porirua, though I hated it at first, and suffered a great many discomforts there. It was impossible not to like it when the fine weather set in, and one could wander among the beautiful vallies, in the thick dark woods and over the rugged hills, from which one got such glorious glimpses of sea, sky, and mountain, stretching far, far away into the distance, till the faint blue of the hills mingled with the tints of the horizon. Nothing could be more exquisitely beautiful than the harbour of Porirua itself on a fine day. It is perfectly land-locked and surrounded by hills,

WILD SCENERY.

tree-clad and green to the very water's edge: the water, a beautiful blue, finding its way into little bays and creeks, where the tiny waves break on a golden sand, and where, without fear of interruption, one might lie and muse for hours. The idleness, too, the "dolce far niente," so much in character with the place, was irresistible; and our little society was just sufficient to free us from ennui and dulness, while it required no constraint in habits, or dress: it was perfect liberty and perfect idleness, – the most delightful, and perhaps the most natural, state of poor humanity.

"Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas" we may indeed say, when we find how perfectly independent our happiness may be of the thousand wants and wishes our artificial education and inexperience would lead us to suppose indispensable. How all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of life sink in our estimation, when we see how easily they can be dispensed with, when we find how happy we can be without successful ambition, without the attractions and dissipations of society, without gratified vanity; and that one may find real, unalloyed delight in solitude, not the solitude of a well-stocked library, or of a crowded rout, but that of the mountain and forest, of the lonely embayed sea-shore, in climbing

the sides of precipitous hills to catch a glimpse of the wide-spread landscape, or diving into the recesses of dark, sylvan glens, like those that in Arden furnished such delightful reveries to the melancholy Jacques!

We could distinctly see Porirua and the Pa at Taupo, and were no doubt descried from thence. Our prisoners, Rauperaha, Kanae, and Charley, were on the quarter-deck, and were eagerly examining the shore through glasses, as we passed the Pas and cultivations where they had lorded it for so many years with absolute sway. To them every wood and glen, every tree and rock, had been known from childhood, and must have called to mind many a scene of feasting and revelry, of war, of rapine, and of murder. There was Taupo, with its groups of natives, in every one of whom they might almost recognise a wife, child, sister, or friend, and whose wailing "tangi" almost reached their ears. Charley and Kanae looked satisfied enough, and appeared pleased at so near a view of the well-known spots; but old Rauperaha, as he shifted his glass from place to place, had the uneasy look of a chained tiger, like the ferocious old cannibal he is.

There is not one spot in sight but must be associated in Rauperaha's mind with some hideous and

MEMOIRS OF TWO GREAT MEN.

revolting crime, or damning treachery. In such a neighbourhood it seemed strange to find oneself standing calmly by the side of the ghoul, and know him to be a poor, wretched, helpless prisoner. It seemed a sort of poetical justice, and reminded one of the old ghost stories, where uneasy spirits are condemned to wander miserably about the scenes of their former crimes.

This part of the coast was interesting to me, as recalling some of the hardships and incidents of our winter campaign; and I had sojourned at most of the Pas in sight. It was hard and unpleasant work, and though "juvabit meminisse" yet it would be anything but agreeable to repeat.

Rauperaha and Rangihaeta have played so conspicuous a part for some years in Cook's Straits, that their names are probably more generally known than those of any other chiefs in New Zealand. They belonged originally to the neighbourhood of Kawia, and were driven from their homes with great slaughter by the Waikatos and Ngapuhi, who had early become possessed of fire-arms. They, in their turn, brought desolation into the lands they passed over, in a retreat of about three hundred miles, slaughtering the inhabitants wherever they found them, till they, with their people, finally settled

themselves about Manawatu, Otaki, and Porirua, where they nearly extirpated the original possessors of the soil. It was in this neighbourhood that the whalers and sealers principally established themselves, and from them the tribe quickly supplied itself with arms and ammunition.

From this time Rauperaha and Rangihaeta took the lead in the southern part of the island, and became, without a question, the most powerful and most dreaded chiefs; the one remarkable alike for his cunning and courage, the other for his ferocious recklessness of danger. By a mixture of treachery and daring, they extirpated whole tribes; betraying a cold-blooded ferocity that is scarcely conceivable, and that would not be credible if we had not abundant contemporary evidence in proof of it.

Their later history is very generally known, as their names have been prominent in every trouble since the first settlement was established in Cook's Straits. Although they had sold their land twenty different times, they were the first to repudiate the land sales, and openly to defy the authority of the laws. They ejected settlers by force, burnt down houses and mills, protected thieves, vagabonds, and murderers, and were the principal actors in the coldblooded massacre of the prisoners at the Wairau.

CATCHING A WEASEL ASLEEP.

Rangihaeta, who is the bolder and more reckless villain, seized the first opportunity of taking up arms, and establishing himself in open hostility in his Pa at Pauhatanui.

Rauperaha, more wary, but not less determined to do us mischief, pretended to remain our friend, while he gave every assistance to the enemy, supplying them with arms, ammunition, and provisions, at the same time carrying on a correspondence with the chiefs at Otaki and Wanganui, for the organisation of a conspiracy to attack the settlements on all sides and exterminate them at a blow. This plot was nearly ripe for execution, and the war parties from Wanganui were actually on their way to join him, when a letter apprising him of their coming was intercepted, and unveiled his deep-laid and well-devised schemes.

Stratagem was made to meet stratagem, and it behoved the Governor to go warily to work; for, if "the old serpent" had got the slightest inkling that his treachery was discovered, it would have only precipitated his plans, and compelled him to throw off the mask at once.

To lull suspicion, the Governor, after an interview with him, left Porirua in the steam-frigate "Driver," but returned quietly about two hours before daylight

on the following morning. The boats' crews, under command of Captain Stanley, of the "Calliope," supported by a company of soldiers from the camp at Porirua, stealthily approached the Pa, and guarded its different entrances, while Captain Stanley, with a party, dashed in, and caught the "weasel asleep." In spite of biting and kicking, which he did most lustily, he was secured, and, with two or three of his relations, was quickly bundled into the boats, and stowed securely on board the "Driver," before he well knew what had happened to him.

The capture of Rauperaha, and the suddenness and energy with which it was done, paralysed the efforts of our enemies in the south, who all feared some similar surprise for themselves, and made the best of their way home, leaving Mamaku, Rangihaeta, and those who had openly committed themselves, to get out of the scrape as they best could. With such a hostage in our hands, we could command the neutrality, at any rate, of many of the tribes; while his own people, the Ngatitoas, to show their fidelity, volunteered to assist in attacking Rangihaeta. They actually did take the field, as it was safer to take them with us than to leave them behind; though it is a matter of great doubt which side received most benefit from their services.

WELL-MARKED FEATURES.

[Te Rauparaha]

Rauperaha is a small man, with a spare, wiry frame, and evidently still possesses great muscular strength and activity, although his age must be very great. He says, himself, that he was a boy when Cook visited the country; which would make him upwards of eighty years old. The general expression of his features is placid and thoughtful, but, with the least excitement, they assume a malignant, wolfish expression; his small snaky eyes gleam, and his thin lips curl down, showing long

yellow fangs that one might suppose to belong to a vampire or wehr-wolf.

Rangihaeta is said to be nearly the same age as his brother chief. He is a man of very large frame, and is reported to have possessed almost gigantic strength. He is not so treacherous or coldly sanguinary as Rauperaha; but, in his fits of passion, he was never known to spare any one, and in fight he is celebrated for his ferocious cruelty and recklessness. The two chiefs are the theme of innumerable stories among the whalers, who generally express some sympathy for the daring and open character of the one, and shake their heads as they allude to the other, declaring, at the same time, that "we have not done with Rowbulla (Rauperaha) yet."

CHAPTER VI.

ARRIVAL OF WANGANUI.

CHAP. VI.

REACH WANGANUI. – THE TAUA RETREATS. – LANDING THE TROOPS – TRADE OF THE SETTLEMENT. – CHRISTMAS DAY AT THE ANTIPODES.

WE continued slowly creeping along shore, and arrived close to our destination about noon on the 13th of December, dropping anchor on the open coast, opposite to what was said to be the mouth of the river, though we could descry nothing but a long line of sand-hills, with mountains in the background. A small sloop was seen, between us and the shore, and was soon brought alongside by plumping a ball in front of her bows; a hint there was no resisting. We found that she belonged to Wanganui, and had come out for the purpose of assisting us in landing. We learnt from two settlers, who had come off in her, that the rebel chiefs, Mamaku, Ngapara, and Maketu, were encamped within three miles of the settlement, and that they threatened to burn it down, so that there might be no shelter for the soldiers when they landed; and they had only been prevented from doing SO before this, by the intervention of friendly natives of

Putiki Waranui, who had kept watch and ward, by night and day, for some time past.

For the last two days we have all been hard at work, making the necessary arrangements for the troops, who are now landed and in good quarters; and there is every prospect of our being able to get abundance of everything we require.

The rebels have moved, in a hurry, to a distance of sixty miles up the river, showing strong symptoms of fear. The natives of Putiki and the neighbouring Pas appear to have a wholesome respect for us, and no common dread of the big guns, or "boo nui," as they call them. It is very desirable that such a feeling should be maintained, as they muster very strong hereabout just now, and at Putiki Waranui alone it is estimated that there are not fewer than 1500 natives. Many of these are only here for the Christmas week, to take the sacrament; after which they will return to their homes, in some cases as distant as Teranaki and Taupo.

If, as might have been the case, the majority of the natives in this district had been opposed to us, we should have made a pretty kettle of fish of it, with our small force (only 180 men); for they might have mustered 2000 strong, to oppose our landing, or to attack us afterwards, when there was no means

STATISTICS OF THE SETTLEMENT.

of retreating, and no prospect of getting assistance.

We might truly say with Macbeth,

"They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly,
But, bear-like, I must fight the course."

Wanganui has only about two hundred settlers, women and children inclusive. There are only about sixty acres of land in cultivation, and it has maintained itself hitherto only by trading with the Maories in pigs and potatoes. These articles have been sent to Wellington, and the annual value is estimated at 1200l., giving an income of 6l. per annum to each individual. This is not much; but, under better auspices, it may improve, and it is at any rate better than most of the other settlements, where they have hitherto been spending a great deal, and earning nothing. There is one remarkable circumstance connected with the statistics of Wanganui, and which is worth recording in proof of the salubrity of climate: – There has not been a single death from disease since the first establishment of the settlement, some seven years ago, although the population has varied from six hundred to two hundred. Old King Death must have overlooked this place in his peregrinations.

Dec. 25th. – Christmas Day. There is something so homelike in the sound, and it recals so many

pleasant merrymakings, that one sighs to think how far, how very far, we are removed from home and friends, and all those whose presence seemed to hallow the day, and mark it out peculiarly for family union and rejoicing. Home is in the word, in the season; and one pictures it with all the accompaniments of curtained windows, blazing lights, a roaring fire, the merry party, and the presence of those most loved; if not present in person, present in every heart, – the name lisped by every tongue, and a hearty "God bless him" in every glass. Hitherto, on this day, I have loved to fancy a latent sympathy existing; but I have this year had much less of the feeling, for there is such an utter incongruity in the season: the open doors and windows, the garish brilliancy of the summer sun, the trees and flowers in full blossom, the singing of the birds, and the warm atmosphere, seem a mockery of Christmas, – of the old Father Christmas of our youthful reminiscences, with his goodly crown of green holly and mistletoe, and his meagre helpmate. Jack Frost, at his side. After all, "Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt;" and I find that my heart yearns sadly for things as they were, and cares not for them as they are.

In pensive mood I managed to wander away o'er hill and dale, "chewing the cud of sweet and bitter

CHRISTMAS-DAY AT THE ANTIPODES.

fancy" (the poet must have been thinking of mangelwurzel), till I found myself too late for dinner; so I had the felicity of eating my Christmas dinner alone – the first time in all my wanderings that such a calamity has befallen me!

I took myself off to bed in disgust, and dreamed of home as it used to be; for which I have to thank some beneficent fairy – Queen Mab herself may, perhaps, have taken a drive to the Antipodes, to soothe my sentimental sorrows, and give me the shadow as a small compensation for the absence of the reality.

By the way, I must not forget that my snow and frost loving propensities were gratified, in spite of it being the dog days; for, in wandering over the hills, I got some glorious views of the hoary scalps of Mount Egmont and Tongariro, their eternal snows and glaciers glowing splendidly in the setting sun. It was a beautiful sight, almost equal to some of the glorious landscapes where Mont Blanc or Monte Rosa are the monarchs of the scene; but the poetry is wanting, the romance, the associations, and, above all, even when the mind was most filled with their beauty, one felt that not a single soul one cared for could sympathise with the feeling, or possessed sufficient interest to master even their names.

CHAPTER VII.

CHAP. VII.

DULL QUARTERS. – NATIVE VISITORS – INCONVENIENCES OF THE "TAPU." – CONVENIENCES OF THE "TAPU." – CONSEQUENCES OF BREAKING THE "TAPU." – ADVANTAGES OF THE "TAPU."

Jan. 4th. – The "Racehorse" has come and gone since my last entry; she brought up my luggage from Porirua, and a couple of my greyhounds.

The time slips rapidly, though uneventfully, away in this dull place, and our life is so monotonous that it is often difficult to remember one day from another. It has all the sameness of a sea voyage without the grand breaks of storm and hurricane, the variety of climate, the ever-changing waves, the grand vastness of the scene, and the glorious sense of rapid motion as the good ship flies bounding and careering over the blue waters.

This place does not improve on acquaintance. The few settlers are a restraint by their presence, without being a benefit to our society. The scenery, too, though fine in outline, is monotonous from the want of foreground and from the little variety in

DISTINGUISHED NATIVE VISITORS.

colour, always observable in large tracks of uncultivated country.

All the chiefs of the neighbourhood are constant visitors to our mess-room, and they have a happy knack of timing their calls as nearly as possible about the hours of breakfast and dinner. They are generally hospitably entreated, and it is often amusing to see a greedy individual helped to a bowl of nearly boiling tea or soup, and, too impatient to let it cool, scalding himself and groaning alternately till he finishes it with an expression of anguish that is ludicrous to contemplate.

The unaccustomed luxuries of knife and fork are painful innovations, and I have seen an unhappy wight manage to cut his fingers with the one and give his face a prod with the other before he has succeeded in grabbing the desired morsel. They do not attempt, in fact, to find the way to their mouths, but, having succeeded with some difficulty in poising a morsel on the prongs of a fork, they make a plunge at it with so reckless an uncertainty of aim that it is quite a wonder they do not sometimes poke an eye out.

One of our constant guests is Pehi, the son of the great chief Turoa, who died lately, and left him the chieftainship of one of the largest tribes on the Wan-

ganui river. Pehi is still "tapu," owing to the ceremonies in which he took part at his father's interment; but though this adds to his dignity in the eyes of the natives, the consequences are very inconvenient to himself, as he cannot touch any article of food with his hands, and is either obliged to feed with his mouth to the ground like a pig, or else is helped by the dingy paws of one of his two wives, who are constantly in attendance on him.

The old gentleman a few days ago went on a begging expedition for tobacco, as a preparatory step to taking his departure for his own place up the river. He had sent his wives out on a similar service, so that he could only receive the gifts of his admirers between his teeth, not daring to touch them with his hands. In a little while the sticks of tobacco accumulated till his jaws were almost strained to bursting, and in this state he had to make several trips up and down the beach to relieve his aching mouth by dropping the load into his box, cutting it may be supposed, rather an undignified figure for a chief.

The "tapu" is growing out of fashion in all parts of the island, and is only maintained in its original integrity by Pehi and a few other old heathens of the interior, who think their own dignity and im-

CONVENIENCES OF THE "TAPU."

portance are concerned in keeping up the practices and customs of their forefathers.

A few years ago it was death to break the "tapu," and a curious instance of the rigour with which an offender was then treated occurred at this place. The hero of the tale was E Kuru Kanga, the "gentle savage" of Mr. Jerningham Wakefield's book, and who I believe was one of the mildest, most docile and tractable "anthropophagi" one could meet in a long day's walk in this neighbourhood. E Kuru having lost his wife, her body was committed to earth with all the ceremonial befitting the better half of a chief, but her head was baked in the most orthodox manner.

The various cooks and barbers employed in the Operation were rigorously "tapu," and had a pleasant prospect of a few months' utter idleness, having nothing in the world to do or to think of but to lie on their backs and be fed like young crows every time they chose to open their jaws and cry out for more. One day, E Kuru himself was feeding one of these fruges consumere nati with tit-bits of pork and potatoes, when the subject of his delicate attentions was seized with an unholy longing to help himself, probably to a tempting bit of the brown, which he feared might be overlooked by his feeder. The care-

fully selected bits crammed into his jaws could not satisfy this craving to help himself, and, actuated by what, if the case had been brought before a jury, would have been pronounced temporary insanity, he grabbed the tempting morsel and bolted it when he thought E Kuru's attention diverted from his felonious deed. E Kuru was too quick for him; he saw him fast enough, but went on quietly giving him the rest of the meal, which was perhaps considerably shortened by the consciousness of the sacrilegious deed. The dinner done, E Kuru proposed that they should go out and shoot pigeons, to which the unfortunate rascal delightedly assented, believing that such condescension was a proof that he had not been detected. He had little time to discover his error, for, at the distance of a hundred yards from the Pa, E Kuru deliberately turned round and shot him dead; then coolly walked back and told the friends of the deceased what he had done, and his reasons for doing it. It was looked upon as an act of retributive justice; E Kuru was quite satisfied with himself, and the rest of the people thought as little of finding fault with him as we should do with a judge who justly sentenced a felon to death, or with the executioner who hanged him.

ADVANTAGES OF THE "TAPU."

One sees occasionally, though very rarely, a young girl who is betrothed from an early age, and who is "tapu." It is a pity that this practice cannot be made more general, as it would put a check upon the almost universal and indiscriminate prostitution of the young native girls, and which, except in the cases where they are "tapu," neither meets with punishment nor animadversion. Fathers, brothers, and mothers unblushingly give, sell, or bargain for, the persons of their female relatives. The young ladies themselves are no unwilling parties in these transactions, and are adepts in managing on their own account, making the most of their time till they are married, when it is expected that they will behave more discreetly; an anticipation, however, which is frequently disappointed. In some of the missionary Pas there is a little more pretension to prudery and reserve, but it goes little beyond grimace, or perhaps the demand for a little more "utu" (payment) as a salve to their consciences.

CHAPTER VIII.

CHAP. VIII.

NEW ZEALAND TACTICS. – ADVANTAGE OF EMPLOYING STEAMERS. – AN ELIGIBLE DEPOT. – BUILDING THE STOCKADE. – NATIVE JOLLIFICATIONS. – MORAL FORCE IN PIG-DRIVING. – CHARACTERISTICS OF WELL-BRED PIGS.

March 15th, 1847. – There is no present prospect of a "shindy" in this district, but our old enemy Rangihaeta is evincing symptoms of restlessness. It appears to me that the best plan would be to make an attack upon him just before his potato crop is ripe, so that, if he himself should succeed in escaping, he would lose the means by which he lives, and, with his followers, would become a burthen to his friends for the whole winter. This would soon tire all parties, particularly if the system were pursued for two or three successive seasons. Nothing would so soon break their spirit and self-confidence, as they would see the utter hopelessness of a contest in which they have but little power to injure, while they may be harassed, impoverished, and perhaps destroyed, at the will of their enemies.

A harassing war will be the only effectual one with

EMPLOYMENT OF STEAMERS.

Maories; a war of sudden and unexpected attacks, that would never leave them an hour in confidence, that would be constantly at their heels, that would not allow them to cultivate, or to reap the fruits of their cultivation: a war carried to their own homes, in the same way that Washington destroyed the strength and confidence of the "Five Nations;" that would stop all intercourse with white people, prevent them from procuring tobacco and blankets, cut them off from the sea-fishing, and keep them in constant terror and trepidation. For this purpose three or four small steamers, not drawing more than three to four feet water, would be more useful, and instil more terror, than a whole squadron of frigates. They would appear and disappear so rapidly that the natives would be kept in a constant state of anxiety, and never know when or where to look for them. Vessels of this description could cross most of the bar harbours and run a considerable distance up such rivers as the Wanganui and the Manawatu, while for all purposes of rapid communication they would be invaluable.

If anything of this sort should ever be done, Kapiti will be the best place that could possibly be selected for a depot of naval stores, coals, &c., and also as a quarter for a portion of the military force. From this point the whole of the coast line from

Wellington to Teranaki can be reached in a few hours. It is sufficiently far from the main land to be perfectly secure from a Maori attack or surprise, and, better than all, is out of the way of observation; and there is nothing that would have more effect than this in awing the coast tribes: "omne ignotum pro magnifico" is doubly true when applied to savages, who are generally more affected by terrors of the imagination than by physical danger.

We have experienced several slight shocks of an earthquake lately. They produce an oscillating motion, accompanied by a rumbling noise, but are not sufficiently strong to cause any damage. The first shock which occurred about a week ago was the cause of a great deal of amusement, from the effect it produced on the nerves of the newly-arrived men, who had never experienced one before. They were most of them in their warres when it happened, and it affected these light habitations in the same way as if they had been violently shaken from the outside. As this is a most unjustifiable proceeding, the inhabitants immediately jumped out to secure the offender, and mutual recriminations took place, each one accusing his neighbour, to their infinite disgust, as every one considered that he had reason to complain instead of being accused. Words would pro-

BUILDING THE STOCKADE.

bably have soon come to blows, when a second shock . explained the cause of quarrel, to the amazement of all parties, and to the terror of some, before whose imaginations the Lisbon and the Caraccas earthquakes were going to be enacted over again.

The building of the stockade has been the principal business for the last three months. It has been a troublesome affair, from the sandy nature of the soil, and also from the materials having had to be brought from some distance up the river. Most of the timber and materials have been supplied by the natives, who, in their anxiety to get money, appear to lose sight of all jealousy and distrust; and many have been supplying and assisting us who were in arms against us last year.

It has been an amusing and bustling scene to watch the constant arrival of parties of natives, with logs of timber and small rafts, and who not unfrequently bring their whole family to assist in the navigation and to see the "pakehas." The consequence is, that the river opposite the town is crowded with canoes, and constant jollifications are going on among the natives, who come here as much to amuse themselves as to buy and sell; just as is the case with a large proportion of the visitors to our own country fairs in England.

The circulation of money has had its effect, too, and the small shopkeepers have been doing a very extended business in blankets, calicoes, and tobacco, in exchange for pigs and potatoes, the staple commodities of the Maories.

It is amusing to see the good understanding that appears to exist between the Maori and his pigs. Very little coercion is used, and a whole cargo is coaxed into, or out of, a canoe with less uproar and confusion than would be made by a single long-legged, bumptious, Irish porker.

One rarely or never witnesses those disgraceful exhibitions of obstinate contention between man and beast, so common in English and Irish fairs and markets, where each seems to set out with a fixed determination to thwart the views and inclinations of the other. If a Maori porker objects to go into a canoe, he is not forthwith kicked, and punched, and seized by the legs, and tossed on his back, while he appeals, with those ear-piercing shrieks so remarkable in pig arrangements generally, against the injustice of his treatment; but he is coaxed, and patted, and nudged, and to every grunt of the porker the Maori appears to grunt again in responsive sympathy, till a perfectly good understanding is established.

CHARACTERISTICS OF WELL-BRED PIGS.

Once in the canoe, the Maori pig appears to be quite aware of the ticklish nature of the craft, being rarely seen to indulge in any refractory movement that may end in his getting a cold-bath; and I have frequently seen a fat porker, squatted on his hunkers in a small canoe, and apparently as well acquainted with the necessity of maintaining its equilibrium as the man who was paddling it.

On one occasion, I was standing on the bank of the river, watching a Maori taking across a large pig in a very small canoe, and calculating on the probability of his not getting safely to the opposite bank with his cargo. He accomplished half the distance in safety when he was perceived by a mischievous subaltern, who immediately shouted out "Puaka, Puaka." The pig, hearing itself called in its own language, and perhaps at a moment when it was indulging in dreams of dinner, incautiously started up; and, in one moment, man, pig, and canoe were upset into the stream, and had to make the best of their way to the shore by swimming, amidst shouts of laughter from a number of natives, who had seen the whole proceeding, and appeared to enjoy the joke exceedingly.

Independently of his social qualities, the pig is a most valuable animal to the Maori, as he can always

find abundance of food on the fern hills, in the forests, or the swamps. The increase is very great, and besides the tame ones, which remain in the neighbourhood of the Pas and cultivations, there are great numbers running wild in most parts of the country, and constantly increasing in number, as very few persons, either Maori or Pakeha, take the trouble to hunt them.

CHAPTER IX.

GOOD COMPANIONS.

CHAP. IX.

GOOD COMPANIONS – SHOOTING – BIRDS – PIG HUNTING – THE "KIWI." – "MORE PORK." – VARIETY OF FISH – KAWAI FISHING. – WHITE-BAIT AND OYSTERS.

I HAVE not much duty at present, and my spare time is tolerably well taken up in trips up and down the river in my canoe, or in rambles about the neighbourhood with my dog, gun, and Maori henchman.

On a hunting or fishing excursion, or on a journey, the Maories are capital assistants and companions, always in high glee, and generally very thoughtful of the wants and wishes of their "pakeha" friends; in whose society they always seem to take pleasure, even when the sole communication is confined to friendly nods and smiles, and such other signs of good fellowship: in fact, I have sometimes seen a lively conversation going on in English on one side, and Maori on the other, without either party understanding a word that the other said.

There is very little work for the sportsman in this country, as there are no game-birds whatever, but little wild fowl and even that of very indifferent

quality. A few curlews, whale-birds, sand-pipers, and wild ducks, frequent the coast and river swamps, but are generally fishy, and unfit for the table.

There is a splendid Rail in the swamps, called "Pukeko" by the natives; it is as large as an English pheasant, with plumage of splendid mazarine blue, and with a vermillion-coloured beak and topknot. I have seen the same bird in Torres Straits, the Straits of Malacca, and in Egypt; but none so fine as the New Zealand species.

There are some pot-shooters, who are brutes enough to kill the gaily coloured little parrot, the "Kaka-riki," as he calls to the passer-by from the trees. They do not spare the merry "Tui" either, who makes the woods ring with a whole chorus to himself; chattering, whistling, sneezing, coughing, and playing all sorts of antics. He is the jolliest and sauciest of the bird kind I ever saw, and such an excellent companion, that I could never have the heart to shoot one of them. As for the pigeons, they are so tame, that I have fired, with ball, three or four times at the same bird, and there he would continue to sit, with an air of fat, contented, owlish stupidity that was quite provoking, till a better shot has succeeded in knocking him off his perch. In the Southern Island there are a few quail in addition to

THE KIWI.

the above birds, but there is no shooting, worth speaking of, in either island.

I have no doubt but that all English game-birds, as well as hares and rabbits, would succeed admirably well in New Zealand, if once turned out, as there is an abundance of food in most parts, and no cold winters to destroy them. I should recommend every sportsman who goes out to New Zealand to try the experiment, by taking a few couples of birds from England with him. The tame rabbit has been turned out in several places, in both the Northern and Southern Islands, and is found to thrive very well.

The Kiwi (Apteryx australis) appears to be tolerably abundant up the river, as one sees all the girls adorned with coronets made of the brown hackles. These feathers are invariably used also as a tail for the "powha," or native hook used in taking the Kawai. The Kiwi is the ugliest bird one can well imagine – stilted up on long, thick, clumsy legs, with scarcely the rudiments of wings, with an overgrown head and long beak. It was, not unaptly, described by a facetious subaltern, who saw one for the first time, as a cross between a snipe and a monkey. It is a solitary night-bird, and feeds on worms and grubs, for which it goes sniffling about, with an unpleasant noise as if afflicted with a bad

cold in the head. When it scents out its prey, which it can do at several inches under ground, it charges at it with an alacrity and vigour one would hardly expect from its clumsy, dead-alive look, and plunges bill, head, and neck into the earth, kicking and spurring with its legs, often half-burying itself before it is successful.

Among the commonest birds which frequent the forests is a small owl, generally known to the settlers and soldiers by the denomination of "More pork," from a habit it has of pertinaciously and distinctly reiterating this phrase for about half an hour before daylight.

This bird gave rise to rather an amusing incident in the Hutt Valley during the time of the fighting with Mamaku and Rangihaeta, and when, in anticipation of a morning attack, a strong piquet was turned out regularly about an hour before daylight. On one occasion the men had been standing silently under arms for some time, and shivering in the cold morning air, when they were startled by a solemn request for "more pork." The officer in command of the piquet, who had only very recently arrived in the country, ordered no talking in the ranks, which was immediately replied to by another demand, distinctly enunciated, for "more pork." So malapropos a

MORE PORK.

remark produced a titter along the ranks, which roused the irate officer to the necessity of having his commands obeyed, and he accordingly threatened to put the next person under arrest who dared make any allusion to the unclean beast. As if in defiance of the threat, and in contempt of the constituted authorities, "more pork" was distinctly demanded in two places at once, and was seconded by an irresistible giggle from one end of the line to the other.

There was no putting up with such a breach of discipline as this, and the officer, in a fury of indignation, went along the line in search of the mutinous offender, when suddenly a small chorus of "more pork" was heard on all sides, and it was explained who the real culprits were.

At the attack in the Bay of Islands by Heki and Kawiti, the native parties, in moving to their positions about the blockhouses and town before daybreak, communicated their whereabouts to one another by imitating the cry of this bird, which the sentries had been so accustomed to hear of a morning that it did not attract their notice.

Of hunting, there is even less than shooting, as there are no ferae natura, except rats and "such small deer." In most places there are pigs of the tame species, which are bred in the bush, and which grow

to a large size, with a very unsociable disposition, feeding on fern-root, berries, &c. The bush-pig is occasionally hunted by both white men and Maories, but never with any other view than to obtain cheap pork. On an expedition of this kind, all the curs in a Maori pa are collected, and the men arm themselves with hatchets and tomahawks, with which they cut and gash the unfortunate pig without mercy. Accidents occasionally occur, and there are traditions of men having sometimes been killed by an irate porker; but I suspect these are merely what Evans would call "pig-lies."

In the way of fishing, much more sport may be obtained, as all the bays and mouths of rivers swarm with fish, which, while affording good sport to the fisherman, are also excellent for the table. Among them the Hapuka and Kawai deserve particular mention: the former varies from ten to seventy pounds in weight, though they have, occasionally, been found to weigh upwards of a hundred pounds. Many people prefer them to the cod, which they somewhat resemble; they frequent the mouths of rivers, deep water near islands and bays, and readily take a bait.

The Kawai is not unlike the salmon in size and shape, and, like it, comes up the rivers in shoals

KAWAI FISHING.

in the spring. Their advent is hailed with joy by both Maori and white man, and their capture is one of the most characteristic scenes in New Zealand. For about an hour before and after high-water, in the Kawai season, the river is a scene of the greatest bustle and activity; every canoe is launched and hurried through the water with the greatest rapidity, while over the stern trail two or three lines with shining native hooks attached. At these the Kawai jump like salmon at a fly, and are hauled in, one after the other, by the men stationed at the stern for that purpose; and as each fish is thrown into the bottom of the canoe, it is greeted with shouts and cheers by the excited crew. On all sides canoes are dashing about, some tacking across the river, some urged up against the tide by twenty paddles vigorously plied; others with sail set are scudding down before the wind; and on all sides there is mirth and excitement, songs, shouts, and cheers. No regatta could convey the excitement of the scene, or the various and rapid evolutions of the canoes; and he, in New Zealand, who has not seen the Kawai fishing, has nothing seen.

Besides the Kawai, there is, in most of the rivers, a small kind of trout that takes a bait freely, but that will not rise at the fly. The flounders are a

splendid fish, the finest of their tribe; spearing them by torch-light is excellent sport. The Snapper, a kind of bass, is a fine fish for the table, and affords excellent sport to the fishermen.

There is a kind of white-bait in most of the rivers in the spring months, quite equal to their Blackwall congeners. The Maories catch them in flax nets, in immense quantities, and cook them in compressed masses in their underground ovens; in this state they resemble a fish-cheese, si habia tal cosa, and are by no means to be despised.

The swamps, ponds, and lakes abound with eels and lampreys of various forms and sizes, some of them hideously ugly and snake-like. They are all of them, however, excellent comestibles, particularly when rolled up in Karaka leaves, and cooked in the Maori fashion. Oysters of various kinds and of excellent quality are found on every rock; and it is a favourite amusement in some places to go out with a stock of bread and butter, a hammer and a knife, to enjoy an "al fresco" entertainment; and where, O best of entertainments! there is nothing to pay.

CHAPTER X.

NEW QUARTERS.

CHAP. X.

MOVE TO NEW QUARTERS – REBELLIOUS PIGS – THE LAND QUESTION – HISTORY OF WANGANUL – A HINT TO GO – OFFICIOUS MEDDLERS – UNLUCKY ACCIDENT.

THE move to our new quarters in the stockade has been accomplished; and all the moveables and immoveables were marched up at the same time. One soldier, habited in a loose flax mat to keep off the rain, drove in front of him a rebellious sow, while on one of the two muskets which he carried over his shoulders was suspended a cage full of young Kakas, which clawed about the bars, and loudly vociferated against the change of quarters. Behind him followed his comrade, who was sorely perplexed, and his temper much tried, by the rebellious vagaries of half-a-dozen boneens, the progeny of the uncompromising sow aforesaid, and which he was vainly trying to drive in team by strings fastened to the hind legs of each; but as they had no settled purpose as to the way they should go, they entangled themselves round the driver's legs, and each one seemed determined to take a line of country of its own, till the driver

lost all temper, and, with an exclamation of "Hana-mondioul! to the divil wid ye for pigs!" he fairly slung the whole of them over his shoulders, and started up the hill with a kicking and squealing tail that created no little diversion by the way. Fowls, ducks, and children were led or driven up by detachments, and it took some little time for all of them to shake into their places.

From the scarcity of wood and stone, all the huts, both for men and officers, are built of reeds, wild flax, fern stalks, and rushes; and some of them are not only very comfortable, but are also highly ornamental. In almost any other country it would be difficult to live in such habitations without risk of colds or rheumatism; but here, where the cold is never great, and the atmosphere pure and wholesome, no one suffers, although few of our huts are quite water-tight; and one has often in a night-shower to roll about the establishment with one's blankets, in search of the driest corner.

There is great talk here just now about settling the Wanganui land question; and there is much excitement and uneasiness among the natives as they see our stockades and entrenchments coming to a completion without any arrangement having been made in the matter. There are not wanting malicious

persons to whisper to them that their lands will be taken by force as soon as we are in a position to do so.

The antecedents of Wanganui have not been very encouraging; and there is little in its present state that gives prospect of improvement. It is one of the unwholesome, mushroom settlements engendered by the New Zealand Company for the purpose of removing to a distance a portion of the clamorous scrip-holders, who, on arriving from England, looked, and looked in vain, for their land.

A prospectus issued by the agent of the Company, describing all imaginable advantages in this new Eden, and promising a town acre to all who would have their titles to land in the Wellington district transferred to Wanganui, was eagerly caught at by numbers of the gullible adventurers, who, with large families on their hands, and living at great expense in Wellington without a hope of getting possession of the land originally assigned to them, were glad enough to see a prospect of settling themselves anywhere.

The titles for Wellington mountain and swamp were exchanged for an equal quantity at Wanganui, with the addition of a town acre to every holder of a section of one hundred acres; and the unfortunates were shipped off to a distance of 120 miles, where,

clamour as they might, very little could be heard of them. Not a single individual was able to get possession of the land, with the exception of the town acre, which had formed the bait. On this many of them have vegetated up to the present day, now six years of hope deferred and disappointment.

The original number of settlers has decreased from about six hundred to less than two hundred; and these, with the exception of some half dozen sturdy individuals, who are determined to do battle for their rights, are not bona-fide settlers, but a set of riff-raff, escaped convicts, venders of whiskey and rum, and peddling dealers with Maories.

Many of the settlers have attempted to live on the lands allotted to them, but they have invariably been turned off by the Maories. One old Scotchman (Mr. Bell), with characteristic obstinacy, persevered in building a house on the section allotted to him, but, as soon as he took his family out to live in it, he was waited on by a committee of natives, who gave him an hour to pack up and be off. They civilly helped him to load his waggons, and, as soon as he started, set fire to the house, and remained to see it burnt to the ground. Mr. Bell, although he had already paid the Company for about six hundred acres of land, was obliged to purchase from the natives a

MISSIONARY ADVICE.

patch of about sixty acres, which he now cultivates, and which is, in fact, the only piece of farmed land in the settlement.

The missionaries, on whose advice the natives acted in this matter and in almost every case where their interests and those of the settlers clashed, have brought themselves into great odium with the Europeans. It is certainly questionable how far they have acted wisely or well in intermeddling, as it is quite certain that wherever the settlers and natives have been left to themselves they have come to a better understanding, than where an officious whisperer is constantly dinning it into their ears that they are likely to be cheated and over-reached. It is the more unnecessary, too, from the fact that the natives are sufficiently cunning and avaricious without needing any suggestions: but their advisers appear to have acted on the rule "divide et impera" and they have certainly succeeded for the last seven years in being the prime movers of discord and ill-will, though their governing propensities have received a death-blow from the energetic administration of Governor Grey, and from the increasing influence of the colonists, who are well aware where the shoe pinches. Besides the ill-will to the whites, which has been assiduously fostered, the missionaries

have succeeded in making the natives, particularly at this place and Waikanahi, pharisaical to a degree scarcely credible; and I have myself seen an old anthropophage, with a hundred murders on his head, look down on a hard-working white man as a heathen, because he did not take the sacrament four times a year, go to chapel three times a day, and look sanctified on the appearance of the missionary.

An unlucky accident happened here this morning (April 14th), that, in the present juncture, may have a bad effect. A young midshipman of the Calliope, who is attached to the gun-boat, was paying one of the Putiki natives for some work done in thatching his hut, when a pistol he had in his hand exploded, wounding the native in the head.

There was a number of natives about at the time of the accident, and they were greatly excited, believing that it had been done purposely, and they loudly demanded that the middy should be given up to them. When, however, the matter was explained, and it was found that the wound was not serious, they most of them dispersed, leaving the wounded man in charge of our surgeons.

It is very fortunate that our principal stockade is finished, as its imposing appearance may assist in

"LEX TALIONIS."

impressing on the natives the necessity of keeping the peace.

A deputation from Putiki came to the stockade in the afternoon, with a request that C – – – , the unlucky middy, might be given up to them as an "utu" (payment) for the wounded man, and promising that no harm should come to him unless their friend died. This was of course refused, particularly as they seemed to think the Scripture injunction of "blood for blood," which they frequently quoted, made it incumbent on us to comply with their request.

CHAPTER XI.

CHAP. XI.

STARTLING INCIDENT – SAVAGE MURDER. – DOMESTIC TRAGEDY. – CAPTURE OF THE MURDERERS. – RUSE DE GUERRE.

April 18th. – We were all startled this evening, while quietly seated at mess, by cries of distress from the opposite bank of the river, and presently by the appearance of Mr. Gilfillan, one of the out-settlers, with a severe tomahawk wound in his neck. He told us that six Maories had come to his house just before dark, and that, while in friendly conversation with them, one of them had suddenly wounded him from behind by a blow of a tomahawk. He immediately rushed into his house and barricaded the door; but having no arms, and seeing that it would be impossible to keep the Maories out, he had, at the entreaty of his wife, escaped by a side window, to make for the town and procure assistance, believing that, finding him gone, they would content themselves with plunder and do no injury to the women and children.

Unluckily for his own sake, he declared to us that the Maories were out in all directions; and this, com-

STARTLING INCIDENT.

bined with it being a very dark night and his house at the distance of six miles, prevented any one going out at once, particularly as the road was by an ill-defined track, only known to a few of the settlers, and not easily found even by daylight.

The news of the attack on Gilfillan had reached the natives at Putiki as soon as it did us; and this, combined with the fact of their having threatened us a few days before, made suspicion fall on them.

A canoe pulled by seven of their chief young men came over almost immediately, and stated that the crime had been perpetrated by some young men belonging to a branch of their tribe from up the river, with the belief that our vengeance would fall on them; and they offered immediately to go in pursuit of the murderers, and endeavour to capture them. Their offer was accepted, though very little dependence was placed on it, particularly by the settlers, who, if their advice had been taken, would have seized on as many as possible of the Putiki people at once.

A party of ten of us, well armed and accompanied by twelve of the Putiki people, set out at daylight on the following morning for Gilfillan's farm.

On our way we fell in with two little children, wet through with the heavy dew and shivering with cold;

they confirmed our worst fears by telling us that their mother and all the family, except themselves, had been murdered, and the house plundered and burnt.

From the few hasty questions asked them it appeared, that after the father's escape their mother had taken the opportunity of the Maories' attention being engrossed with their plunder, to put these two children out of a back window, where they had hidden themselves in a neighbouring ravine all night. We continued our journey at a run, anxious to arrive as quickly as possible, and soon reached the brow of a hill commanding the valley of Matarawa, in the centre of which was poor Gilfillan's farm, now a heap of smoking ruins.

A more beautiful spot I never saw in my life, and it was difficult to conceive that it could possibly be the scene of such atrocities. Any doubt, however, was speedily set at rest, when, on entering the enclosure, we came suddenly on a group of mangled corpses, the last that of the poor mother; her head almost cut to pieces by repeated blows with a heavy wood axe: a couple of yards in advance lay the body of the eldest daughter, her skull split nearly in two; and close to her the body of a young child. All of them, from their attitudes, had evidently been struck

DOMESTIC TRAGEDY.

down in flight, and the tottering steps of the child appeared to have been retarding the flight of the mother and sister.

We had but a moment to look at this dreadful sight when the cries of a young child were heard from a neighbouring cow-shed: on our way to it we passed the body of a boy, about ten years of age, and near him, lying on its face, with outstretched arms, a baby, which we supposed to be dead, but which we afterwards found was sleeping and unhurt.

On entering the cowshed I was horror-struck by the most dreadful sight my eyes ever beheld. There sat a young girl of about seventeen, a deep tomahawk wound in her forehead, and her fair hair dabbled with blood which flowed even on the poor babe she held in her arms. I shall never forget the fixed look of mute despair depicted on her countenance, while the poor child smiled and crowed with delight through the mask of blood that covered its face.

What a long dreadful night of terror it must have been to that poor girl, the flames of her father's house shining on her, the bodies of her mother and family lying about, and not knowing whether each moment might not bring back the savages to complete their work!

Litters were quickly made, and the poor wounded girl, the two babies, and the four dead bodies carried in. It must have been a melancholy sight as we wound down the hill in sight of the town, and the nature of our burdens could be perceived by the inhabitants, all of whom were grouped along the banks of the river in anxious expectation.

On our return I noticed that scraps of clothing and small articles taken from the house had been dropped at every few hundred yards; and as this path led to Putiki Pa, it convinced me that it had not been done by any of their people, but had been intended to direct suspicion to them.

To the great surprise of every one, we were aroused about midnight by a messenger from Matawaonga with news that five out of the six murderers were taken, and that the party would be down before daylight.

At break of day a party of the armed police and town's-people proceeded up the bank of the river, and I accompanied H – – – , in the gun-boat till we arrived opposite Matawaonga, where several canoes put off to meet us, and in one of them were the prisoners with Mawai, Ori King, and their capturers, all in high glee at their success, and in being thus able to prove that they had neither participation nor sympathy in the murder.

"RUSE DE GUERRE."

The prisoners stepped into the gun-boat with smiling faces, calling out "Tena-koe Homya, Tena-koe Ko Power," and offering to shake hands with us, appearing surprised when we drew back in disgust.

We afterwards heard the particulars of their capture, and the ruse de guerre by which they were taken, which was excellent.

The six Putiki natives in pursuit knew that the murderers were armed, and, as they were only equal in point of numbers, the chances were that they might not capture the whole of them, while it was very possible that they might all get away. Our friend E Oni Wiremu, otherwise "Johnny Williams," the leader of the party, determined to try to enlist the sympathies of the natives on the river's bank and procure assistance from them – no easy matter, as they were far more likely to lean to the side of the murderers than to that of the captors. He and his party began a loud "tangi," which was immediately answered from both sides of the river, and continued till the subtle Johnny thought that he had sufficiently excited the sensibilities of his audience; he then got up, and in an eloquent speech described to them the murder of the unoffending woman and children, and added that, in revenge, the

soldiers had surrounded the Pa at Putiki, and had seized every man, woman, and child, so that they were the only individuals who had escaped; all the rest, chiefs, men, women, and children, were prisoners in the hands of the enraged pakeha. He declared that nothing but the capture of the murderers could save their father Ori King, the brave Mawai, and their friends, brothers in arms and relations, who were in our hands; and so artfully worked on the feelings of his audience, that, so far from giving any opposition, they manned a large canoe for him, he and his party lying concealed at the bottom under baskets of potatoes.

The fugitives, who by this time were fifty miles from the settlement, and no longer feared pursuit, were taking it easy, singing songs and bragging of what they had done. They had no suspicion either of a canoe that belonged to that part of the river, and manned from a neighbouring Pa; so they let it come close to them, under the pretence of hearing the particulars. As it came alongside, Pa-tapo, a wild young chief and a great favourite of the officers, who was hidden in the bow, saw that one of the fugitives had a cocked musket beside him, and that the others had arms lying within reach; and, being anxious to take them all alive, he, with a tomahawk between

CAPTURE OF THE MURDERERS.

his teeth, made one spring on the fellow with the musket, seizing it, and at the same moment upsetting the canoe.

In a few minutes the whole party were captured while in the water, without being able to make any effectual resistance; and the captors lost no time in bringing the prisoners to the settlement, fearing a rescue might be attempted if their ruse were for a moment suspected.

CHAPTER XII.

CHAP. XII.

RUMOURS OF WAR – CONDUCT OF THE PRISONERS – RUIN OF THE SETTLERS – OPENING THE BALL – SKIRMISH IN THE TOWN. – A GREAT CHIEF SHOT.

THE following week was one of great excitement and preparation for war. The stockades had been strengthened, and two large clay houses in the town fortified as places of refuge for the inhabitants. Every day brings in fresh rumours of tauas or war parties, so that I suppose we may soon expect a visit. There is one thing quite certain, that we ought to lick any force they can bring against us; and if we don't, we deserve to lose our scalps.

Our old enemy, Rangihaeta, is up in arms too, and has made a plundering expedition to Kapiti, but without taking any lives. There is every prospect of a winter campaign and plenty of work in other quarters besides this, for the Ngatiraukawas are beginning to be very sulky at Rauperaha being still kept prisoner: our old friends, too, the Ngatiawas of Waikanahi, for whom so much has been done, are, it is said, about to turn against us.

CONDUCT OF THE PRISONERS.

There is one comfort in it all, – that the colony has made immense strides since last winter, and we shall never have so many difficulties to encounter again. Provisions are now plentiful; money is abundant; there are many new coasters; the troops are more than doubled in numbers, and are in a much more efficient state; there is a fine new war-steamer in place of the old broken-down "Driver;" and, better than all, great progress has been made on the public roads, and a fine strong barrack built at Porirua.

The prisoners have been tried by court-martial: four of them have been condemned to death; the fifth, a mere lad, is to be transported for life.

They will be hanged to-morrow morning, and as soon as the news gets up the river the row will commence. Throughout the trial they have exhibited the most perfect indifference to their fate, inquiring frequently of the soldiers whether the scaffold was ready, and expressing a desire to be hanged off-hand, without all the bother of a trial. When the boy heard that he was to be transported, he burst into a passion of tears, and a request was sent from him, in which the rest joined, that they might all be hanged together.

It has been a melancholy sight to see the out-settlers coming in with their property, while no one

stirs out of the town without arms, and one sees every man driving in his sheep and cattle with a gun on his shoulder and pistols in his belt.

After seven years of misfortunes and disappointments, they are now compelled to abandon their homes, and that, too, just at the moment when their hopes were reviving, and the improvement wrought by the new Governor's excellent policy was beginning to be felt. Even Mr. Bell, who has so long been known all over the colony for the energy and perseverance he has displayed, in spite of no ordinary obstacles and discouragements, has at length given up the struggle, and is compelled to abandon his farm like the rest, and see the persevering labour of years thrown away.

The settlement, I fear, has received its last blow. The country is beautiful and fertile: the climate perhaps the most equable and temperate in the Northern Island, or in the world; and these advantages have encouraged the settlers to hope on in spite of hope: but the truth is now apparent, that it is twenty years, at least, before its time. It is too isolated, too unprotected; has nothing to fall back upon, but must stand or fall by itself, and is open to the attack of all the worst and strongest tribes of New Zealand.

INSECURITY OF THE SETTLERS.

It was supposed by some that the presence of the troops would be a protection, but wiser men predicted that their coming would be the harbinger of war. The troops certainly protect the pork butchers of the town, and the drunken riff-raff of which its inhabitants is principally composed; but the real settlers, who have cattle and land to attend to, cannot work under the guns of the stockade, and are therefore particularly exposed to any sudden attack, and cut off before assistance can reach them. To make them secure, nothing less would do than a sentry over every cow, and a sergeant's guard in attendance on each labourer; and even this is scarcely as much as some of them expect.

May 10th. – We can scarcely complain of want of excitement during the last three weeks, for we have had daily rumours of war, reconnoissances, and all sorts of work with fatigue parties, fortifying and building new stockades, &c. We have also exchanged a few occasional shots, in which we touched up some of the anthropophages. They do not appear to like the whiz of canister, so nothing has been seen of them, nearer than half a mile or so, for the last three or four days.

A reinforcement of one hundred men has arrived from Wellington, so that our force now musters nearly three hundred strong.

From the bad position of the town, surrounded and divided as it is by hills and ravines, it has been necessary to separate the force into three parties, and occupy three different stockades, scarcely near enough to be of any great use to one another, and sadly crippling their strength in case it should be necessary to make any offensive movements.

The only damage we have received yet, was the murder of one of the soldiers. He was tomahawked within a quarter of a mile of the stockade, while absent, without leave, in quest of stray fowls. The body was brought in yesterday by some friendly natives, dreadfully mangled.

The last news is that Mamaku, who was with Rangihaeta last year, has joined the enemy with about sixty men. He has the reputation of being a brave and clever leader, and his experience of our mode of fighting, gained at the Hutt and at Porirua last year, will be of some service to them in future attacks.

The enemy's scouts are in sight all day long, but they seldom venture within a quarter of a mile; they do much mischief in destroying the cattle, so much so, that if it goes on for a week or two longer we shall be reduced to salt provisions. There is no prospect of our getting any assistance from Wellington for a mouth at least, however strong the enemy

COMMENCEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN.

may be; so there is no choice but to beat them, particularly as there is no retreat, for we are one hundred miles from everywhere, and with enemies on all sides. The worst of it is, that we are close prisoners to our stockades, not being able to go a hundred yards from them without some black rascal taking a long shot at us from behind a bush or tree. From all accounts the whole of the Maories along the river are of opinion that we should be driven out of this: it is only to be hoped that they will not all immediately act upon it, as there are not less than 5000 fighting men between this point and Taupo. The relations and friends of the men who were hanged are all in the taua, and are infuriated against us; and there is more or less ill-will throughout the country from our daring to carry out such an act of justice on the spot where they had lorded it over the "pakeha" for so many years.

They would have thought much less of it if the culprits had been tried and hanged in Wellington. It is well, however, as it is, as it has shown that we were not afraid to do what was right; and they cannot but respect, however they may hate, us. If on former occasions as much determination had been displayed, the Maories would not be so much astonished and enraged now, and perhaps if they

had known that punishment was certain, such crimes might not have been committed.

May 19th. – For the last three days there have been skirmishes every day; and yesterday there was a regular set-to, beginning at about ten o'clock and ending at dark.

The Maories advanced on all sides, firing at the stockades and getting possession of the bullet-proof houses in the outskirts of the town, from which they kept up a steady fire, while parties of them carried off the plunder. They proved themselves capital skirmishers, getting over the ground as rapidly and as stealthily as Red Indians, and taking possession of all the commanding points with a rapidity that showed them to be no despicable enemies.

Like all savages they kept as much under cover as possible, though they did not hesitate to expose themselves when any object was to be gained by it, or any plunder to be got.

At sunset the main body of the natives drew off, leaving parties in possession of the clay shot-proof houses. As these might do us some mischief, they were stormed this morning; but they were found to be empty, so that a good deal of well-intended valour was wasted.

The cause of the retreat was soon discovered, as the

DEATH OF MAKETU.

news spread among the natives that Maketu, the greatest chief and the most troublesome rascal in these parts, had been shot through the head while leading the plundering party on the outskirts of the town. Some twelve others have also been spiflicated in the course of the day's work, which is highly satisfactory, as it is the first turn-up with the natives in which we have not had the greatest loss.

All last night the Maories were screaming, firing their muskets, and dancing war-dances, evidently in an ecstasy of rage at their defeat and loss: to-day we have heard nothing of them but the loud "tangi" for the dead. It is a piece of great luck that Maketu has been shot, as he was one of the greatest chiefs and the most famous warrior on the river – one of the old-fashioned, treacherous, man-eating savages. The rest will think it a judgment on him for the double game he has been playing, having received his pardon for old offences only a few weeks ago; and up to the time of his death he was professing the greatest friendship for us, declaring that he was using all his influence to send the taua back. Pehi-turoa is the next that I should like to see bagged, and with him some of the other rascals who have been living among us and professing all kinds of friendship.

CHAPTER XIII.

CHAP. XIII.

WARINESS OF THE ENEMY – REINFORCEMENTS – RECONNOISSANCE – TAMATI WAKA – TE WHERO WHERO – MORE SKIRMISHING – CLUMSY EQUIPMENTS

THE soldiers are full of fight, and their only anxiety is, that the Maories should make a regular attack on one or all the stockades at once. They, however, are too wary for that, and will only skirmish with us, in which, from the broken and wooded country, they have all the advantage on their side. In the meantime they are killing all the cattle and sheep, and burning down the out-settlers' houses; and a large body of them watch the river, to prevent our communicating with Wellington. There is a report that they are going to drag their canoes overland to the mouth of the river, to intercept all vessels and boats: I hope it is true, as our friends in Wellington ought to manage to let them catch a Tartar.

May 23d. – A little skirmishing daily; but the main body of the Maories remain in their old position on the top of a hill, at the distance of a mile.

REINFORCEMENTS.

where they sit and watch us. Parties of them go out daily, killing and driving off the cattle; and at night we have generally one or two alarms, from the sentries firing at their prowling scouts, or what they imagine to be so. Something was going on among them last night, most probably some of their wounded dying, as we could hear them shouting and shrieking with rage, and firing their muskets in the direction of the stockade.

June 8th. – Since my last entry we have had a visit from the Governor in the "Inflexible." He brought us a reinforcement of the Grenadier Company of the 65th, whom he seduced down with him under pretence of acting as a bodyguard. Having got them here, he went off, and the "Guardsmen" have been well roasted at being abandoned in such a miserable hole, when they were anticipating a tour of pleasure with the Governor. In the Governor's suite are several Maori chiefs of great influence and power, among whom are Te Whero Whero, chief of the Waikato, and Tamati Waka Nene, chief of the Ngapui. The latter has been our firm friend for many years, and rendered us great assistance in the war with Heki and Kawiti; and, had his advice been taken, or his entreaties listened to, we might have avoided the fearful loss and defeat

sustained in attempting to storm the Pa at Ohaiowai. He has been rewarded by government, for his services on this and other occasions, with a pension of 100l. per annum; the first payments of which he generously devoted to building a mill for the benefit of his former enemies, as a peace offering, and as a compensation for their losses.

Te Whero Whero is chief of the largest and most powerful tribe in New Zealand, and could, it is said, bring 10,000 fighting men into the field. Under these circumstances it is desirable to treat him with the greatest civility, and it is most fortunate that he is peaceably disposed towards us, or he might make the country a very uncomfortable place of residence.

He is at present in a violent state of exasperation against our enemy, Pehi Turoa, who lately, in a speech which has been maliciously repeated, likened Te Whero Whero to a flying lizard, from his appearing here so suddenly and unexpectedly in the "Inflexible." This is an insult not to be borne by so great a chief, and he has expressed his determination to pick Pehi's bones, and boil his head in a cauldron. There is, in fact, no limit to his vengeance, and he has offered the Governor to attack and exterminate the whole tribe. This friendly offer has been declined, though it would certainly save us much

RECONNOISSANCES.

trouble; and, in the meantime, Te Whero Whero is growing thin from indulging in his wrath, and refusing either to eat or sleep.

The "Calliope" made her appearance off the port, but it was blowing a gale of wind, so that she could not send her boats in till the 30th ult. On the 4th of June, the "Inflexible" returned, bringing the Governor, with Colonel M'Cleverty, and a reinforcement of about 200 men, besides about 150 sailors from the "Calliope" and "Inflexible," with four gun-boats, and lots of artillery stores. With this large and well equipped force we expected to go to work at once; but nothing has come of it as yet. On the 5th, a reconnoissance was made, about 300 men going along the bank of the river, and 200 up the stream in the gun-boats. The shore party was so hampered in the fern, and in crossing the ravines with a small field piece, that they saw nothing of the Maories. In the boats there was a pleasant little interchange of shots, and a considerable expenditure of rockets, grape and canister, but without any damage being done, I believe, on either side: certainly not on ours.

Large reconnoitring parties every day, but nothing comes of it. There was a skirmish yesterday (June 10th) in a swamp about two miles from the

stockade, in which the Maories got the worst again, and, had it not been so late in the evening, it might have ended in a very pretty fight. It is reported that there were not less than thirty of the Maories wounded in yesterday's skirmish; this was principally caused by the flanking fire of one of our reconnoitring parties, who were out on the opposite bank of the river, and who, hearing the firing in the swamp, came up just in time to give able assistance. I have not the least doubt in my own mind that our soldiers would be found quite as good skirmishers as the Maories, with a little more experience and a better system of training, while as regards arms and ammunition they have infinitely the advantage.

The great object should be to trust, as much as possible, to individual sagacity and energy; and, in a country of this kind, every man should be taught to take to his tree, and "fight on his own hook." Red coats, jackets, and stocks should be abolished, and the clumsy, dead weight, cartouche box replaced by a light, handy cartridge belt similar to that in use among the Spanish Cazadores.

A more helpless object than a fully equipped soldier in the bush can scarcely be imagined. Hampered with a long musket, bayonet sheath, cartouche box and knapsack, with innumerable

CLUMSY ACCOUTREMENTS.

straps, he is every moment tripped up, caught in the supple-jacks, and entangled in the most complicated and unhappy manner. In the open country, where the ground is broken and rugged, he staggers along rather than runs, overbalanced by the ill-adjusted weights he carries; while both hands have more than enough to do, between his musket, the cap, which pertinaciously insists on coming off, and the heavy, lumbering cartouche box, which bangs about at every jump, and will not be kept in its place. But all this is nothing to his tribulation when he is compelled to crawl on his belly through low brushwood and fern; where he is continually tying himself up in inextricable knots among the roots and creepers, in the vain supposition that he is in pursuit of the Maori, who is gliding along through the maze with the silence, rapidity, and ease of a serpent. Our mess musters very strong just now, and there are not less than six-and-thirty of us who sit down to table every evening. It is rather in a rough style, but it is perfect luxury when compared with Porirua.

CHAPTER XIV.

CHAP. XIV.

NARROW ESCAPE – TRUCE – NELSON – PRODUCE – CROIX-ILE – MIDDLE ISLAND – PRICE OF LAND – HIGH RATE OF LABOUR.

Aug. 13th. – Two months since my last entry in my log-book, I have since gone through a variety of moving incidents by field and flood. In the first place, I have been to Nelson; in the next, I have been nearly drowned, having been upset in Captain Richards's whale boat in trying to cross the bar of the Wanganui river. Poor Richards was drowned: myself and the boat's crew were carried out of the surf by the ebb tide, and were picked up, after having been about an hour in the water. It was almost a miracle that any one was saved: for my own part I only struggled on from the instinctive tenacity with which a drowning man holds out to the last, even when all hope and all fear are alike gone. There has been a fight, too, at St. John's Wood, in which we have had about a dozen men killed and wounded, and which it appears is to be the end of the business, as the Maories have declared

NELSON.

themselves perfectly satisfied, stating that they took up arms to obtain "utu" for the men we hanged, that they have killed some of our people, and we have killed some of theirs; so that on the whole both parties have very good reason to be satisfied with themselves, and may separate without any unpleasant reflections on their characters. They add that "they are now going to plant potatoes for the next winter, when, if we are so inclined, they will be very happy to renew the fight," particularly as, in leaving them the choice of time and place, it does not interfere with their convenience, and helps to pass the time in the dull winter months when they have nothing better to do.

Nelson is a poor place, situated in the midst of barren mountains, with a harbour very difficult of access, and scarcely any available land within a reasonable distance. I do not think it is ever likely to be much more prosperous than at present, although the settlers appear to expect great things from it when the purchase of the Wairau plains is completed. As, however, the plains are at a distance of at least thirty miles, and a very mountainous and woody country intervenes, I cannot imagine that it will much benefit the town of Nelson. The Wairau settlers will consult their own convenience, and make

use of some point in Port Underwood or Queen Charlotte's Sound, both of which are close at hand, and are magnificent harbours, easy of access at all times. The Wai-mea plain, which is close to Nelson, is not capable of supporting a greater number of settlers, sheep, and cattle than it has at present; in fact, if anything, there are already more on it than can do any good, as it is for the most part a poor stony soil, and liable to inundations from the melting of the snow on the mountains. The principal produce is barley, which is used in Nelson for making beer, which, by the way, is beginning to supersede English beer in the colony, being tolerably good, well-flavoured, and cheap. The settlers in Nelson, as is the case in all the New Zealand Company's settlements, are a superior class to that usually found in new colonies, and, having brought out some capital with them, live in a very comfortable style, and exercise a great deal of hospitality; so that a visitor is apt to carry away a better impression of the place than its own intrinsic merits would justify.

The greatest advantages this settlement can boast are a fine, warm, equable climate, and perfect immunity from any fear or danger of being troubled with the natives; an advantage that the settlements

CROIX-ILE.

in the Northern Island will not possess for some years to come.

Having obtained a month's leave of absence to go to Wellington, I took advantage of the "Calliope" calling at Wanganui to run down in her. We crossed the bar, which, from frequent accidents, is now rather an object of dread, in a small cutter, after night-fall, and so dark that we could not see the land-marks. It was nervous work, as every thing portended a storm, to which we should have been exposed among the breakers if we had got aground; and to add to the difficulty we had a detachment of a hundred men on board, also on their way to Wellington.

The storm we looked for was not long in reaching us, and for three days we were buffeted about in Cook's Straits, exposed to all the fury of an equinoctial gale, which compelled us at last to run into Croixile Harbour, in the Middle Island.

Croixile, so named by the French exploring expedition in the "Astrolabe," is a magnificent landlocked bay, like an inland lake, surrounded on all sides by high mountains, which are reflected on a calm, bright surface, quite pleasant to look upon after the boisterous sea we had just left.

It is curious that the northern side of Cook's

Straits should be so devoid of harbours, when on this side the whole coast is a succession of deep indentations and lagoons. It is much less stormy, too, and the climate is warmer and drier; so that I have not the least doubt that in a few years the greater part of the sheep and cattle farmers will be found on the southern side of the straits. There are scarcely any natives in the Southern Island, which is an immense advantage, as it not only secures the cattle and sheep owner from having his whole flocks swept away in case of an outbreak, but also gives no trouble in looking after the flocks and herds, to prevent them from straying into and damaging the native cultivations, which is a constant cause of quarrel and difficulty in the other island, and has already called for two or three legislative enactments.

The best policy would evidently be to encourage agriculture and commerce as much as possible in the Northern Island, and give all possible advantages to the cattle and sheep farmer in the Southern.

The price of land in the Northern Island, "one pound per acre" is immensely too great for the sheep farmer to pay. A fourth part of it is more than he could afford, or more than it would be wise to require, as this money might be turned to infinitely greater

PRICE OF LAND.

advantage in the colony by the purchase of stock than it could possibly be when sunk in land.

The only plan will be to lease sheep and cattle runs, at a cheap rate for a long term of years, on much the same system as in New South Wales with the squatters; with this difference, that the rate ought to be even cheaper in this country, as there are scarcely any native grasses, and the whole face of the country is fern and swamp, which is improved every year by the introduction of stock, – while in New South Wales the land is better when first occupied than it ever is afterwards, and goes on deteriorating with every year's grazing.

It is questionable how far it is politic to charge the exorbitant price of 1l. per acre, to agriculturists even, when such fine lands can be purchased in Canada and the United States for from 4s. to 5s. per acre, and that too where rivers, bays, or lakes offer a cheap means of communication, which is utterly wanting in New Zealand. To be sure it is pretended that 75 per cent, of the purchase money is expended in sending out labourers to the colony; but this is a very doubtful advantage, as I suspect that most of the settlers would understand how to lay out 75 per cent, of their capital much better than any one could do it for them. Besides, even

if the labour is sent out, which is very questionable, it is a melancholy fact for the settler that the chances are, the benefit of it is reaped by the towns-people, who have wisely invested their money in goods instead of land; or, that the labourers settle down, as squatters, on small pieces of land which they clear for themselves. Numbers of the labourers too, who were originally brought out at the expense of the settlers, not having sunk any capital, carried their strong arms to the neighbouring colonies, seeing but little prospect of improvement here for years to come.

The proof of the want of labour is the ridiculously high rate of wages. At Teranaki 7s. per day was refused by labourers to get in the year's harvest (1847). At Wellington the mechanics have lately struck for wages on the government works, declaring 5s. 6d. per day to be insufficient. At Wanganui, within the last week, 8s. per diem was refused by mechanics, who held out for 10s. Think of this, ye starving Irish! and this too in a country where pork is2 d. per lb., and potatoes 1s. 6d. per cwt.

How, with labour at such a rate, can an agriculturist pay 1l. per acre for land? particularly when he has to trust to a lottery for where it may chance to be, and a turn of the wheel may give him

WANT OF LABOUR.

a hundred acres of sand and stone at Petoni, as much mountain and ravine near Wellington, or send him off neck and crop to dive for his land in the swamps round Wanganui, at a distance of 100 miles from everywhere, even from the labour for which he has paid 75 per cent, of his capital, but which he may replace by employing a beach-comber at from 5s. to 7s. 6d. per diem. For my own part I should be sorry, under these circumstances, to take almost any of the titles for land off their possessors' hands for 25 per cent, on the prime cost.

CHAPTER XV.

CHAP. XV.

WELLINGTON. – PORIRUA. – MISCHIEF OF ABSENTEEISM. – WANT OF CONCENTRATION. – COMMERCIAL SCHEMES.

GOT into Wellington to-day (Oct. 17th), after a very stormy voyage of ten days, and the distance only 120 miles. Wellington looks much the same dreary, windy place it used to be, and there is very little evidence of improvement at first sight. I don't think that anything will do much for it till after the general establishment of roads on shore and steamers in the straits, so as in some measure to neutralise the ill effects of the inaccessible mountains and ravines of the one, and the stormy sea of the other. Wellington bids fair to become, in time, one of the most prosperous of our new colonial towns, and to be the metropolis of a very large and active commercial and agricultural population. It is backed by splendid agricultural and pastoral lands of almost incalculable extent in the Hutt and the Wairarapa plains, which the roads at present in formation will rapidly bring into cultivation, and whose produce

WELLINGTON.

will all find its way for sale and shipment to Wellington. It is already the centre of the coasting trade, and has a monopoly in supplying the Middle Island, and a very large proportion of the Northern one.

The wants of the native population as far as Kawia on one side, and Hawke's Bay on the other, arc supplied from this port; and their wheat, pork, and potatoes find their way here for sale, or in exchange for blankets, tobacco, calicoes, &c.

One of the greatest signs of increasing prosperity is the general inclination that is beginning to be evinced by the natives for regular labour and its consequent advantages in comfort and wealth, and which will make them a very valuable body of agricultural labourers, shepherds, and workmen, or active producers, thus adding immensely to the resources of the colony.

Some of them, who live on the sea-coast, have even become possessors of small vessels for the purpose of trading and communicating more easily with the settlements. At Porirua and Wanganui we have several times received visits of this kind, and have had our wants supplied from the various articles brought for sale.

This taste for the acquisition of property by trade

and labour has been assiduously fostered and encouraged by the present Governor, and shows a benevolence of spirit quite equal to the long-sighted and liberal policy which points it out to be the only true basis on which the prosperity of the colony can rest.

There is a great deal of pleasant, friendly society, and much hospitality, in Wellington; and gay promenades twice a week, which bring people together to gossip and hear the military band. The emigrants who came out to this settlement were of a superior class, and the original good tone has been maintained by an excellent institution called the "Wakefield Club," to which all of the better class of residents, settlers, and government officers, belong. 12

DECREASE OF THE NATIVE POPULATlON.

Since I was last in Wellington a Savings Bank has been established, and a native hospital has been built, both of which institutions will exercise a useful influence among the natives. Every deposit in the bank made by natives is so much given as a security for good behaviour, and is a long stride in the way of civilisation. The discipline of the hospital, which obliges the natives to clothe themselves properly, and to observe cleanly habits, exercises a powerful moral influence over them, and makes them less fitted to return to their former miserable warres, filthy mats and blankets, and uncleanly habits.

It is a curious and melancholy fact that, notwithstanding the care evinced for the natives by the government, the excellent institutions for their protection, the abundance of food, and their own apparently robust constitutions, they are nevertheless decreasing in numbers with a rapidity so extraordinary, that, if it continues in the same ratio, there will, in a quarter of a century, be scarcely any of them left.

This is variously ascribed to the change in their food; to the use of the blanket, which encourages cutaneous and catarrhal diseases; to the small number of women as compared with the men; and to their early and indiscriminate sexual intercourse.

These and numerous other theories are assigned, all of which, however, put together will scarcely account for the astonishing rapidity with which the race appears to be fading away.

The number of native children born is remarkably small, and even these seem particularly and unprecedentedly liable to disease, so that, as the present race goes rapidly off, there seems to be but little hope of a strong and numerous progeny succeeding it.

I went out to our old post at Porirua for a few days, and found great changes there. The road that used to be so bad and dangerous is now merely a pleasant ride, and in the course of the month will be open all the way through for carriages and carts. On the bay there are several ferry-boats, and two or three small inns for travellers; and, in place of our miserable warres and stockade, there is now a fine stone barrack, with capital officers' quarters and mess room.

The road through the Hutt to the Wairarapa is getting on rapidly, and will be of immense benefit to the colony. One does not see much cultivation along the road-side, but this can hardly be expected, when there is not a single settler who has yet got a formal title to his land, when labour is so dear, and

EVILS OF ABSENTEEISM.

above all, where the bona fide settlers are so much scattered by the intervening lands of speculators. This latter is a subject that requires interference on the part of the government, as nothing can be more manifestly unjust and injurious to the colony than to give to the English speculator the same right of preemption with the pioneer, who opens the country and gives it a real value, who runs every risk of life and fortune, and sets his all upon the die. Instead of having the right of selection, the real settler, perhaps, finds that his section is ten, twenty, or even fifty miles from the settlement, and he is jostled out to this distance, not because the intermediate sections are filled up with real hard-working bona fide settlers like himself, but that the absentee speculator may have a share in the benefits arising from his risk and labour, and in the outlay of money in the colony. The consequence is, that the settler cannot even occupy the land he is entitled to by lot; for it cannot be expected that he is to cut roads and open a communication, not only through his own section, but through, perhaps, twenty others, before he arrives at one occupied by a settler, and this, perhaps, through a heavily timbered country. But this is not all: if he has pluck to go on his land, he finds himself perfectly isolated, without roads and without neighbours, in

the midst of a country of forest, mountain, and swamp; without an acre of cleared ground, or a foot-track, that is not his own work. In this wild space his cattle get astray, he is shut out from all the conveniences of life, and is subject to the privations of utter solitude, uncheered by the society and assistance of neighbours, and passive and unexcited from the want of emulation and example.

There is one more risk that we have not alluded to, and the greatest, – that of settling, without protection and without neighbours, among savages. To the settler it is disheartening to know how utterly isolated he is, while his isolation is an incitement to his savage neighbour to take advantage of his weakness. This was particularly the case at Wanganui, where, among a dozen out-settlers, there was scarcely one within three miles of another, and in many instances they were scattered at even greater distances apart.

These difficulties might have been avoided by a system of concentration: union would have been strength and wealth too, for the capital that has been frittered away uselessly in driblets all over the country, would have made one settlement great and powerful. Even now it is not too late to apply a remedy to the evil, as there are hundreds in the colony whose energies are not half employed, or are

RIGHT OF PRE-EMPTION.

more than half wasted; there are many, too, who fear to trust their wives and families to the doubtful mercy and forbearance of savages, and who would form a valuable population if concentrated in the neighbourhood of Port Nicholson, Porirua, or the Waitarapa.

To do this, the bona fide settler must be allowed to occupy any uncultivated land that may suit his purpose, and the mere speculator's choice must be postponed. The objects of the government should be to advance and benefit the colony and the settlers – not to put profits into the pockets of London holders of scrip. It is not to benefit them that English men, women, and children traverse 20,000 miles of ocean, and encounter numberless hardships, toil, and risk, even when landed in their adopted home; nor is it to furnish them a good percentage that the home government expends ten of thousands annually in the protection of the colony, and in loans, grants, &c.

In the United States the pioneer has always the right of pre-emption, for there is no one better entitled to it than he who gives the land a marketable value. Their system, too, of making the land pay a proportion of the expense for roads, either in money or labour, is an excellent one, and would answer well in New Zealand, in the absence of other means to

tax the absentee. Touch his pocket, and he will soon drop the mere speculation; but, as long as his 100 acres only cost him the upset price of 100l., he will keep them, in the hope of their ultimately turning up a prize in the lottery; not by any effort of his own, but by the enterprise and at the expense of the colonist.

It is a pity that speculators should not be informed that there is not a tithe of the sections worth 100l. Many of them are in the midst of mountains and ravines; many of them are swamps that require careful draining; almost all of them are so densely covered with timber, that they can only be cleared at an expense of from 10l. to 20l. per acre, and all require some outlay beyond the purchase-money. Yet many infatuated people will not allow their agents even to lease their lands, for fear the valuable timber (!) should be destroyed, or in hopes that some chance may turn up, in the unsettled state of the colony, that may put a fancy price upon them.

The lottery system, which has put so much land into the hands of mere speculators, is one of the smallest evils that has resulted from the working of the New Zealand Company's plans. The worst has been in the division of the colonists and capital into a number of small settlements, in most instances so

WANT OF CONCENTRATION.

far apart as to be of little or no mutual assistance to one another. The communication between Wellington, Teranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Nelson, and Otago, is as infrequent as between any of these places and Sydney or Port Philip; in fact, each port is more indebted to Australia and Van Diemen's Land for imports and exports than they are to one another; so that, instead of there being any emporium in New Zealand, all supplies have had to be made direct to each port.

The government is embarrassed to keep so many settlements with contending interests in existence, particularly as they are all perfectly isolated, without roads, harbours, or navigable rivers to connect them, and selected, in most cases, not from any intrinsic merit, but to get rid of a certain number of clamorous holders of land orders.

This has not been the result of accident, or the want of land at any particular settlement; but it is the commercial interest of the company to form as many townships as possible, the sale of town acres being at the same time a bait to speculators and a sure source of gain to the company. Instead of having one or two settlements, it is the interest of the company to go on increasing the number as fast as possible. The sections once sold, the company

has done with the settlement; and it proceeds as quickly as it can to form another, leaving its clients to shift for themselves, or to embarrass the local government with claims for support and assistance in places where they ought never to have gone, or where, having gone, they have to be removed at the public expense, or are supported by an expenditure from the home government that, as in the case of Wanganui, ten times exceeds the value of the settlement.

12 Since the above was written, I regret to learn that Wellington has lost one of the most distinguished and able members of its society, the late lamented Colonel Wakefield, whose loss, both in his public and private capacity, will be severely felt. As principal agent of the New Zealand Company he displayed an activity, shrewdness, and good sense in his dealings with the natives, that obtained from them the title of "Wide-awake." He cannot be considered answerable for the ill-digested schemes of the New Zealand Company, or the dilemmas in which he was placed by the arrival of the settlers before he was ready for their reception, as had they waited for advice from him these contre-temps would never have occurred. In his private capacity Colonel Wakefield was an amiable and accomplished gentleman, and in losing him the society of Wellington has been deprived of one of its greatest attractions.

CHAPTER

WANGANUI.

CHAP. XVI.

WANGANUI. – OTAKI. – LAND SALES. – OBJECTS OF THE PURCHASERS. – FICTITIOUS BARGAINS. – PROPRIETORSHIP OF WASTE LANDS. – NINE POINTS IN THE LAW FAVOUR THE NATIVES. – RECENT GOVERNMENT PURCHASE. – JOURNEY TO WANGANUI.

Dec. 10th. – Here I am once more in Wanganui, after four days of tolerably hard journeying, in the course of which we have traversed one hundred and fifty miles of forest, swamps, sand-hills, and sea-beach – to say nothing of crossing about a dozen rivers. Capt. C – – – , H – – – , and I started from Wellington at daylight on the 6th, on horseback, for Porirua, where we arrived at about nine o'clock. Here we were disappointed in getting Maories for guides, but I fell in with my old poaching acquaintance, who gladly volunteered to accompany us: we had, however, to carry our traps on our own shoulders.

We held our way merrily through the Horokiwi Valley, where we had such work last year in pursuit of Rangihaeta, and where even now, in fine weather and without any enemy, we found it no easy work,

struggling through the tangled pathways and swampy ravines.

In another year there will be an excellent road all the way through to Wainui, and then people will wonder where the difficulties existed that we found insurmountable. We struck into the new road about three miles from Wainui, and reached Uruhi at sunset, and not at all sorry to find ourselves beneath the roof of Jenkins, a retired whaler, who has set up a house of entertainment, and who gave us an excellent supper and good beds, very different from any thing that could have been found here a year ago. We have done a pretty good day's work, having rode sixteen miles, boated four, and walked the remaining twenty-five over rough roads with heavy packs on our shoulders.

The next morning we were up at daylight, and walked twelve miles to Skipwith's at Otaki, where he kindly put us up for the day, the weather having turned out very wet and stormy. I found that wonderful changes had taken place at Otaki within the last year, and which may be attributed principally to the money that has been disseminated among the people for the purchase of the Wairau lands, and from the large sums they have received while working on the public roads, and which have given them a taste for European comforts.

LAND SALES.

We lunched with E. Martene (Martin), whom we found in a comfortably furnished house, with tables, chairs, knives and forks, and pictures of the Queen and Prince Albert over the mantel-piece. Martin and his wife were comfortably dressed in European clothing, and they gave us butter, milk, eggs, tea, bread, and cakes, any one of which articles it would have puzzled us to find here a year ago.

There has been a great deal of argument about the policy of Governor Grey in paying an additional sum for the Wairau lands; but I think he has acted wisely in every point of view, and more particularly as it is very questionable if the original purchase was ever fairly made; at any rate, an additional payment of two, or even three, thousand pounds ought to leave an immense profit to the New Zealand Company, and is not an unreasonable amount to give to the natives for an unanimous cession of their claims, and thus putting the settlers in possession without any fear of after-claps.

The misunderstanding with the natives regarding the first sales of land is easily understood, and one can only wonder that we have been able to get undisturbed possession of any land at all. We rather owe it to the dissension among the tribes, and the anxiety of some of them to have us for friends and

supporters, than to any abstract right that we are at this day in possession of a single acre.

For twenty years before the arrival of Colonel Wakefield (the New Zealand Company's agent) in New Zealand, it had been the practice of every shipmaster to make a bargain with a chief for large tracts of land in exchange for a few muskets, a pound or two of powder, or a bottle of rum. Many of them would, in this way, purchase all the land within sight of the ship from a Maori, who possibly could not claim a single acre in the whole district; others would mark on the chart one half, or not impossibly the whole of one of the islands, or ask for as much as the ship could sail along in a week, or in fact any other imaginable quantity, all of which would be readily granted in return for some substantial advantage. This had continued for years without any purchasers attempting to take possession, or even thinking of doing so; the intention, in most cases, being to use these pretended titles as a means of extracting money from the government, whenever it should occupy New Zealand as a colony. To such an extent was this carried, that the commonest Maori who visited Sydney was pestered to make grants of land; and E Ongi, who was really a chief, got a large store of muskets and ammunition in

A CLERICAL ERROR.

exchange for land in the Wellington district and in the southern island, where he had never set foot, and did not possess the shadow of a claim to an acre. From him one person got a title for 40,000 acres, and another for about one half the southern island.

If the holders of native titles were to be believed, the Maories had no longer a claim to a single acre; the missionaries alone would have furnished claims for twice as much land as really existed in the whole country. One of these latter gentry sent in, among other claims, a demand for 40,000 acres, and, on being inquired into, it appeared that it was a tract of land for which two of the northern tribes had been quarrelling and fighting for some years. To put a stop to bloodshed, he offered to become an arbitrator between them, and after examining into their respective claims, he declared both parties to have such equal rights that it was impossible to come to a decision, so, to prevent further trouble and settle the dispute, he told them that it would be better for all parties that he should take the disputed territory himself. The authorities, I believe, have differed with him as to the expediency of the case.

The Maories looked upon all these sales, titles, and claims as rather good jokes, and sold or gave

away to the sea-captain and to the missionary whatever they chose to ask for.

When Colonel Wakefield came, and, like a hundred predecessors, offered muskets, ball-cartridge, Jews' harps, old clothes, and sweetmeats in exchange for land, he found no difficulty in procuring bidders, who signed everything and agreed to anything, not dreaming that any result different from previous transactions was to come of it.

When the emigrant ships arrived, titles were made out for land thus purchased, and the settlers were left to get possession how they best could, and in many instances from tribes who had not received a farthing of the purchase-money, and who could not even imagine how or whence a pretence to a claim on their land had arisen. The Maories, with the missionaries for advisers, took one side, and the Company and its settlers the other; while the first governors, instead of taking a decided course, allowed themselves to be made the tools of a designing clique, who branded the southern settlers as rogues and rascals, persuaded the natives they were swindled, and encouraged them to oppose any amicable arrangement.

There is no subject about which the natives will so readily fight as for the proprietorship of land. It has been the grand "casus belli" from time imme-

WASTE LANDS.

morial, and a desirable patch of kumera-ground, or noted eel-pond, has been as often the subject of battle among them, as the possession of Calais or the Milanese to our European progenitors.

It appears incomprehensible at first, how, in a country so thinly peopled, and with so inconsiderable an amount of agriculture, immense tracts of swamp, mountain, and scarcely penetrable forest, should be the object of so much anxious competition and jealous watchfulness. The mountains, too, are generally impracticable, the forests a mass of tangled vegetation, and the vallies impassable swamps.

Where, then, is the value to the possessor, and why should he be allowed to hold such vast tracts that are useless to himself? is the natural question.

On examination it will be found that on the side of the mountain there is a patch of ground so sheltered and inclined as to be favourable to the growth of the kumera, the great delicacy of the unsophisticated native. This patch, a mere speck in the surrounding waste, gives a name and a value to the mountain, and is an object of anxious care to the owners, and of envy and jealousy to any less favoured tribe in the vicinity.

A thousand acres of swamp receive a value from a pond that abounds with eels.

Miles of forest contain, here and there, small and unconnected clearings in favourable situations, often at the distance of miles apart, and on which potatoes or Indian corn is grown.

Some places abound more than others with pigeons, ka-kas, and other birds, which are sought for food.

The berries of the Karaka and Kahikatea trees are articles of food, and though, in an extensive tract, these trees may not average more than two or three to an acre, yet they give value to the whole forest.

Some forests and some swamps abound more than others with wild pigs, and this is sufficient to make its owners unwilling to part with them (certainly without remuneration), although the profits derived from them may be ridiculously small, as compared with the enormous extent of land running to waste.

For these reasons, and doubtless others of their own, the natives are unwilling to part with their lands on compulsion and without remuneration.

They cannot see the advantage of a thousand acres of swamp or forest being taken away from them because it only produces a pound of eels, or a pig, or a Karaka tree per acre; nor do they consider their titles to these comparatively waste lands less valid than to those which they cultivate with more care, and which produce their kumeras, potatoes, taro, and

WASTE LANDS.

corn. It is true they are neither a nomadic nor a hunting people, but they are savages, and, like all savages, are indolent and incapable, in their savage state, of earnest and continued agricultural labour, and they depend for one half their supplies on the chances of fishing, pig-hunting, catching wild birds and rats, and on the berries of the forest trees. Agriculture is not a matter of choice among them, and I think it is very questionable whether they would have cultivated the land at all, if the country had furnished other means of keeping body and soul together.

The paucity of the ferae natura, and the small number of food-bearing plants indigenous to the soil, or of spontaneous growth, render labour necessary to procure the means of subsistence; and before the arrival of Europeans among them this was only just sufficient, and barely sufficient, to supply their actual wants; and it is only where they have had much communication with the settlers, and have acquired an inclination for European clothing and superior food, that less distaste for labour has been evinced. We are not now in times when the pope can grant a title to all the lands of "Heathenrie," and, under the pretext of infallible right, do all manner of wrong. The sophistical maxims of Vattel or Grotius will

scarcely more avail, as the natives have been left too long in possession to be interfered with at this time of day. They exceed us in numbers at least ten to one, are well armed, and are perfectly able and willing to support their own cause; so it is advisable, as a matter even of pounds, shillings, and pence, to deal fairly with them.

There is scarcely any cause now that would array any great force of natives against us except the land question; and I put it to any reasonable person whether it is not more prudent, more Christian-like, and less expensive, to pay for the land than to fight for it? Whether it is not better to expend money than blood? One helping to bind the natives to good government and order; the other introducing bloodshed and murder into the land, utterly barbarising the natives, and destroying the prospects of the colony for years to come. In common justice, too, to whom does the land belong? Does right of discovery supersede right of possession? or are we a horde of Huns or Tartars, who, tired of our own country, make ourselves another by the carnage of the children of the soil. This is a matter in which precedent cannot constitute right, and the only claim can be that of superior force, the brute power of the strongest, and that must, in spite of an ocean of

PURCHASE OF THE WAIRAU LANDS.

sentimental tears, end in the extermination of the weaker party.

Let us now look at the way in which land can be procured by purchase. In the month of March of this year (1847), Governor Grey purchased (for 5000l. ) from the Ngatitoa tribe a district estimated by the Surveyor-General to contain "80,000 acres of the finest agricultural land, and about 240,000 acres of the finest pastoral land; and, also, with some small exception, the whole of the tract of country claimed by the Ngatitoa tribe, and extending about 100 miles to the southward of the Valley of the Wairau; the greatest portion of which country is, the Surveyor-General believes, admirably adapted to European settlers."

Now, taking the 320,000 acres first mentioned, and supposing them to have cost 5000l. (the whole of the purchase-money), what is the cost on which peace or war is to hang? Why, the incredible sum of 4d. sterling per acre! It is cheap, dirt cheap, though there were only a pound of eels, a brace of pigeons, or a sucking pig to every acre of it. But, then, how can the colony afford to pay such sums for waste lands? Where is the fund to be raised to pay for importing labour, and paying the expenses of government, roads, police, &c.?

We will suppose the land sold at the upset price of 1l per acre, and deduct 120,000l. for surveying and other expenses, all of which ("soit dit en passant") goes into the pockets of residents in the colony; and there remains the pretty little net sum of 200,000 golden sovereigns, applicable to the uses of the colony.

When all this is done, there still remains the 80 miles south of the Wairau, which has already been paid for out of the 5000l., but which we have not taken any account of; in fact, it is a make-weight thrown in by the Maories.

Why it was scarcely generosity to give so little in return for so much, particularly as the Maories, with their 5000l., come to Wellington, pay hard upon 1000l. into the Colonial Treasury as custom's duty on their purchases; handsomely make a present of another 1000l. to the shop-keepers and stockmen as their profit; and return home with their blankets, cattle, and horses, richer, wiser, and better men, bound to keep the peace in a penalty of 3000l.

With the 200,000l. we leave the colony to import into the country some 10,000 labourers, besides laying out no inconsiderable sum in roads, bridges, and public improvements that may render the country fit for occupation.

JOURNEY TO WANGANUI.

But now, for goodness sake, let me get back to Otaki, or I shall never arrive at Wanganui. As we could not procure Maories to carry our traps, we hired three horses, for a pound apiece, from Martin and young Rauperaha, who entrusted them to us without the least hesitation, merely requesting us to send them back by the first good opportunity.

We reached the Ohau river too late to ford it, so we had to make a detour, and it took us a couple of hours to swim our horses across the Waikawa and the Ohau.

By this route we had to go through the Pas, at the risk of meeting with our old enemy Rangihaeta; but he was luckily out of the way, and we were very civilly treated, which was more than I expected, especially as we were recognised to be officers. On arriving at the banks of the Manawatu, we found the Pa empty, so we were puzzled how to get our horses across the river; and we should have had to sleep in the swamp, if Mr. Robertson, the only settler here, had not come to assist us, and hospitably given us an excellent supper and beds. We started at six o'clock next morning, and galloped "ventre a terre" for eighteen miles to the Rangitikei, in hopes of being able to ford it at low water: in this, however, we were disappointed, and our only

alternative was to strike inland to the Pa; – not a very pleasant prospect, as the natives bear a very bad name, and we knew that Kapara-tehau and some of our old enemies were there. There was no choice; so we put the best face upon it, and after four hours' scrambling among fernhills and swamps we found the track, and were soon in sight of the Pa. Our reception was any thing but flattering, and we lost no time in making the best of our way down to the ford, and were greatly relieved when we had put the river between us and the black-looking scoundrels.

We learnt one good thing, however, that the road between us and Wanganui was clear, it having been reported that Pehe with a taua was at the Wangaihu. We reached the Turakino and the Wangaihu in time to ford them, and got sight of the Wanganui river just at sun-set. Our day's work, with the detours we had to make, was not less than sixty miles, and our horses were so completely done, that we had to drive them before us for the last ten or twelve miles.

CHAPTER XVII.

GOOD AND EVIL – MAORI ETHNOLOGY.

CHAP. XVII.

GOOD AND EVIL. – MAORI ETHNOLOGY. – MISSIONARY INFLUENCE. – CHANGE OF CHARACTER.

Dec. 13th. – It is just a year since we landed here from the "Calliope." The fineness of the climate, the beautiful scenery, and a little fishing and shooting, have helped to make the time pass pleasantly in spite of the monotony and want of society. The settlement, which on our arrival was only lingering, is now knocked on the head, and the only persons likely to remain are those who are making money by the troops, or employed on the government works.

It is well that it should be so; for though it is a fine country, it is too early yet to make it a settlement, as it has no port and no roads to connect it with the other settlements. It is more open, also, to attack from the Maori tribes of the interior, than any other place. It makes a very good military post, and that is all it is likely to be for a great many years.

Pehe, Mamaku, Ngapara, and all the principal chiefs who were engaged against us in the last

squabble have been down, and a peace has been agreed to. They declare themselves tired of fighting, particularly as they cannot get supplied so easily with blankets and tobacco as they could wish. They are none of them sincere, I imagine, but that is of little consequence. The principal thing is to put off fighting as long as possible, as our strength increases daily from the completion of barracks and fortifications, the formation of roads, the introduction of sheep and cattle, the increasing number of immigrants, and, above all, the dissemination of property among the natives, and their employment on the roads and public works, which withdraws them from the influence of the old chiefs, the only persons steadily opposed to us.

The natives of New Zealand have been so variously described that, for an unbiassed person, it is difficult to speak of them without being charged with exaggeration and falsehood by the one party, who find them all virtues; or by the other, who paint them black as fiends. Physically, they are a fine race of men, straight, well-built, and muscular, with a great deal of animation in their manner. In their conversation they are lively and humorous, and display a great deal of acuteness in their remarks on persons or things. The women are not generally so good-

MAORI ETHNOLOGY.

looking as the men; but, when quite young, they are attractive in their manners, and some of them may be called pretty, while their figures are almost invariably good, and sometimes beautiful. They generally lay themselves out to captivate the pakehas, a system that is approved by the relations and friends, who are proud of the connection, to say nothing of their more mercenary inclinations for tobacco and money, which, I regret to say, is also the principal object of the ladies' wiles.

There is abundant evidence in the physiognomy of the natives that they are a mixed race, though, I believe, there is no tradition to that effect amongst themselves. The large proportion have an Asiatic cast of countenance, with black hair and eyes, muscular limbs, and small joints and extremities. But there are many individuals mixed up with them who betray evident marks of a Negro extraction – the woolly hair, thick lips, and dusky complexion, all proclaim their relationship to what was probably the aboriginal race, which has disappeared or become fused in the blood of the conquerors. The chiefs generally belong to the finer-looking race, although they have no distinction of blood among themselves, all alike coming under the denomination of "Maori."

Communication with Europeans, the acquisition

of clothing, and the dissemination of new ideas, are making rapid changes among them, so that a description of them at present would require much modification in a few years. Where they are unchanged, or only partially so, they are very indolent, unless when war or some strong excitement calls for exertion. In their persons they are filthy in the extreme, and one's olfactories and eyes are grievously offended by the shark oil, red ochre, blue clay, and other cosmetics with which they adorn their persons. They are obscene in their habits, avaricious and grasping in their dealings, bullying or cringing in their demeanour, as suits their purpose, cruel, bloodthirsty, and treacherous in their wars, and without the remotest sense of decency or decorum in their social habits. The very children are adepts in obscenity and immorality, uncorrected by example or admonition from their elders. Where, then, it will be asked, are the good qualities of which we have heard so much? They principally consist in their invariable good temper and light-heartedness, the facility with which they receive new impressions, the ready adoption of improvements that are suggested to them, the willingness and facility with which they learn anything that is taught them, and, above all, a humbugging, wheedling, flattering, and childlike simplicity of

NATIVE VIRTUES.

manner that takes hundreds in, while it covers as much cunning and selfishness as belong to the rudest and most brutal savage.

The Maories have two good qualities which are unimpeachable, trustworthiness and honesty; and it is now exceedingly rare to hear of an instance of theft, or of chicanery in their dealings with one another or with the white man. Money, or even their greatest luxury, tobacco, may be left with them without the least risk of any of it being abstracted; and I have frequently seen them entrusted with a gun and ammunition to shoot pigeons or wild fowl, and, on their return, giving an exact account of every charge of powder, and every cap they had expended, although these are among the most tempting articles that can be put in their way.

Thieving, except in time of war and by open violence, is looked upon with the greatest contempt, and a man who has been found guilty of the crime is considered a "tau reka-reka," "a slave."

It is a pity they do not extend the same condemnation to lying, which is an almost universal failing, and is considered no disgrace whatever. They have not even the Spartan virtue of being ashamed when found out, and cannot comprehend the advantage of repressing the vagaries of a romantic imagination.

The consequence is, that the natives are generally distrustful and incredulous; and "toe" and "teto," He and liar, are the words most frequently heard in their conversation, and which they apply to one another and to white men of all ranks without the least hesitation or compunction, and are greatly surprised at the indignation occasionally evinced by the latter at such an accusation.

New habits are rapidly modifying the old ones; and the change is not always for the better, as they soon learn to drink, and acquire new modes of cheating and lying in addition to their old accomplishments. In throwing off the mat and the blanket, they also dispense with shark oil and red ochre; and the acquisition of glasses, brushes, combs, and clean shirts suggests ablutions that will considerably facilitate a more intimate acquaintance between the races.

Scrofulous, cutaneous, phthisical, and syphilitic diseases are very common among them, and are, it is said, very rapidly thinning their numbers. The change in their mode of living, and communication with the whites, have produced a great increase in the last two forms of disease, though their own habits are sufficiently ill-regulated to account for it.

The missionaries have done much towards improving the habits of the natives, and it is only to be regretted

MISSIONARY INFLUENCE.

that they do not also inculcate good will and charity to all men, instead of making an invidious distinction between the races. It is very short-sighted policy too, as increased communication with the settlers soon shows that they are not nearly so black as they are painted; and as the Maori discovers this, so does he begin to question the infallibility of his instructors. The missionaries have not always been so immaculate in their dealings as to render the goodness of their motives entirely unsuspected by their fellow-countrymen, and it has been generally considered that a struggle for temporal advantages and influence has induced many of them to set themselves against the interests of the settlers and the peace and welfare of the colony.

The best disposed and most civilised of the natives are those who have become so by constant communication with the settlers, and even the rough fellowship and dealings of the whalers and sealers of the Southern Island have done more to civilise the natives than the exclusive system of the missionaries.

The natives are generally very much attached to their children, and the men are almost as often seen nursing and caressing them as the women. The children are allowed their own way in everything, and are very rarely corrected or struck by their elders:

hence they are generally self-willed, troublesome, selfish brats, who rarely reciprocate the affection of their parents. It is by no means an uncommon thing to see a father well beaten by his son; and on one occasion I saw an old chief who could scarcely crawl about from the effects of a castigation he had received at the hands of his three grown-up sons, who, against every rule of fair play, had all set on him at once.

Great changes are taking place among the Wanganui natives since the conclusion of peace with them, and great numbers have gone down to Wellington and Porirua, to work upon the roads; and from the accounts we receive from them, they are delighted at the regular wages and the valuable acquisitions they are making. We constantly see some of them who were engaged against us, and hear anecdotes of what occurred on their side, though we cannot get out of them what was the extent of their loss, and they are perfectly incredulous that ours was as small as we state.

Parties, under the guidance of our old enemies, are made to go up the river; and there are constant excursions to Pas at a distance of sixty or eighty miles, where our officers are treated with the greatest hospitality.

The land question, too, the "irritamentum ma-

SETTLEMENT OF LAND-CLAIMS.

lorum" is about to be settled, and Mr. M'Lean is daily expected to divide 1000l. equitably among the various claimants. This is the amount that was awarded by the land commissioner as compensation to those who had received nothing for land claimed by the New Zealand Company; but, owing to disputes among the natives regarding the proprietorship of the land, it has never been divided, although the amount was paid into the colonial treasury by the company long ago, and there is very little doubt that if it had been divided among the natives before the arrival of the troops, the greater part of the late difficulties might have been avoided. From the day the soldiers landed, the natives firmly believed that we were going to take the land by force, and to the animosity created by these suspicions may be traced the whole of the subsequent troubles.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CHAP. XVIII.

RIVER SCENERY. – RETAINING FEES. – INTERIOR OF A MAORI "PA." – DIVING BELLES.

THE scenery as one ascends the Wanganui River is exceedingly grand and imposing, winding among precipitous mountains with small slopes here and there, which are taken up by native Pas and cultivations; every piece of available ground is thus occupied, so that there is nothing to tempt the settler in this direction.

The river is not navigable for boats above Carnihinihi, about fifteen miles from the settlement; but canoes are poled up the rapids, almost to the headwaters at the foot of Tongariro, and within a short distance of Taupo and Roturua. The highlands and passes of this river may be looked upon as impregnable retreats for the native inhabitants, whence they can annoy the settlements almost with impunity. It will, therefore, be our best policy to keep on good terms with them; at any rate, till a road from Wellington or Auckland passes to the eastward of Ton-

RETAINING FEES.

gariro and Roturua, so as to turn their flank and keep them in check between the sources of the river on the east and our settlements on the west. The Maories will always be bullies as long as the country in their rear is open; but when once we have got possession of that, they will give but little trouble.

At Puke-ika, the head-quarters of the late "taua," they are planting a great quantity of wheat this year, and they are anxious to become possessors of cattle, horses, and sheep. They talk of building a mill with their share of the purchase-money for land, all of which are excellent propensities that ought to receive every possible encouragement.

The natives possess the bump of acquisitiveness in a remarkable degree, and a great deal of good might be done by a system of small presents, and at a trifling cost. They might be managed in such a way, too, that the colony would reap an advantage quite equal to the expense. For instance, there are between Wellington and Wanganui several deep rivers, that give very great trouble to travellers, and interfere with the communication; it would be the greatest convenience to be certain of finding means of crossing them at the mouth instead of having to

wander miles into the interior in search of a ford or a Maori Pa. It would be a great advantage to employ a chief of the nearest tribe always to keep a ferryboat or large canoe on the spot, paying him a certain sum, say from one to two pounds a month, as a retainer, and a small fixed sum to be paid by each passenger, the amount of which might be increased in case the chief should build a large warre where travellers might rest or sleep. The advantages the colony would receive would be quite equal to the expense; and, trifling as the amount appears, it would be sufficient to produce a very great deal of good feeling on the part of the tribe, and make them exceedingly unwilling to forfeit it by any misbehaviour.

The question of establishing a legislative form of government has been mooted of late, and a warrant from home has been received, directing how it is to be brought into operation. The governor has considered it inexpedient to make use of the provisions of this warrant yet, and has consequently met with some animadversion though principally from individuals who probably expected to have reaped some personal benefit from it. I do not think that the majority of the settlers care any thing about the matter at present: they are, in fact, generally glad

COLONIAL LEGISLATION.

to be saved the trouble of looking after their own affairs where there are no great questions to be decided, no great interest at stake; where the views of all parties are pretty similar, and tend to the development of the colony by means of funds from the home government, and by the introduction of immigrants.

There are few persons in the present state of the colony, where time and labour are capital, and where there are no interests sufficiently great to withdraw a man from his own particular pursuits, who could be found willing to act as representatives in the houses of assembly in Auckland, Wellington, or Nelson; hence would necessarily follow, that such places as Otago, Akaroa, Teranaki, Wanganui, and many others similarly situated, would either be unrepresented, or would have to seek representatives from among the small merchants, tradespeople, or professional men resident at the seats of legislature, and who are not generally, either by education or identity of interests, well suited to represent an agricultural and pastoral population.

The settlers might have had a municipal form of government long ago; but the idea of a mayor and aldermen, and of all the paraphernalia of civic dignity, was considered a matter of joke when proposed and

attempted to be carried into execution in places where the population was so small, and where the whole local business could be sufficiently well performed, at the least possible expense, by a resident magistrate and his clerk. If the population continues to increase in the ratio in which it is now doing, something of this kind will very soon be desirable; but that it should be carried beyond a municipal form of government for some years to come would, I think, be impolitic in the extreme.

The European population may be roughly estimated at 12,000, the native at 120,000; and it can hardly be considered either fair or politic to put the whole government of the country into the hands of so small a minority, particularly as the interests of the two classes might and would frequently come into collision; and it cannot be expected that the authority of the latter would be used otherwise than to assure the greatest possible advantage to itself, even at the expense of the former.

It may be argued, as in similar cases in every other savage country, that the Europeans, though in the minority, have all the intelligence on their side, and that consequently the directing power ought, for the benefit of all parties, to reside with them. With regard to the red men of North America, the ferocious

ADVANTAGE OF ENLIGHTENED GOVERNMENT.

savages of Southern Africa, and the scarcely human aborigines of Australia, this may be true; I will not, at any rate, dispute it here, though the legislation of the European has not, even in these instances, tended to improve the people over whom it constitutes itself the ruler: witness the aboriginal inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land, reduced to the very small number of thirteen, and these put out of the way of mischief to themselves and others in an island at Bass's Straits, so that not one child of the soil is to be found in all that extensive country. In Australia, the natives are dwindling away rapidly and surely. In America, the red man is going off to the hunting-grounds of "Manitou," the great spirit, where there shall be neither white men nor want, for there is no longer room for him in the land of his fathers. The Caffre, we all know, is constantly in the wrong, and requires the chastening hand of European legislation to keep him quiet in his own land.

All this may be right; it is their "kismet," their fate, to disappear and make room for more energetic spirits, who will utilise the soil they do not make enough of, who will replace the unsociable buffalo by harmless domestic cattle, and the deer or kangaroo by the sheep and pig. Besides, they are sanguinary, ferocious, savages, benighted heathens, and, above all,

uncomfortable, ill-clad, unpleasant-looking, stupid rascals, so that the sooner, perhaps, they are got rid of the better. Very little of this, however, will apply to the Maori, who is not a whit inferior in intelligence – is perhaps even superior in natural acuteness – to the uneducated classes of Europeans. Many individuals among them are possessed of superior understanding and considerable information; and even the old men can sufficiently appreciate the advantages of education to begin their schooling long after time has grizzled their locks. An instance of a European perfectly uneducated to the age of fifty, and who then begins to acquire a knowledge of reading and writing, is considered remarkable: it is by no means so among the Maories. They pay as much attention to the improved cultivation of their lands, as to that of their minds: European spades and mattocks take the place of their own rude implements; grain is everywhere superseding the potato. Sheep and cattle are added to their stock; fair wages purchase fair labour, and they put money in the bank. These are men who have some stake in the country, who can understand clearly when they are oppressed or injured, and who can resent it fearlessly. They are jealous, too, of the government that is placed over them, and require to know it by its beneficence, as well as by its power.

"PRESTIGE" OF THE GOVERNOR.

The story of the natives of New South Wales and of Van Diemen's Land is well known to them, and they dread similar consequences to themselves, though with a steady determination to meet them with stout resistance. In the governor they see one who, while he rules, at the same time protects and benefits them, and their obedience is ensured by seeing the same authority extended to the Europeans. The governor is their representative, their chief, as well as their ruler, and, when aggrieved or requiring assistance or advice, he is never appealed to in vain. By taking the legislative power out of his hands, and with it the means to reward or punish, he would lose all this "prestige," which would not be transferred to the legislative body; for it would either have no identity of its own comprehensible to them, or, if they could realise it, it would only be to discover how disadvantageous and unfair it was to them.

It is the common jargon to talk of it being "the birthright of Englishmen to govern themselves;" it is also the birthright of Englishmen to pay for themselves, particularly when they want to extend their hereditary faculties to the government of others. In the case of New Zealand, if the governing propensities of the colonists brought on a war with the natives, on whom would the expense fall? On the

home government, which furnishes the protection in troops, ships of war, transports, barracks, &c., and, as is the case in this colony, actually pays some thousands per annum into the colonial treasury as duty on part of the rations consumed by the 2000 men and upwards, sent for its protection.

The money laid out in prosecuting the campaigns in the North, at Porirua, and at Wanganui, was the first cause that tended to restore prosperity to the colony; and the present large expenditure for two regiments of the line, pensioners, barracks, and fortifications, ships of war, &c., is furnishing an amount of capital that will secure permanent prosperity, if the colonists will only be wise, and know when they are well off.

Those who pay the expenses buy the right to govern, and the best possible cure for legislating propensities, or rather for the evil consequences that may result from them, would be to leave the colony to fight its battles at its own expense, by substituting local corps and militia for troops of the line, and which would also have the advantage of saving an immense expense in transport: it would also be a gain in point of efficiency, as no body of men can be so well adapted to a country as that which has had the benefit of long residence in it, and

OUTPOST RECREATIONS.

has had experience in the mode of warfare of the enemy.

Jan. 30th. – We are now in the midst of summer again, and the weather is delightfully warm and genial. The natives are busy fishing, and one can scarcely go near their Pas on account of the horrid smell of the Kawai, dog-fish, and small sharks, drying by thousands in the sun for winter use.

We amuse ourselves with sailing and paddling matches in our canoes, in trips up the river, in beating the swamps for Pukeko, or in visits to the neighbouring lakes for wild ducks, widgeon, and teal. Cricket has been introduced too, and we flatter ourselves that the Wanganui eleven would not be sneered at even at Lord's.

We are welcome guests in all the neighbouring Maori Pas, and frequently visit one or the other of them in our canoes. As soon as we are seen approaching, our names are shouted out by all the idlers, who not unfrequently attach to our proper patronymic a nickname, derived from some personal peculiarity. A stalwart officer of grenadiers, for instance, is generally known as Puku-nui, or Big-belly; an artillery officer is Biggy-bung; one wearing spectacles is Four-eyes, or No-eyes; and there are several who rejoice in the epithets of Long-nose, Squint-

eye, and Bandy-legs, which are applied without ceremony on all occasions, and often in the most serious manner.

The girls in their best mats, or gaudiest calicoes, and the children "in puris naturalibus," assemble to greet and welcome us, not altogether uninfluenced by the hope of getting a present of a cigar or a pipe-full of tobacco. In the interior of the Pa the Wahines, or matrons, are busy weaving flax-mats, cleaning potatoes or fish, or engaged in the superintendence of a Maori oven, or a huge gipsy-looking cauldron, called a "go-ashore," and can only afford to greet the visitor with a whining "tena koe pakeha," sighing as if they were very much to be pitied. A mummy-looking roll of mats and blankets propped up against the sunny side of a hut, is the outward signification of a chief, who, on our appearance, slightly unrolls himself, allowing to become visible the small heads of two or three children, which the Wahines have handed over to his paternal care while engaged in other occupations. His hair is a mass of shark oil and red ochre, which also covers his body and limbs; but the old fellow is not ashamed of his dishabille, and lustily calls out to us, "Haere mai taku pakeha" (Come here, my white man!): "Omai to ringa ringa" (Give me your fist!)

INTERIOR OF A MAORI PA.

and, after a hearty shake, he asks confidentially, "Kahore te tupeka maku?" (Have you got no tobacco for me?) A decisive "Kahore" (No) settles the question, and destroys all further interest in the conversation; and the old fellow rolls himself and the children once more into the blankets, to dose off again till the dinner is ready, or till there is another chance of getting an "omai no omai," or gift.

Groups are scattered about in all directions, engaged in various occupations, carving spears or tomahawk handles, making paddles, fish-hooks, and lines, patching up canoes, or busy in the mysteries of gossip; and whether the matter be politics, domestic or political economy, or simple scandal, one is immediately seized upon and expected to squat down and join in the conversation, or furnish a new subject of one's own, and should it contain any news of "Te Kawana" (the Governor), who is the prime object of universal interest, one's success is overwhelming.

There is a sort of universal impression among the Maories that the Governor is able and willing to assist every one of them individually and collectively; and they have all at bottom some exaggerated notion of the benefits that will accrue to them personally. His presence, therefore, is always hailed with delight, though their undefined expectations are most probably

not fulfilled, they nevertheless defer them to another opportunity with praiseworthy patience. This feeling of reverence does not, by any means, extend to the other constituted authorities; and they generally look with contempt on the Lieutenant-Governor and magistrates. The officers of the troops and armed police are, perhaps, excepted from this universal feeling; but this is partly from the personal liking entertained towards them by the natives, and partly from the evidence of their power.

It is amusing to see the Maori girls swimming about, or disposed in groups along the banks of the river, drying their long black hair like so many young mermaids, or playing follow my leader, with all kinds of pranks in and out of the water; racing along the shore, diving from high banks, plunging, kicking, splashing, and ducking one another, with ringing laughter and joyous shouts, like brown naiads as they are.

They appear to be as much at home in the water as on land, and are twice as dangerous; for if an unlucky wight paddles his canoe among them, it is immediately invaded at the stem and stern, his paddles are seized, and, if he is not upset, it is only because they take more delight in splashing him from head to foot, or in rocking the canoe till it is full of water.

THE MAN WHO COULD NOT SWIM.

The natives, who take to the water almost before they can walk, cannot understand any man not being able to swim; and it lately gave rise to an amusing incident that might, however, have turned out more seriously.

A party of the officers had gone up the river, and after a night spent in the Pa at Peri-kino, some of them were looking out for a place to swim, and a deep hole was pointed out, into which they dived. Presently one came who could not swim a stroke, and who was looking out for a safe place. Unluckily, his knowledge of Maori was on a par with his swimming; so, when the Maories pointed out the hole, and told him it was "Kapai" (good), he thought it good for a man who could not swim, and in he jumped without hesitation. When he appeared again, kicking and spluttering with all his might, the Maories looked on it as a capital joke; and the more he shouted and floundered, the funnier they thought him. There is no doubt that he would have been drowned before their eyes if he had not luckily at last found footing; and when the thing was explained they could scarcely credit it, and the man who could not swim was ever afterwards looked upon as a sort of "lusus naturae"

CHAPTER XIX.

CHAP. XIX.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE. – "ENO WANGANUi" – ROUGH JOURNEYING. – DEPLORABLY FINE CLIMATE. – MAORI ENCAMPMENT. – INJUDICIOUS MEASURES. – LAW AND EQUITY. – DANGER OF MEDDLING WITH LAW. – GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY.

ABOUT the middle of April I heard, with intense delight, that I was to get my leave of absence, and that W – – – had arrived at Wellington from the Bay of Islands to relieve me. After seven years' absence, and five of it at outposts in China and New Zealand, I shall at last be on my way home, to renew my acquaintance with friends and old familiar scenes.

Unluckily for me, we had a fortnight of very stormy weather after this, so that, although the government brig made her appearance off the Bar several times, it was impossible for a boat to enter the river, and she was obliged to put to sea again. I was all this time in a state of trembling anxiety, for fear anything should happen to her; and for ten days stood sentry at the Heads, with my telescope from

LEAVE OF ABSENCE.

morning, till night. At last, on a Sunday morning, the brig and a small schooner made their appearance off the Bar together, and, although there was a fresh breeze and a heavy sea, W. and his traps were transhipped on board the schooner. The transfer, to my great relief, was safely accomplished, and the brig bore up for Wellington, while the schooner anchored, ready to run in with the flood tide next morning. Two days afterwards I found myself ready to start on foot for Wellington, with B., of the 65th, as my companion.

It is rather remarkable, and I do not know whether to ascribe it to the locality or climate, or to our own merits, that, although a large party of us had been for the last eighteen months entirely dependent on one another, there bad always existed the strongest feelings of unanimity, friendship, and good feeling, every one devoting his whole stock of talent and good temper to the public good; and in the whole period, although there have been many changes in the members of our society, I do not remember a single instance of this harmony and good will being in the slightest degree interrupted: under these circumstances I parted, not without some regret, from the kind companions, with whose manful aid and assistance we had managed, for the last eighteen months, to drive dull care and

ennui away from Wanganui, cut off as it is from almost all communication with the rest of the world, and scarcely known even to geographers.

A canoe took us down the river to the cliffs, and from the top of them we turned to take a last fond look at Wanganui. Perhaps it was because it was the last, that it appeared to me it had never looked so picturesque before. The sun was just rising, lighting up the snowy summits of Tongariro and Mount Egmont, while to their feet mountain beyond mountain stretched away, covered with forest trees, and of a hundred colours. In the foreground sped the Wanganui River from its embouchure at the sea, till, like a thread of gold, it disappeared far away among the woody hills. The houses and gardens about the town gave animation to the scene; a silvery column of smoke rising lazily in the calm, frosty air, from every chimney.

The Pa at Putiki looked picturesque, with its canoes and scattered huts, and groups of Maories squatting on their hams, closely wrapped in their blankets or mats; and who, chilly or half asleep, were waiting for the sun to rise a little higher to uncongeal them.

As I turned away, my "Eno, Wanganui," (Adieu, Wanganui!) had more of affection in it than I ever

"ENO, WANGANUI!"

remember feeling for the place while living there. The Maories, who had been strapping on and settling their packs, cried "Eno, Wanganui!" too; and we all turned gaily to our path, refreshed with the light, brisk morning air, with pleasant prospects before, and no painful regrets behind us.

In about a couple of hours we arrived on the banks of the Wangaihu, and, as there was no canoe, we were obliged to strip and ford it – an unpleasant operation, as the water was bitterly cold and the river was full of quicksands, and about a quarter of a mile wide. We got safely across, without mishap, though not without difficulty; for there was a fresh in the river, and it was occasionally as much as we could do to stem the current.

Three Maories, on their way to the Turakina, joined us, and we trudged along merrily till we arrived at the next river, where our fellow-travellers had a canoe. It was so small that it would only carry one at a time; so I went over first, and was landed on a sand-bank, two-thirds of the way across, a Maori volunteering to carry me on his shoulders over the rest, which was not deep. I assented to the arrangement; but we had scarcely gone five yards, when my steed came to a halt, grunting piteously, and on looking down I perceived that he was slowly but

surely disappearing in a quicksand. I, of course, lost no time in dismounting, and scrambled on shore as well as I could.

On the opposite side of the river we found two or three Maori warres, where our train got a feast of pork and potatoes, the New Zealand staple commodities, while we paid a visit to our havre-sacks, to ascertain what the messman had provided for us.

All the rest of the day we trudged along over a heavy sandy beach, till about an hour after sunset, when we found ourselves on the banks of the Rangitikei, after a day's journey of at least thirty-five miles. We had heard that a "pakeha" had built a shanty on the opposite side of the river for the purpose of entertaining travellers, and ferrying them across: so we shouted, and made the greatest possible hullaballoo, till we were brought to a full-stop by an assurance from some one on the opposite bank, "that if we kicked up that – – – row, we might stop where we were all night." This piece of information completely silenced us, for we were wet, hungry, and tired, and our teeth were chattering with cold; while our Maories with the blankets were too far in the rear for us to hope for their arrival for some hours.

A canoe presently came across, when it proved that the owner of the shanty was not the keeper of a

A DEPLORABLE CLIMATE.

house of entertainment, but a Dr. C – – – , who had supposed us to be the police mail-bearers, with whom it appears that he is at feud on the very subject of transport across the river.

The house was a mere Maori warre, with a mud floor, and without chairs, tables, or furniture of any kind; the only cooking utensils were a frying-pan and a tea-kettle, and the only food damper fried in the one, and tea boiled in the other. A blanket on a heap of fern was the bed; and the furniture consisted of two or three logs in front of the clay chimney, where one was unpitiably persecuted by clouds of smoke which filled the room at every gust of wind.

Since I have been in New Zealand, I have never seen a white man so utterly isolated and removed from all the comforts of life. It is ten times worse, too, for a person in Dr. C – – – 's condition, than it would be for the whalers and "long-shore men" usually found in such localities, not only from his being unused to such discomfort, but from his general unhandiness in gardening, carpentering, and such matters, of which the working man generally knows something. It is rather remarkable that, in a new country like this, one should see a young man of a liberal profession driven to such straits; but the fact is, the climate is so deplorably healthy, that a medical

man must "throw physic to the dogs;" and, in case he has no other resources, take to herding sheep, or cattle, or some such employment, for which, from want of previous habit, he is more ill-suited than the most illiterate peasant, and is possibly worse remunerated.

Our host made us welcome, and did his best to make us comfortable, though, from his very limited resources, it could scarcely go beyond an expression of good will. Luckily our Maories arrived, about a couple of hours after us, wayworn and fatigued. With our blankets we made a sumptuous couch on the fern, and sleep, "sore labour's bath," visited our eyelids as lightly as though we were lying on beds of down. "Bien haya el que invento el sueno."

Next morning we woke up fresh and hearty, and ready to renew our march, although it blew almost a hurricane. One of our Maories refused to budge, alleging that he was lame and knocked up. The look of the weather was, I suspect, the principal objection; but we got them under weigh at last, by promising not to go farther than Manawatu that day.

We had a dreary walk of about twelve miles along the sea-beach; the wind, at times, almost blowing us to a standstill, and cutting our faces with the sharp vollies of sand and small stones it whirled

ROUGH TRAVELLING.

along. We passed the dead body of a whale, about sixty feet in length, which appeared only lately to have been cast ashore; it would have been worth nearly 300l. to any whaler who could have got it off, or even by "trying it out" on the spot.

At the place where we ought to have turned off inland, the path was completely obliterated by the drifting sand, and we wandered about for a couple of hours in a wilderness of sand-hills; where the sand was drifted in such masses, that frequently we could not see where we were going, and were half buried in scudding avalanches. The chances were that we should be benighted, so, as a last resource, we determined to take to the swamps. This course was more successful, and we reached the hospitable farm of Mr. Robinson just at dark. A good supper and a bed set us all to rights; and when our Maories arrived next morning, we were ready for another start, which was more than they were; so we left them behind, shouldering our own packs, and pushed on at once.

About twelve miles from the Manawatu we fell in with the encampment of the Ngatiawara people from Waikanahi, on their way to Teranaki, with all their goods and chattels.

About 250 men, women, and children, were com-

fortably lodged in huts made with the sails of their canoes, mats, and blankets.

The men were busily employed cutting fire-wood, cleaning their arms, or making paddles; the women were cooking, gossipping, or making flax-mats; and the youngsters racing and playing about, and rolling one another into the surf.

It was just such a scene as one might imagine a large gipsy encampment to have been on its first arrival in Europe, and was in the highest degree picturesque. This tribe was driven by the Waikatos from the neighbourhood of Teranaki some years ago, and they are now, with the consent and assistance of the Governor, migrating back to their old lands.

This, by removing three or four hundred natives from the neighbourhood of Wellington, would be a good thing for the colony, were it not for the small settlement at Teranaki, which will now give trouble enough, owing to the various claimants for land; the conquerors and the conquered both asserting a title to it.

These small detached settlements are the bane of New Zealand; they will be fruitful in troubles, expense, and annoyance, and hamper the Governor in every movement he makes; while, for years to come, it is questionable whether they will be of any

INJUDICIOUS POLICY.

real value to the colony. They are before their time, and should only have been planted as offshoots from the larger settlements when oppressed with a redundance of population and requiring more space, instead of, as now, taking away from their strength, and being the chief cause of embarrassment and expense.

It appears to me also to have been a mistaken and injudicious policy to have extended English law and government to the whole island at once; and it would have been better to have imitated our Yankee friends, in advancing our frontier only as we required more room and verge.

Beyond a declared line, the natives might have been left to their own management; and then, if settlers, or pioneers, attracted by good soil or convenient situations, chose to cross the boundary and squat among them, it ought to have been at their own risk, so as not to have drawn the government into the dilemmas we have seen at Manawatu, Wanganui, and Teranaki, and which, under less judicious management than that of Governor Grey, might have ended in the destruction of the colony.

Even now, after seven years of botheration, our power of governing the whole island is a mere pretence, and one that, without giving us a single advan-

tage, is a constant source of tribulation. Rangihaeta stuck up a notice, stopping all communication up and down the west coast; and with impunity he plundered the island of Kapiti a short time ago, and afterwards attended a meeting of chiefs at Otaki, at which the Governor was to have been present, with the murderers of Rush in his train.

Thieves, rebels, and murderers are at large in all parts of the island, and are known to be under the protection of certain chiefs, without any means being taken for their apprehension; and, except in the townships, there is scarcely an attempt to enforce the law. Such exaggerated pretensions ought to be supported by an adequate degree of strength; but as this is not convenient, a sort of compromise has been made by appointing many of the influential chiefs as honorary magistrates, – an empty compliment, for which they do not care a rush, and perfectly inefficient as a matter of police.

The chiefs, as chiefs, not as magistrates, continue to exercise arbitrary rule, without restraint, over their subordinates, even to the punishment of death; and the few cases that are brought before the English magistrates are generally owing to the persuasions of the missionaries, or else when a chief wishes to shift the odium of a decision from his own shoulders.

LAW AND EQUITY.

Our criminal law is singularly inoperative and ill-adapted to the wants of this country, substituting legal technicalities and subtleties for equity; and is so badgering and disgusting to the Maories by delays and official forms, that, I suspect, few of them will be found to resort to it a second time.

An instance in point occurred very lately, in which there was a great deal too much law for the comprehension of the Maories, and too little justice for the satisfaction of any one.

A man had disappeared at Manawatu under circumstances which brought a suspicion of foul play against one who had been his rival in a suit for the hand of one of the brown beauties of their tribe, and in which the latter had been unsuccessful.

It appeared that they had gone out eel-spearing together, and when only one returned, he told his relatives that his companion had been drowned in crossing the river. This was so unlikely, and the circumstantial evidence was so contradictory and confused, that a party set off to look for the body, and, after some time, found it sunk in a shallow part of the river, with a flax basket full of stones carefully tied round his neck, and two or three cracks on the skull, each one a death blow.

The murderer, seeing that concealment was useless,

confessed to the crime, and owned that he had struck down his companion as he waded in front of him, and had then sunk the body, believing that, with the help of the water and the fishes, all traces of the murder would disappear.

The case was clear, and the culprit was condemned to die by a jury of his countrymen, when it was unluckily proposed, as a party was going to Wellington with a drove of pigs for sale, that he should be sent with them and given up to the "pakehas" to be hanged, thus combining business with pleasure.

This suggestion was acted on, and the party set off at once and delivered their prisoner to the authorities at Wellington, expecting that, from his own confession, and from the strong circumstantial evidence, summary justice would be done.

Never were men more surprised and confounded, cross-questioned and examined, and bound to prosecute, and trotted up to Manawatu (about 100 miles) for the coroner's inquest, and back again for the case before the magistrates, and then again at the prosecution before the judge, till they almost wished themselves either the murderer or the murdered; the one left quiet, at last, in his grave, the other infinitely better off than any of them, well lodged, housed, and clothed. The case was at last brought before the

GUILTY, OR NOT GUILTY?

jury with all the formalities of wig and gown, notebooks, spectacles, and the necessary paraphernalia of what seemed to the Maories a solemn farce. The culprit was, of course, instructed by his counsel to deny having made any confession, and to plead "Not Guilty"; and, on the case being gone into, it appeared that the name, as set forth in the indictment, was not spelt right, or that he had been christened William instead of Wiremu, 13 his ordinary appellation, or some such legal flaw, which converted the prisoner in the dock into another and quite an innocent, inoffensive individual.

Of course, the poor fellow Wiremu could not be punished for the crime committed by that sanguinary villain William, or vice versa; so he was discharged, with a recommendation "not to do so any more." The prisoner, on being told that he was acquitted, coolly turned to the Court, and said, that, "as they would not hang him, they must now take care of him, or he would certainly be tomahawked by his

countrymen." – If he should be, I trust that the jury will find a verdict of "served him right."

A civil case which a chief brought before the tribunals at Auckland, is another flagrant instance of the ends of justice being defeated, and the law evaded in a way that could not but have an ill effect among the natives.

Te Pakaru, a chief living upwards of a hundred miles from Auckland, brought an action against a pakeha for the value of pigs, &c., to the amount of 120l. 12s. 6d., which the latter had received on credit, and for which no payment could be obtained. After nine months' litigation, which obliged the plaintiff to travel backwards and forwards several times, and kept him wasting his time in Auckland, he at last obtained a verdict. In the meantime, the defendant, who, living at Auckland, had been put to no inconvenience whatever, made away with his property and left the colony as soon as it was evident the case must go against him. The consequence was, that the plaintiff lost the value of his pigs and of his time, and got nothing for his long journeys except a bill of costs from his lawyer amounting to 45l. 14s.

13 Wiremu is the Maori for William. The Maories not being able to pronounce some of our letters, and from their not having been introduced into the alphabet, make sad havoc with many of our words which they have adopted. Thus, a horse is oio; sheep, ipi; Port Nicholson, Poniki; Auckland, Ackerana; Hatfield, Arawira; so that it is far more difficult to learn this bastard English jargon than their own language.

CHAPTER XX.

OTAKI.

CHAP. XX.

OTAKI. – ARCHITECTURAL IMPROVEMENTS – ADVANTAGE OF KEEPING THE NATIVES EMPLOYED. – WELLINGTON AGAIN. – INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE – CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. – PROSPECTS OF SETTLERS. – PREPONDERANCE OF THE NATIVE POPULATION. – A NEW ENGLAND.

AT the Ohau River I found that a ferry-boat had been established since my trip up the coast, – a great advantage, as it saves several hours of unprofitable wandering along the sand-hills and swamps in search of a ford. We arrived at the old deserted Pa, at Otaki, just after dark. Fortunately I had not forgotten my way through its labyrinthine meanderings, and we got safely down to the place where the canoe was moored, or we might have spent the night in wandering about in vain search of a crossing place, like uneasy sprites on the banks of Styx. As it was too late to disturb S – – – , we put up at the house of a retired whaler, where, with a blanket a-piece, on a wooden bench, we courted sleep, and not in vain.

There is a wonderful change in Otaki since I was here, two years ago. It was then the limit of our pursuit after Rangihaeta, and I thought it the most savage and licentious place I had ever seen. The fortified Pa has been deserted and allowed to go to ruin, and the quondam inhabitants have settled themselves in the midst of their cultivations. Their houses, neatly built, are in the midst of well-fenced gardens; and there is abundant proof of prosperity in the number of pigs, cattle, and horses feeding about, – evidences of a thriving population, which give good promise of continued improvement. Several of the chiefs have accounts with the bank at Wellington, amounting, in some instances, to two or three hundred pounds. An officer, on his way through Otaki to Wellington, a short time since, was much amused at being applied to by one of the chiefs for any spare money he had about him; the applicant stating that he would not trouble him, but that he had immediate necessity for the money, and would be obliged if he would take a cheque for the amount. The request was immediately complied with, to the infinite gratification of the Maori, who was delighted at being able to make a practical use of his credit.

The first house we paid a visit to was Tommy Rauperaha's, who was exceedingly shocked at being

OTAKI.

caught in a red blanket and slippers, and speedily re-appeared, got up quite regardless of expense. He was vexed that we had not demanded his hospitality instead of going to the whaler's, which he evidently thought infra dig.; and he insisted on our staying to breakfast, though he regretted "that his hens were not laying." While the breakfast was preparing, we took a stroll round the village to see the improvements, among which, and not the least, was Tommy Rauperaha's new house. It was built partly on an English, and partly on a Maori plan; or, rather, the architecture was Maori, with English windows, doors, and other comforts. We saw the "old serpent," as Rauperaha is called, speechifying to a Maori audience, in a wonderful costume, composed of a gold-laced hat, white shirt, and a pair of boots, a "world too wide for his shrunk shanks;" and in which, when the old gentleman got excited, he jumped and capered about in a surprising manner.

The subject of his speech was the honour and glory that would redound to Otaki from the building of the church they had in hand, and the credit that would be due to the neighbouring tribes for any supplies they might make of timber, planks, and comestibles for the workmen; hinting, at the same

time, that the said tribes had better send in their gifts with as little delay as possible, or he might Otherwise go and fetch them, – an alternative that might, in the end, be disagreeable to the parties visited.

The church is to be 300 feet long, and is the largest building ever undertaken by the Maories. It is the subject of a vast deal of excitement and bustle among them; and daily deputations arrive from different tribes with congratulations, and more solid presents of kumeras and eels.

In the midst of the ceremonial receptions, addresses, and long-winded speeches, the work goes slowly on; but it is none the worse for that, as it serves to amuse and employ them, and is a better excitement than fighting, murder, and pillage, which they would probably turn to if not otherwise occupied.

Men of excitable temperaments and strong physical energy, like the Maories, require a vast deal of occupation to keep them out of mischief; and there can be no wiser policy than that which finds plenty of work for them on roads, clearing lands, and public improvements, till such time as the acquisition of property will give them work at home, and make them less reckless of consequences than if they were

ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY.

miserable wretches without a rag to their backs, or a single article of convertible property to lose.

While at Waikanahi, we called at the warre of a Maori, who, with an eye to business that does infinite credit to his judgment, has recently set up a sort of public-house for entertaining the Maories belonging to working parties in the neighbourhood. A weekly ordinary is held on the Saturdays, after the week's work is done and paid for, and which is usually very well attended. He provides a dinner of pork, potatoes, bread, and coffee, for which he demands the moderate sum of one shilling a head. At first he gave every one as much as he could eat for this charge; but he soon found, to his cost, that his countrymen were not so easily to be dealt with, for most of them, by way of getting as much as possible for their shilling, made a point of eating nothing the whole day before; so that they came to the scratch as ravenous as wolves. He has now arranged to give every man two pounds of pork, as much of potatoes, and a pint of coffee with sugar, which may be fairly considered sufficient to satisfy any reasonable appetite, and is by no means a bad shillingsworth. The Maories are making such rapid strides in civilisation, that I have no doubt we may shortly hear of their having public dinners to

promote social and political objects, and when, under the influence of full stomachs and open hearts, great things may be expected from them. They have a very natural aptitude that way, as even in their aboriginal state they were much given to heavy feasting and long-winded speeches; and they only wanted the formalities of president and vice, commonplace toasts, noisy cheering, and the bill to pay, to complete a resemblance to similar entertainments in the most civilised society. In alluding to innovations and improvements, I must not forget to mention that a prospectus has been recently issued for the publication of a weekly newspaper in the Maori language, to contain all the news, scandal, and gossip of the colony, political, domestic, scientific, and literary. A column, I trust, will be devoted to the fashions, and to music and the fine arts, for the purpose of getting rid, as soon as possible, of the shark oil and kokowai, or red ochre, as well as to substitute other songs and dances for the discordant and barbarous "hakas" and "waiatas" at present in vogue. The Maories can nearly all read, and are inordinately fond of news and gossip; so that a well-conducted periodical would have much success among them, and would tend greatly to their improvement.

The next day, in spite of torrents of rain, we

WELLINGTON AGAIN.

pushed on for Porirua, got over the Peri-Peri rocks and the ravines of the Pukerua Bush as well as we could, and arrived safe and sound, but wet to the skin and hungry as greyhounds, at the barracks at Porirua.

The following morning I got a horse, and on it sped in quickly and comfortably to Wellington. The whole of this once dreadful road is now a fine highway, and as I cantered along I could scarcely believe that it was the same ground that I had toiled along so slowly and painfully less than two years ago. Gardens, cottages, and cultivations are seen springing up on all sides; large patches of cleared land are making deep inroads into the forest, and the whole aspect of the country is being rapidly changed. I did not find the town of Wellington much altered; but it is a pleasant place enough, and, at any rate, the inhabitants cannot be charged with inhospitality, for dinner parties, dances, and soirees succeeded one another daily. The Polka, Cellarius, and Valse a Deux Temps have already found their way to the antipodes, and are danced to some purpose, as the Wellington balls rarely break up till after daylight; and to "go home with the girls in the morning" is generally part of one's duty.

There are some delightful rides and walks now

about Wellington, and there is every prospect of it becoming as pleasant a residence as one could wish for. A new race-course has been laid out about three miles from the town, where the sport promises to be very creditable, as there are plenty of good imported horses; and there is also some fine thoroughbred stock bred in this country, particularly by the Hon. Mr. Petre, on his farm in the Hutt Valley, and which, in the course of another year or two, will be able to take a conspicuous place on the New Zealand turf.

I rode one day a distance of twenty miles up the Hutt Valley, and through the Taita by the new road: the scenery was beautiful, and the road so good, that I longed to see a four-horse coach plying along it; a sight that in another year or two will doubtless be common enough. This road will connect Wellington with the extensive plain of the Wairarapa, besides opening out the valley of the Hutt and other large tracts of valuable land, and will be the commencement of the grand north road which will one day connect the northern and southern settlements.

Y – – – arrived yesterday afternoon (June 3d) from Wanganui, and to-day we sail together for Sydney, "en route" for "home." It is a fortunate coincidence that two of us from the same post should get the rout

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.

together, as pleasant companionship will beguile the tediousness of the weary voyage. I shall say adieu to New Zealand with much regret, as I have many pleasant reminiscences of hospitality and kindness; of good friends and pleasant acquaintances that I shall leave behind, and whom I may possibly and probably never see again. It is an interesting and beautiful country too, and were it not so very far from "home," I should not be at all sorry to return to it.

New Zealand is essentially the country of the poor man. The soil is productive, food and raiment cheap, the grasses are perennial, and potatoes and cabbage are literally weeds. Pigs, cattle, and sheep find food in all parts of the country, and breed and thrive without watching, as there are no wild dogs or other animals to destroy them, and no risk from droughts or conflagrations. Above all, there is but little physical suffering where there are neither hot summers nor cold winters.

The yearly increase on sheep is estimated at 120 per cent., and the weight of the fleece is from four to four and a half lbs., one-third more than is the average of New South Wales.

In New Zealand, little expense is incurred for clothing, and literally none for the doctor, the only

fault being that the number of rosy-cheeked urchins increases with astounding rapidity; but where potatoes are almost a weed, and pork is twopence per lb., who can complain of the number of brats, particularly as they begin to earn a livelihood almost as soon as they can walk?

In the towns the labouring man earns from three shillings and sixpence to seven shillings and sixpence per day, which is enormous, when the cheapness of provisions and the few necessary expenses are taken into consideration. While the husband is so well employed, the housewife need not be idle, as in the smaller settlements, or the outskirts of the larger ones, there is always abundant pasturage for cows, so that she may add butter, cheese, and milk to her stores.

Pigs may be purchased from the Maories for a trifle, and I have myself seen a sow and nine pig-a-ninnies bought for a pound; and boneens, too large to pass for sucking-pigs, at from sixpence to a shilling each.

All English vegetables and fruits grow exceedingly well, and require but little looking after, as there are no frosts, blights, slugs, or snails of any kind.

Bees make honey all the year round, and increase

PROSPECTS OF SETTLERS.

and multiply at an extraordinary rate. From the number of swarms that take to the bush, there is promise of an abundance of wild honey and wax in a few years.

With all these sources of comfort and independence, I cannot imagine a country better adapted for a thriving peasantry; and this is not only theoretically the case, but is practically true, as far as I could see. The only fault at present is, that there is too much temptation to withdraw labourers from their regular business; they are too apt to become small shopkeepers, and to depend on tricky dealing with the Maories, in tobacco, blankets, and rum. This is an evil that will very soon cure itself, by being overdone, and by the Maories becoming too "'cute."

One of the Wellington shopkeepers lately told me that trading with the Maories was not near by what it used to be, as "there was no taking them in now in the measure, but that there were still very few of them up to the quality"

Great numbers of labourers have taken to the bush, squatting down on an acre or two of partially cleared land, which furnishes them with potatoes. They have a few cows that find food in the forest, and they trade with the Maories for pork, and in

this way lead a lazy life, with but few cares or wants. The bustle of surrounding improvements, the increase of communication, and the formation of roads will soon draw these men into the vortex, and make them active members of society; so that their number will every year decrease, the practice having been engendered during the stagnation of the colony under its first two governors.

For settlers who embark capital and employ labour in agriculture, there is but little chance at present; and it has hitherto generally proved a losing speculation. Land is too dear, wages too high, and, except in years of drought, wheat, in sufficient quantities and at a cheaper rate, can be procured from Van Diemen's Land, than it can be produced by the English farmer in New Zealand. There is another competitor, too, coming into the field, against whom there will be no contending, as he gets the pick of the land for nothing, and has plenty of cheap labour at command. This is the Maori, who is rapidly becoming a producer, as well as a consumer, of cereal produce. It is said that there are 500 acres of wheat in the ground, belonging to the Maories, this year, in the Southern district alone. Supposing this to be the case, and that they merely reap 30 bushels to the acre, it will leave 15,000

SHEEP AND CATTLE RUNS.

bushels; and which, at the rate of 14l. per ton, will give the value of 6,300l., – a pretty sum to spend in the settlements, in addition to the average weekly sum of 300l., which they receive for labour on the roads, &c., and which all finds its way into the pockets of Wellington shopkeepers.

To the farmer with capital, the best opening is in stock-keeping in the Southern Island; the only drawback at present is the price of land, 1l. per acre, which is out of the question for sheep runs; but I believe it is the intention of the local government and of the New Zealand Company to establish a system of leasing tracts of land for pastoral purposes. If this should be settled on an equitable footing, there will be a splendid opening for capitalists, and in a few years we may look for large exports of wool from the colony.

In the Northern Island there are also immense tracts of land, admirably suited for sheep and cattle runs, of which the best, at present, is in the extensive valley, or rather plain, of the Wairarapa, near Wellington, and which is already extensively occupied on leases from the native proprietors, who, it is said, are receiving rent to the amount of 1000l. per annum from the sheep farmers.

There are large grassy plains near Rangitikei,

Manawatu, Ahuriri, and numerous other places, of which very little is known, and where pioneers are gradually finding their way, on sufferance from the Maories, or on the payment of a small consideration for the use of the land.

The greatest, and perhaps the only drawback to settlement in the Northern Island is the great preponderance of the native population, and the corresponding confidence it gives them in all dealings with the settlers.

All government transactions between the pakeha and the Maori are closely scrutinised and canvassed, and every tribe in the island calculates how much its interest is likely to be affected. They are fully aware of their strength, and are rapidly arriving at a conclusion that they have a class interest at stake, and are becoming very unanimous in the necessity for upholding it. This would be very well if they had any legal means of representation in the local government, or if they were inclined to defer what they may consider their wrongs and grievances to the governor; but as long as they know themselves to be the stronger party, it is not unlikely that they will submit to any thing but their own sweet will, unless by coercion; which can only be used at immense expense, loss of life, and interruption to the.

A NEW ENGLAND.

welfare of the colony. To remedy this – and, in my opinion, the only effectual remedy – will be to decrease the comparative preponderance of the native population by an extensive system of emigration. Parishes overburdened with paupers might, by a small outlay, provide them with passages to this country, thus removing the unfortunate wretches from all chance of future poverty and crime, and that too at a less expense than keeps them, half-famished and utterly unprofitable, within the workhouse walls at home.

What a glorious and humanising occupation it would be for many of our large men-of-war, now rotting in dock, to carry ship-loads of willing labour to a splendid country like this! It would give employment, peace employment, for men-of-war sailors; many half-pay officers might find a berth, young officers be brought forward, and, far better than all, thousands of famishing wretches would be taken from pestilence, and want, and consequent crime, to a land where their labour would be a blessing, their labour would be blessed.

A new England would spring up in the Southern Ocean, a source of wealth in time of peace, and in war a strong son to assist. The cool breezes, invigorating climate, and the agricultural pursuits of the children of the soil will produce a race more

resembling their progenitors than any of our colonies, and who will contrast powerfully with the bilious sugar-planter of the East or West Indies, or the aguish settler in the forests and on the banks of the American rivers. There are no fevers, epidemic or endemic, as in the East and West Indies and the United States; no ague, no long bitter winters or hot summers, with the myriads of persecuting insects, as in Canada; and none of the hot winds, droughts, conflagrations, snakes, and vermin of Australia.

There is a country teaming with milk and honey; a fertile soil, unequalled climate, plenty of wood, water, copper, coal, lime, stone; every thing, in fact, except a population to enjoy the bounteous gifts offered by Providence with so lavish a hand.

CHAPTER XXI.

UNDER WEIGH.

CHAP. XXI.

UNDER WEIGH. – IMPORTED LABOUR, "PUT MONEY IN THY PURSE." – NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. – COSTLY LOAN. – "IMPERIUM IN IMPERIO." – NEW ASSOCIATIONS. – VOYAGE TO NEW ZEALAND.

OUR ship was got under weigh from Wellington on the 3rd of June, and we anchored that night in Worser's Bay, our skipper not liking to beat through the Narrows in the dark, particularly as a heavy swell was tumbling in from the Straits. We got fairly to sea on the following morning, and found light winds and smooth water in the Straits; no ordinary occurrence at this time of year, when it is generally as boisterous and uncertain as the British Channel in the winter, and with the same strong tides, and short, chopping sea.

We coasted quietly along by the Kaikorras, the entrance of Port Underwood, and the Wairau, the setting sun tinging the snow-capped mountains with a rosy pink, long after it had sunk below the horizon. With such fine weather, it was five days before we got clear of the Straits, and the last seen of the land

was the snowy summit of Mount Egmont, standing out white and ghostly against the dark sky, at a distance of about eighty miles.

Among the passengers on board were two Scotch emigrants, one of them with a large family, on their way to Sydney. They were sent out to Otago by the New Zealand Company, and never landed at their destination, having taken their passage at once from Otago to Wellington, and thence to Sydney.

Their passage-money and all their expenses to Otago came, of course, out of the 75 per cent, of the purchase-money of land to be applied to the emigration of the labouring class; but as the labourers, on their arrival, can go where they like or do what they please, it often happens, as in the present instance, that the 75 per cent, is so much thrown away, so far as the good of the colonists is concerned.

The best advice that can be given to an emigrant is Iago's, – "Put money in thy purse;" for, though money is a highly valuable commodity at home, it is worth more, far more, in a new colony. An emigrant should not give 5s, an acre for land he has not seen, still less 15s. for labour that may never come to him. He should not burthen himself with agricultural implements, and should purchase as little clothing, furniture, and baggage generally, as he possibly can,

"PUT MONEY IN THY PURSE."

as he will perhaps find the articles he has selected ill adapted for his new country, or ascertain, to his mortification, that he could purchase them far cheaper on the spot. I have seen misguided individuals in possession of two or three hundred pounds worth of valuable agricultural implements, which after seven years' residence in the colony, they had never had an opportunity of using, and which cost them a small annual percentage for keeping in order. If the same money had been invested in stock, it would in the same time have increased at least four-fold, A practical man would have got rid of such useless lumber at once, even if he had to reship it to England for sale. It cannot be too often repeated, "Put money in thy purse:" it is the one thing needful in a new country.

There are some remarks in these pages which may lead to the supposition that the writer is prejudiced against the New Zealand Company and its agents, and which may require some little explanation. 14

As far as I have been able to see, and from all I had an opportunity of learning while in the colony,

the New Zealand Company appears to have been actuated by an honest desire to do all the good that lay in its power, and to act fairly and sincerely by all parties, native as well as European. This has been frequently evinced in its willingness to come to any fair composition required by the Government to complete purchases from the natives, and also in allowing settlers to reselect their land from unoccupied sections that were more suitable for their purposes.

Although I believe that the New Zealand Company has always acted to the best of its ability for the welfare of the colony, yet I cannot but think such an institution mischievous in the extreme, and calculated to cause great embarrassment, by the exercise of undue influence at home, and acting as an "imperium in iinperio" abroad.

As a commercial body, the New Zealand Company is bound to look principally after its own interests, which, in many cases, do not coincide with those of the colony; and we find it planting rival settlements one after the other as rapidly as it can, without reference to the wants or wishes of the colonists, but with the good commercial purpose of getting the highest possible price for the land, by the sale of those delusive baits, "town-acres."

The establishment of these small settlements.

COSTLY LOAN.

which are called into existence by the calculations of a speculative brain in Broad Street, rather than by any local want, add enormously to the colonial expenditure, without returning any adequate advantages. A staff of Government officers, police and others, "fruges consumere nati," who live on the common property but produce nothing, is obliged to be maintained. It adds, not inconsiderably, to the embarrassments of the local government to protect so many isolated communities, scattered widely apart; and to the expense, by the necessity of opening roads, and maintaining communications that, in the ordinary course of events, might not be required for years, or till a period when the government could better afford to maintain them.

The advance of money by the New Zealand Company for emigration, for the purchase of land, and other purposes, leaves the colony in a position of indebtedness for the loan, on which it not only pays a large percentage to supply the dividends of the proprietors, but it has also to support an extensive establishment in London, pay numerous salaries, taxes, gas, stationery, losses, bad debts, and even agents in New Zealand, which it can by no means afford; and I do not hesitate to say that the work would be much better done by the colonists themselves.

In the first five years after its establishment, the expenditure of the New Zealand Company was 563,500l.; of this, 367,715l. was expended for purposes of emigration, purchase of land, salaries of the colonial staff, &c. The remainder, 153,653l., or nearly one-third of the whole amount, is absorbed in payment of dividends and the expenses of the costly establishments.

If money is to be made by the sale of land in a colony, the most wholesome principle is that which returns the highest price for it into the colonial treasury, not that which goes to maintain such extensive and expensive establishments abroad.

The pre-emption right of land granted to the New Zealand Company in the Southern district has an injurious tendency, and puts it in the position so much deprecated, of large tracts of land being vested in one name, 15 and prevents settlers who are on the spot from making the purchases that may suit their views, unless at a very advanced rate from the company, or at second hand from individuals who

LOCAL SQUABBLES.

hold it for speculative purposes, to the manifest disadvantage of the colonists.

From the wealth and power of the New Zealand Company, it was able to cause great embarrassment to the local government under the first two governors, and its opposition and hostility, arising from separate interests, led to continual discussions and differences, which were most injurious to the general welfare of the colony; and between the two stools, the company and the government, the unfortunate colonists came off the grand losers. I do not mean to say that the company was always wrong, and I am quite sure that the local government was not always right; but it would have been better for the common good if such an opposition had ceased to exist, as many of the official blunders would not have been irreparable if they had not been aggravated by a determination to make the worst of them, and the colony could never have been reduced so low if it had not been divided against itself.

More recently, a strong government has put an end to all factious opposition, has overcome local prejudices, and reconciled jarring interests; the spirit of partisanship is rapidly giving place to a more generous sentiment for the public good; so that these remarks are only useful now as illustrating one of

the causes of adversity that for a time clouded the prospects of the colony.

I have been in most of our colonies on many parts of the continent of Europe, and in America, but without finding in any of these countries so many advantages, with so few drawbacks, as are to be met with here; and if, at some future day, I should find myself looking out for a home and a resting-place for life, I shall gladly remember the wholesome climate and abundant soil of New Zealand, and return to find a quiet nook in one of the beautiful bays on the southern side of Cooke's Straits.

The only real drawback is the great distance from England, and the complete severance of family ties and home connections by such a separation; but even this is a matter of little real consequence to those who bring out their families with them, and who come with the determination of making it their home. There is nothing more interesting than to watch the gradual progress of a new country in improvement, and the settler soon weans his heart from old associations as new ties and objects of interest spring up about him, and the evidences of his own handiwork become apparent. Deep inroads are soon made in the forest by the woodman's axe, and rich corn-fields wave in the sun, where so lately all was dark and

VOYAGE TO NEW ZEALAND.

impenetrable. Rich meadows take the place of tangled swamps, the brooks leap along confined in their course, and flocks find abundant pasture where, within the settler's memory, there was food only for the bittern and teal. Cottages and farms spring up on the banks of rivers, in warm valleys, and in the sheltered nooks of bays; so that, in a few years, the whole face of the landscape is changed, and the settler rides easily over ground, where, a few years before, he could scarcely struggle along on foot, and can count a hundred neighbours from the hill-top where he remembers to have stood, oppressed by his own loneliness, the only living thing in the landscape.

The voyage to New Zealand by the Cape of Good Hope takes about four months, about the same time and expense as to South Australia or Van Diemen's Land. The cost of a passage in the steerage is from 8l. to 12l.; to intermediate passengers, from 15l. to 30l.; and to cabin passengers, from 35l. to 70l., depending on the class of vessels and style of living on board. By the New Zealand Company's and government vessels, passages may be obtained at even cheaper rates; and there is, or used to be, one advantage, at any rate, in purchasing a section of land from the New Zealand Company, that 75

per cent, of the purchase-money was allowed towards the passage of the purchaser and his family. This is certainly a very great advantage to those who can avail themselves of it, and is the only real inducement to the purchase of what is otherwise, in the most literal sense, "a pig in a poke."

14 If the writer had any prejudice on the subject, it would naturally lean to the side of the New Zealand Company, as his uncle, the late Mr. Gilbert, the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, was one of the original founders and directors of the Plymouth New Zealand Company.

15 A regulation of the colonial office directs that the maximum grant to one person shall be 2,500 acres, to prevent the dispersion of settlers by large intervening tracts of uncultivated land. This excellent regulation is of no effect as regards the Company, whose claim four years ago amounted to 960,000 acres, which has since considerably increased.

CHAPTER XXII.

PORT JACKSON. – SYDNEY.

CHAP. XXII.

PORT JACKSON. – SYDNEY. – OVERLAND ROUTE,

FOUL winds beset us obstinately all the way to Sydney; but we threshed at it under double-reefed topsails, and got into port by the light of a beautiful moon, at the same time with a large barque that had left Wellington just ten days before us.

No one can help being struck with the bold and abrupt headlands, through which, as through a giant's gate, one enters Port Jackson. Once inside the Heads, it is inexpressibly pleasing to the eye, wearied with gazing day after day on the unbroken waste of sea and sky, to dwell on the hilly shores and beautiful headlands, covered with verdure and studded with cottages and villas, on the numerous creeks and bays with their golden sands, and the noble expanse of water, dotted with islands, and bearing on its bosom hundreds of noble vessels of every class, build, and nation.

The city of Sydney, scattered over several hills, is visible soon after entering the Heads, and has a

beautiful appearance as seen when sailing up the harbour.

Few cities can boast such an abord; even Lisbon scarcely excels it in picturesqueness of situation; while the many public works now in progress will soon add considerably to its architectural splendour and imposing appearance.

It is a spot that appears to have been cut out by nature for a large and prosperous city, and is a site every way worthy of the capital of the southern hemisphere: it has the merit, too, of having ample room for improvement, and, beautiful as it now is, cultivation will every day add some new charm.

I found Sydney much changed for the worse since I was here, two years ago. The consequences of over-trading and extravagance, which were beginning to be evident then, are now fully developed, so that bankruptcy and insolvency are almost universal.

Very few of the gay equipages, so general then, are now to be seen, or, if so, are reduced to the humble rank of a hackney-coach-stand, furnishing the best, most luxurious, and elegant hack cabs and carriages in the world.

The demesne, with its botanical garden, walks, and rides, is still a great attraction, and is one of the loveliest spots I know: – well wooded and with

SYDNEY.

grassy lawns, it commands lovely views of the bay and harbour, and is deservedly the great object of care and pride with the citizens. One of the military bands usually plays in the demesne for a couple of hours, twice a week, drawing together all the rank, beauty, and fashion, on horseback, en voiture, or on foot, making, with the beautiful scenery and pure sky, one of the most delightful lounges imaginable, either for the traveller who seeks it to see the world, or the flaneur who lounges an hour pleasantly away.

Sydney is one of those colonial wonders which strikes every stranger with surprise, and one can scarcely realise the fact that such gigantic offspring are the produce of the small mother-country, England – a speck in the ocean, at a distance of some 16,000 miles. It has now a population of nearly 50,000 souls, while, at the distance of twenty miles is Paramatta, with its 10,000 inhabitants, and all round are towns, villages, farms, and a dense and thriving population, without taxes, beggary, want, or poor-houses. Excellent high-roads penetrate to a distance of three hundred miles into the interior, and traverse the country in all directions; while communication is kept up by mail-coaches and steamboats, en attendant the time when railroads shall bring the ends of the country together, and eat up the vast

Space that separates the shores of the continent. The main streets of the city are elegant, spacious, and convenient; while many of the shops, houses, public buildings and churches would be considered ornamental even in the metropolis of the empire. Theatres, squares, parks, and public rides and drives, provide abundance of public amusement, and exhibit the resources and wealth of the colony. Vast and beautiful bays and land-locked harbours indent the coast, and shelter an immense amount of commercial wealth, contained in the ships of all nations.

It is scarcely forty years ago since New South Wales was first called into existence as a colony, by the arrival of a small body of convicts and the guard in charge of them. For many years its progress was not so rapid as to attract attention, as there were no indigenous products worth speaking of, no commercial prospects in so isolated a situation, and no mineral wealth discovered. The advantages of a fine and healthy climate, were, in the eye of the adventurer, more than counterbalanced by the droughts, conflagrations, and hot winds; while to those who might have wished to find in it a new home for themselves and families, there was the objection of it being the first and most notorious of our convict colonies, which was the stronger from the general conviction that the

SYDNEY.

population was formed of only two classes – "those who were, and those who ought to have been exported for their country's good." Within the last ten or twelve years an extraordinary tide of capital and emigration has been directed to the Australian colonies by the success attending the introduction of sheep, horses, and cattle, by the opening up of fine agricultural lands on the Hunter River; the discovery of fine pastoral lands, of an almost incalculable extent, in the interior; the working of coal-pits at Newcastle and other places, and the abundance of copper ore and other minerals of unparalleled richness in South Australia. Fresh discoveries are taking place almost daily of valuable minerals and rich tracts of unexplored country. A new continent may be said to have been recently opened out by the researches and talents of Sturt, Mitchell, Grey, and, more recently, by the wonderful energy and perseverance of Leichardt. The wealth and resources of the country appear to be inexhaustible, and demand loudly the use of the strong limbs of that surplus population which vainly struggles and fights against starvation at home, while it might be the source, here, of incalculable wealth, and form the foundation of a mighty nation which will probably, at some future day, rule the destinies of the East. Already, from this nucleus, ramifications are

silently spreading themselves over the surrounding seas and countries; and the indomitable energy and daring of the Anglo-Saxon is exhibited in his communications with the savage islanders, whose native ferocity and barbarism he soon modifies and controls. New Zealand, the Auckland, and the Chatham Isles are already occupied; and there is not an island in the surrounding seas, inhabited, as they are, by the most cruel and blood-thirsty savages, which is not within the range of the adventurous trader, and of the missionary, who follows quickly in his footsteps.

On glancing over the chart, the eye catches indications of the Anglo-Saxon's presence through the whole of the Pacific, and he has already his strongholds in the Malayan Peninsula, and even on the threshold of China, from which his influence will spread surely and rapidly. One almost wonders where, or when, or how, this vast tide of influence and power, centered in one race, and modifying the character of all the rest, is to stop? It is at the same time a subject of honest pride and gratification that the advance is all in the right direction, and that, with the exception of some occasional mistakes, the effect of human fallibility rather than intentional error, the changes are all for the advantage and improvement of the human race, and to work out that

SYDNEY.

natural wealth which was never created to lie idle and useless.

The consideration of these subjects ought to serve as a spur to the authorities at home, to give every possible encouragement and assistance to wholesome enterprise and emigration, by which these ends are brought about. It ought, too, to be a subject of gratification to see so many tens of thousands well employed abroad, who might have been the cause of much evil and misery at home; and it is, I suspect, owing to these wholesome outlets for the enterprise and energy of uneasy and discontented spirits, by emigration, rather than to the national good sense, on which we complacently hug ourselves, that England has hitherto gone scatheless through the ordeal of revolution, which is afflicting almost all the less-favoured nations of Europe.

At Sydney we had the choice of two routes for our voyage home: one by way of Cape Horn, the other by way of India and Egypt. The former had the merit of being only one-third of the expense of the latter, but, as a make-weight, there is the miserable prospect of a four months' voyage on board a crowded ship, and all the horrors of bitter gales, frost, and snow, for some six weeks of a winter passage round Cape Horn. The journey via India

and Egypt, though considerably more expensive, is by far the most agreeable, the route being through warm latitudes, and at this season one may look for fine weather and smooth water all the way.

There are occasionally vessels from Sydney for Valparaiso or Callao, and had one offered at this time, it was our intention to have taken advantage of it; to have reached England either via Panama, or by the Pampas and Buenos Ayres.

There was no lack of vessels to choose from, and, in company with my friend, Mr. Y – – – , I took my passage for Singapore, with the intention of meeting the China steamer, which touches there on its way to Ceylon and Suez. By this route it is quite possible, even now, to reach England from New Zealand or Sydney in ten weeks; and when the line of steamers is established from Sydney to Singapore, the voyage will be made in about two months, thus reducing the formidable distance one-half, and avoiding the long, dreary, boisterous voyage round either cape. The expense of the voyage when steam is established all the way, ought not to exceed 125l. for each adult passenger, or about 50l. more than the old route, which, however, will be well laid out in saving two long months of monotonous sailing.

CHAPTER XXIII.

DEPARTURE FROM SYDNEY.

CHAP. XXIII.

LEAVE SYDNEY. – ENTER TORRES STRAITS. – CORAL REEFS AND SAND-BANKS. – STRAITS DEPOT. – BOOBY ISLAND.

WE sailed from Sydney in the "John Calvin" on the 7th of July, in company with two other vessels, with an arrangement to keep together, to render assistance to one another in the perils of the passage through Torres Straits. We left the harbour with the first of a gale of wind, most favourable to us, but which, an hour afterwards, as I have since heard, drove a vessel on the reefs just within the Heads, and the whole crew, of fourteen souls, perished.

The gale stuck to us gallantly, driving us past all the dangers of coral rocks, reefs, sand-banks, and low islands, without leaving us much time to look for, or think of, them, and on the eighth day we found ourselves off the great Barrier Reef. The most ticklish and exciting part of the voyage is running in to find an entrance through the reef, and over-confidence or miscalculation has left the timbers of many a gallant bark to rot on the sharp-edged

coral reefs, which run along like a sunk wall, only a few inches above the surface of the water, or are only indicated at a distance by the green backs of the heavy rollers that run against them, and break with a roar that is heard at a distance of several miles.

There are no land-marks to guide the navigator, and his sole dependence is on the observation of latitude, and a good look-out from the mast-head for the narrow channels that wind through the reefs, and in which, in case of mistake, there is no anchorage.

Under these circumstances, it was exciting work leading the way just after twelve o'clock, our two consorts following at a respectful distance, ready to haul off in case we got into difficulties.

Every few minutes made new dangers apparent, as we ran past and round low reefs, with heavy breakers on the outside of them, and with but small chance of retreat for us in case the channel should not be found. Fortunately, the day was clear and bright, so that the channel was presently descried from the mast-head, indicated by a dark blue line, winding its way through discoloured water and dark low lines of jagged coral. Through this we passed safely, and were presently in smooth water, in which light patches here and there made the hidden dangers apparent.

BOOBY ISLAND.

We ran on till about three in the afternoon, when the sun got so far to the westward as to make too much glare on the water to allow the look-out at the mast-head to distinguish the discoloured water, and obliged us to anchor for the day.

The following day we got under weigh at sunrise, our skipper taking his station at the mast-head, and we sped along gallantly, and without accidents, till two in the afternoon, when, the sun getting too far ahead, we anchored under Turtle Island. The third day brought us to an anchor in the midst of the group of the Adolphus Islands, and in sight of Cape York, the northernmost point of New Holland.

The following morning we were under weigh again at break of day, and ran so close to Wednesday Island, that we could distinctly see a native encampment, and some of the natives spearing fish.

At about noon we got clear of the straits, and anchored at Booby Island, having been only thirteen days and a half from Sydney, as good a passage, probably, as has ever been made.

The dangers of the Straits are now, from the careful surveys that have been made, purely imaginary, if ordinary caution be used, and a good look-out kept. The voyage, from the fine mild weather and smooth sea, is a delightful one, compared with the

other route to the south of New Holland, by Bass's Straits. It is pleasant sailing, too, through the wooded islands, golden sand-banks, and curious and grotesque coral rocks, covered with gulls, pelicans, and every variety of sea-birds. Giant turtles sun themselves by dozens on the sheltered nooks, and stare stupidly at the passing ship, lolloping clumsily into the water on too near an approach.

The establishment of steam communication through the straits from Singapore and Sydney, touching at Prince of Wales' Island, or Port Essington, will make these localities better known, and, having robbed them of their evil renown, the scenery will add to the interest of the voyage, and attract many from the undeviating monotony of the long sea voyage. There is much commercial wealth hidden away in these depths, that only requires more certain communication and protection to attract enterprising traders and capitalists. Among these are the beche-de-mer and shark-fins, both of which abound here, and are valuable articles of trade with China, and might be obtained at a cheap rate, from the facility with which Chinese labour might be procured and applied. Before this can be done, there must be another and a better depot than the pestiferous, vermin-stricken settlement at Port Essington. One

BOOBY ISLAND.

may be easily and cheaply formed in the direct track of vessels, on the Adolphus group, Wednesday, or Prince of Wales' Island; there is, in fact, an "embarras de choix," rather than a lack of favorable localities.

We landed on Booby Island, a curious mass of coral rock, with no other vegetation than a few stunted bushes and some coarse grass, where we nevertheless found some quail and two or three kinds of landrail, one of them identical with the Pukeko of New Zealand.

In one of the caves is a depot of provisions for shipwrecked seamen, including beef, pork, biscuit, fresh water, and cooking utensils. A portion of this is sent annually by the Sydney government, and it is the practice of nearly all masters of ships who call here to add something to the stock. On the top of the island a post is placed conspicuously, and in a convenient sheltered nook below it is an old ammunition chest covered with tarpaulin, and marked Post-office, in which passing ships deposit their letters, to be taken up by any other vessel that may be going in the direction indicated.

We found several letters directed to Sydney via Singapore, which we took for the purpose of posting them at the latter place, leaving others for England,

via Ceylon or Bombay, on the chance of any vessel calling that was bound for either of those places. There is a register-book also in the Post-office, with pens and ink, for vessels to report their places of departure, destination, and length of voyage, with remarks of anything new they may have observed in the passage through the straits, or which may serve a useful purpose.

CHAPTER XXIV.

FISH OUT OF WATER.

CHAP. XXIV.

FISH OUT OF WATER. – UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES. – DEPOTS AND CONSULATES. – STRAITS OF LOMBOK. – APPENAM. – CAMPONGS. – TRADE AND ENTERPRISE. – MALAY CHARACTERISTICS. – RAJAH OF LOMBOK. – COCK-PITS AND MARKETS. – MILITARY POWER.

WE had a quick and favourable run from Booby Island, sighted the south-west of Timor on the 29th of July, and got safely through the Straits of Samoa on the same evening. The following morning we were in sight of Savu, and coasted along its shore with a light air. In the evening I caught a shark, who appeared most astonished at being suddenly and unceremoniously transferred from his own element to the quarter-deck, and lashed about most vigorously, to the great terror of the denizens of the hencoops, whose slumbers he so roughly invaded. A clip on the tail from an axe reduced his active opposition to perfect quiescence and resignation to his fate. The following morning we found ourselves off Benjoar, with Savu and Rocky Island in sight, the wind still very light, and smooth water.

Sandalwood Island in sight on the 31st. Bold rocky shores backed by steep mountains, their sides and summits clothed with forest-trees and dense jungle. It appears an extraordinary thing, in this age of experiment and enterprise, that so little has been done in this direction. We have cruised for days, never out of sight of land, through a labyrinth of straits and islands, abounding with spices, camphor, musk, sandal-wood, birds' nests, valuable timber, gums, beche-de-mer, cocoa nuts, oil and fibre, and numerous other articles of commerce, capable of being improved to an incalculable extent; yet there is in the whole of the group scarcely a single European to take advantage of it.

It cannot be the want of enterprise on the part of our countrymen, or ignorance of the advantages to be gained by an increased intercourse with these islands, that so completely isolates us from them, but rather the want of some available depot near at hand, and efficient protection from the exactions of the natives.

While there is so much anxiety at home to extend our commerce, it will be well if competent men take a glance in this direction, and, having ascertained that the report of the vast amount of unexplored commercial wealth is real, then adopt such measures

DEPOTS AND CONSULATES.

as will encourage and foster private enterprise. I do not mean by the establishment of an extensive separate government and administration at the expense of some 10,000l. per annum, or, mayhap, even more, as is the case at Labuan, before there is even a chance of a penny being returned in the way of trade, but a modest establishment of, say, l,000l. to a resident or consul, and two or three officials, dependent on Singapore or Labuan, and to be augmented as may be warranted by the success of the experiment and increase of the commerce. Three or four such stations as this would be of immense service, would attract the trade from all the surrounding islands, and would make safe depots for the merchant's stores. At present the merchant is left entirely at the mercy of the natives if he resides among them, and subject to all their exactions; or if he calls on a trading trip, he is obliged to sell his goods at the price they choose to put upon them, knowing that his only alternative is to sell at once or to go away, from the heavy expenses he incurs by delay with his vessel and crew.

The greater part of what little trade there is from these islands, is conducted in small native prahus, and passes through many hands before it reaches Singapore, or the Dutch settlements, and with a

proportionate increase in expense, to say nothing of the risks incurred in small insecure vessels, from danger of the sea and pirates, and which checks much of the spirit of enterprise and industry possessed by the natives, rendering them supine and indolent, from want of a definite object in their labour.

It might be objected to these small settlements, that they would be insecure without a force of at least one hundred men to protect each of them, and instances of the destruction of small residencies might be adduced; but in those days the natives were nearly equal to the Europeans in the knowledge of arms and artillery, which is far from being the case now. Moreover, the strong spirits of twenty years ago, the Arab pirates and leaders, have lost much of their self-confidence and of their "prestige" among their followers. The frequent encounters with English men-of-war of late, and more particularly with steamers, have taught them some fearful lessons, and have made them exceedingly cautious in meddling with Europeans.

The presence, therefore, of one or two small steamers, which might be spared from the China fleet, would, with very little local force, be all that would be required.

DEPOTS AND CONSULATES.

In addition to any depots of this description, there is nothing so urgently required for the protection and fostering of our commerce in these seas as the appointment of consuls or agents to the large independent islands, such as Timor, Sumbawa, Lombok, and the Celebes, who would be capable of furnishing assistance and advice to traders, and to keep up a proper intercourse between Europeans and the natives. Most of the rajahs would be glad to have an accredited agent of this description among them, as it would add to their dignity in the eyes of their own people; and, by acquiring their confidence, it would tend to facilitate more intimate relations, and to remove many of their prejudices.

Besides these reasons, there would be a very great advantage to the home government in being able, through its agents, to obtain accurate and full information on every subject connected with this vast archipelago, instead of the subject being enveloped, as at present, in Cimmerian darkness.

Aug. 1st. – Sumbawa and Bally in sight this morning, both of them mountainous, forest-covered islands, with bold rocky shores, among the caves of which are found great quantities of the edible bird's-nest, which brings such a high price in China.

We got into the Straits of Lombok just before dark, and had to stem a strong tide of about eight knots, which, running over a foul bottom, kicked up such a sea that we had quickly to shut our lower ports, and did not feel quite secure from it on deck. The sea was so tormented, and tossed about in such a tumultuous manner, that it was at first difficult to believe that we were not among reefs.

At daybreak we ran into the magnificent Bay of Appenam, where we anchored among a great variety of native craft, of various builds and sizes, from the square-rigged ships and brigs to the high-sterned bamboo-covered prahu.

The shore view was exceedingly beautiful From the very edge of the surf sprung up groves of cocoa-nut, tamarind, banyan, and banana trees, and under their shadow peeped out numbers of picturesque villages and campongs quite embowered in the foliage. Farther away, the country sloped off in pretty rolling hills, highly cultivated and well-wooded, till in the distance huge forest-covered and craggy mountains veiled their summits in the clouds; above which again peered out the pyramidal summit of "the Peak," an extinct volcano about 9000 feet in height.

APPENAM.

The beach was thronged with groups of Malays, men and women, in their many-coloured sarongs; the frequent scarlet contrasting beautifully with the picturesque green background.

In the bay, boats, canoes, and catamarans, with their bamboo outriggers, scudded along, propelled by paddle, sail, or oar, with their various crews, black, brown, and yellow, singing as they worked, or busy laying out lines for fish, and looking highly picturesque in the brilliant light of the morning sun.

We lost no time in landing, and, as usual, found "that distance had lent enchantment to the view," for many of the forms and figures so pleasing at a distance and as a part of the scene, were often uninteresting, dirty, or unpleasant on a nearer approach. There was, nevertheless, much to see and much to admire, and not least the bamboo houses, built entirely of this light material, some of them two stories high, elegant, light, and often highly and elaborately ornamented.

The campongs are both a picturesque and amusing scene. The houses, trees, gardens, streams, and boats are all mixed up together, and surrounded by hedges of bamboo, making very picturesque subjects for the pencil. The living population is not less various; men, women, children, pigs, ducks, geese,

fowls, dogs, horses, and water buffaloes, are on the most familiar terms; space and facility of movement is assisted by the light bamboo tenements being raised on piles to a height of four or five feet from the ground, so that there is a free passage underneath. We called on the only Briton here, a Scot, who received us very well, and provided us with horses, and "more Indico " extended his hospitality to feeding and lodging us, only bargaining that our stay should be as long as possible. There is one other European at present living in the island: but he is on the other side of it, at a distance of forty miles, so that a more isolated and solitary life can hardly be imagined.

The present incumbent of the station is, I believe, an agent of Mr. King, who was the first to settle alone among the natives hereabouts, and who, it is said, has in a few years amassed a large fortune. He has one or two stations managed by agents in the neighbouring islands, and is now on an expedition to the Coti River, on the south side of Borneo, where, about four years ago, the Honourable Mr. Murray was killed, but where Mr. King has managed to acquire the confidence of the natives, and to carry on a profitable trade.

The population of Appenam, from its being a considerable emporium of native trade, is very mixed,

MALAY CHARACTERISTICS.

and has representatives of all the various tribes who inhabit these seas: there are Malays, Bugis, Ballinese, Chinese, Javans, and importations from Macassar and the Celebes.

All the Malays, both men and women, are an ugly, repulsive-looking race, short and squat, with small snaky-looking eyes, flat noses, and thick lips; and their natural hideousness is considerably heightened by the reddish-brown discoloration of the lips and teeth, produced by the constant use of the Beetle-nut.

Every man, no matter what his employment, carries a creese in his belt with the hilt ready to the hand, prepared, at any moment, for a fray. We examined some of their weapons, which were beautiful specimens of highly wrought and inlaid steel, many of them with golden hilts set with rubies; and these were not unfrequently the property of common working men. Such an article is an heirloom in a family, and a man will often work steadily for years, and live with the greatest frugality, that he may lay by sufficient to purchase a weapon of this description.

The Malay fondness for cock-fighting was evident in the immense number of cocks in the different campongs, all in fine condition, and each in its

separate bamboo cage. Some of them were by far the most beautiful birds I ever saw, and I quite longed to procure a few of them to take to England with me.

These were not the only evidences of the fighting propensities of the population; for, in almost every campong, I observed several small pieces of artillery, and among them a few fine brass guns. These, in former days, would have formed the principal article of equipment in a piratical fleet, but are now of little use, except in defending the campong from a raid by any of the neighbouring establishments, – a deadly feud occasionally springing up, which is quietly fought out and settled among themselves, without disturbing the general peace.

In the afternoon we took a gallop of about ten miles into the interior of the island, over a fine road about twenty yards in width, and sheltered, on both sides, by avenues of magnificent banyan-trees.

The road was crowded with passengers on foot and on horseback: some returning from their daily labour, some on their way to the markets or cock-pits, and others, like ourselves, out for exercise and to see the world.

We passed the rajah's palace; rather a tumbledown affair, built in the style of an Indian Bungalow,

THE RAJAH OF LOMBOK.

with paved court-yard and broad verandahs, but with much of the seedy appearance of an out-of-town villa that has been afflicted with a twenty years' suit in Chancery. We also passed the ruins of the palaces of the old rajahs, which appear to have been far larger, and altogether on a more magnificent scale.

The present rajah is a Ballinese, and supplanted the natural lords of the soil by a conspiracy, in which the greater part of the army joined. The rajahs, on finding escape hopeless, destroyed their wives and children, set fire to the palaces, and then, rushing out with their creeses, died on a heap of the traitorous soldiers, sacrificed as a holocaust to the goddess of destruction, on the fumes of which their souls mounted to eternal bliss. This is the real way of running a muck; and there is a kind of frenzied fanaticism in it, that it is believed will reap its fruits in another world.

The most curious sights we saw in the course of our ride were the cock-pits, of which we passed several. They are large bamboo sheds, open at the side, and capable of accommodating about five hundred persons, and were all of them full of the creesed natives, each one having one or more cocks, and all prepared to risk their means on the issue of

the fight. We saw no women in these assemblies; but they were compensated for this deprivation by having the market-places almost to themselves, where they were collected in hundreds, gossipping and chaffering for wares, and looking a gay and motley group in their scarlet, pink, and blue sarongs.

The cultivation appeared to be principally Paddy; the farmers living in the midst of their lands, or in the little villages dotted over the country, and embowered in groves of luxuriant tropical trees, that added much to the attractive picturesqueness of the landscape.

There is considerable excitement here at present regarding the Dutch aggressions on Bally, where a large military and naval force has recently suffered a defeat. A political agent from the Dutch Colonial Government waited on the rajah here, to know if he would assist in exterminating the rebellious tribes of Ballinese; to which the rajah readily assented, as he had an old feud himself to settle in that quarter. But as he said that he should bring 80,000 men equipped with fire-arms into the field, he demanded that he should have a share of the land and spoil in proportion to his force.

The Dutchman, who had no conception of the military strength of the rajah of Lombok, wisely

MILITARY POWER.

declined entering into any relations with such a potentate, who, when once in the field, might have taken it into his head to seize all the spoil, or to make common cause with the Ballinese in expelling the foreign intruder.

The present rajah of Lombok, from being an usurper and reigning over a foreign people, who undisguisedly wish for a prince of their own stock, is compelled to keep up this large force, which, I hear, is well armed and disciplined in the native mode of warfare. The natives are excellent shots with the musket and rifle. In our ride to-day we passed several butts, where there is constant practice; and as the distance at which they fire is from two hundred to two hundred and fifty yards, it requires a good marksman to shoot within the circles. The greater part of these troops form a military colony scattered over different parts of the island, receiving a small patch of land for their subsistence, and a trifling pay when called out. The rajah has a large hunting-establishment, and extensive tracts of country are kept in a wild state for the preservation of game, which abounds in all parts of the island. Occasionally he has a grand battue, when the people of a whole district are turned out to act as beaters. On the whole, this potentate has a very good idea of the

savoir vivre; and his numerous wives, various hunting excursions, and a little fighting now and then, leave him but little of the ennui of the general run of Eastern magnates.

The following morning we embarked again, through a surf so high, that our boat was obliged to lie outside, and we were launched through it in one of the light native canoes. A pleasant breeze carried us rapidly over the smooth sea, and we wound our way through islands, with the picturesque shore of Lombok on one side, and on the other the Peak of Bali, 9000 feet in height, and towering above the clouds like a huge shadowy pyramid.

CHAPTER XXV.

SINGAPORE.

CHAP. XXV.

SINGAPORE. – INVESTITURE OF SIR JAMES BROOKE. – SUCCESSION OF GAIETIES. – STRAITS OF MALACCA. – PULO PENANG. – THE MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN. – UNIVERSAL TOLERANCE. – MOTLEY POPULATION. – CHINESE EMIGRATION. – EUROPEAN SOCIETY.

OFF Kangelang on the morning of the 4th of August, and still running along with a clear sky, light winds, and smooth sea. This is the perfection of sailing; the ship never pitching or rolling, the weather delightful, and a constant moving panorama of woody, picturesque islands.

In sight of Caremata and other small islands on the 6th. A continuance of the same fine weather will take us to Singapore by the 9th, and in time for the China steamer, which will enable us, if we please, to reach England by the third week in September, just ten weeks from Sydney!

We are now (August 8th) in the Java Sea, within less than a degree of the line, and with frizzling weather and calms, or baffling squalls: this is the first bad day's work in the voyage. Just after noon

we had a violent thunder-squall, and saw a fine waterspout to windward. Great quantities of fish about, but we could not take any of them.

We did not get to Singapore till the 13th, having been drifted some distance up the China Sea; and we were three days in coming the last thirty miles, so that we arrived too late for the steamer. There is every chance now of our having to spend the next three weeks here, – by no means a pleasant prospect, as Singapore is hot, dull, and expensive.

As it turned out, we spent the ten following day's more tolerably than could have been expected, where, after taking his constitutional walk or ride, there is generally nothing for a stranger to do but to sit and look out of the hotel window at the immense fleet of shipping in the harbour, and the hourly arrivals and departures, which, with the universal employments of eating, drinking, and sleeping, are the only resources against ennui.

The usual monotony of Singapore has been broken in upon by several exciting events. Yesterday, for instance, there was a grand ceremonial on the investiture of Sir James Brooke with the insignia of the order of the Bath, at which all the rank, beauty, and fashion of the place were present.

Nothing but the respect in which Sir James Brooke

INVESTITURE OF SIR JAMES BROOKE.

is held, and the personal liking for him on the part of most of the spectators, prevented the whole ceremony from degenerating into a burlesque. A general outburst of laughter from the spectators would have been the consequence of one unlucky giggle, at the assumption of dignity on the part of "the representative of the crown," as he sat on the throne and received the obeisances of the procession, supposed to represent knights, lords, courtiers, pages, and all the grandeur of a court, with a pompous air of condescension that could only have been imagined by one who has seen the throned dignity of Artaxomenes.

By biting the lip and carefully abstaining to look at one another, order was maintained till Sir James Brooke replied to the address, when his simple, interesting, and unegotistical manner restored the calmness of one's risible muscles.

Sir James Brooke gave a grand ball in the evening, where the heat of the climate and the general languor were forgotten in favour of the new polkas, galops, and valses of the excellent band of the Maeander frigate.

This ball appears to have given an impulse to the generally languid, official monotony of the Singapore society; and there are others talked of, at which, however, we have but little chance of being present, as

the "Hooghly," the Straits government steamer, will probably depart for Malacca and Penang in the course of a few days, and we go in her.

The captain of the "Hooghly" had no sympathies for dancing or dancers, so he has determined to sail to-morrow morning (August 25th), although a capital ball on board the "Auckland," Honourable East India Company's steam-frigate, is to come off in the evening.

He is a regular old sea-dog, who never sets foot on shore except on duty, and who has not slept on terra firma three times in the last twenty years. Even respect for an admiral or a governor will not induce him to dine away from his own vessel, although he is a jolly, hospitable old fellow, who has his table always spread for two or three guests, and makes a friend of every one who goes on board, by the simplicity of his manners and friendly, kind-hearted, original ways.

He has been for the last twenty-five or thirty years in these seas, and is known in every river, town, or Malay campong, where, in boats or steamers, he has been on errands of peace or war; fighting pirates, or restoring the recaptured prisoners to their homes.

Fine weather, the comforts of the "Hooghly," and the excellent table of the captain, soon made us con-

STRAITS OF MALACCA.

tented, in spite of our wish to have stayed another day for the ball; and we smoked our cheroots under the awning, as we rapidly ran along by the mangrove-covered shores and islands.

Steaming in the Straits is like a river trip in smooth water. We were always in sight of the shore, sometimes winding our way through narrow channels, then emerging into a lake-like expanse, dotted with small islands and grotesque rocks, with a distant background of hills, and occasional glances at Malay villages and cultivations, and the frequent embouchures of streams and rivers, that run in every direction over the flat, alluvial soil, and feed the rich luxuriance of the dark forest, redolent of malaria and fever. We only stayed a few hours at Malacca, and on the morning of the 28th found ourselves in sight of the lofty hills of Penang, and the clove plantations dotted over the slopes.

We anchored off the town among a motley assemblage of craft, where might be seen square-rigged ships from England and Yankee-land, long-nosed Arab grabs from the Red Sea, queer ram-shackle-looking native craft from India and the Tenasserim coast, Siamese junks, and Malay prahus. A variety of Kling boats and Chinese sampans were plying about between the shipping and the town, or bringing

produce from the province of Wellesley on the opposite shore, which is only divided from Penang by a narrow river-like channel, which forms the port.

We remained on board till near sunset, as the day was excessively hot; and when we did land, we found the only two inns the town boasts of, were mere pothouses, and exceedingly filthy and uncomfortable.

Unwilling to put up in such miserable places, we determined, though almost dark, to set out for the top of the mountain, where we understood that an hotel had been recently established. A palkee carried us by a good road to the foot of the hills, where we had ponies to meet us. As it was pitchy dark under the shadow of the large forest-trees, we left the choice of the road to the discrimination of our ponies, who, after much scrambling, brought us safely to the top in about a couple of hours. When there, we enjoyed a beautiful view of the twinkling lights, in the villages, town, and harbour below us, but were as much troubled as ever to find our way. A light in a small bungalow encouraged us to go on and enquire, when we got general sailing directions, by the help of which we arrived, after another hour's scramble, at our destination. Sure of being all right, we gave our horses to the servants, and, sans facon, marched into the house, where, to our exceeding

PULO PENANG.

horror, we were informed that we were not in an hotel, and that there was no such establishment at all in the mountain.

Luckily, mine host was hospitably inclined, and made us heartily welcome, or we should most certainly have had to spend our first night in Penang under a tree or among the fern, as in New Zealand.

Next morning we found that we were perched up above the clouds, through which we had beautiful glimpses of the low country at our feet, of the harbour and shipping, and of the more distant plains, rivers, and mountains of the province of Wellesley. Being anxious to relieve our host of his self-invited guests as soon as possible, and also to get to the town in the cool of the morning, we got our ponies ready soon after sun-rise, and bade adieu to our kind entertainer, who was most anxious that we should prolong our visit, or, at any rate, promise a renewal of it.

Our ride down the mountain afforded beautiful views of the surrounding scenery, and into the depths of the dark jungle on the mountain side, whence we could frequently hear the squealing of the monkies, and occasionally catch sight of a cunning rascal grinning at us from the branch of a tree, or sneaking off to a safe distance before venturing to indulge in his curiosity and spite. Among

the trees and plants of which the thick jungle is composed, we noticed a quantity of the sensitive plant, and a great variety of ferns; and among them our old and graceful New Zealand acquaintance, the tree-fern, though not on so large a scale.

On the plain we found the roads excellent, and lined on each side with neatly kept compounds, cocoa-nut plantations, and gardens of nutmegs and spice, all neatly fenced and enclosed with luxuriant bamboo hedges; so that nothing can be imagined more picturesquely luxuriant and natural. The houses are hid away in groves of trees, among which the graceful cocoa and the broad-leafed plaintain predominate, so that the whole plain has the appearance of a garden, to which the green hedge-rows give a trim and pleasant, almost English, appearance.

We took up our quarters at the better of the two miserable inns, but were not long doomed to its discomforts, for the same afternoon we received a cordial invitation from the colonial surgeon to take up our quarters with him; – a most welcome change for us, from the hot, dirty inn in the town, to one of the best and most comfortable houses on the beach, where the sea-breeze always keeps the air pleasant and cool.

Penang is crammed with specimens of all the

RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.

countries of the East; and it is curious to see how so large and so motley a community of semi-civilised beings are kept in order and subordination by the few Europeans, who, in point of numbers, are not one in a thousand.

All religions are protected, and all are practised, and seem to get on cheek by jowl in the most friendly manner in the world. In more civilised countries, where there is not the same tolerance, it is found difficult for two of them to exist quietly together in the same land; and even two sects of the same religion find it impossible to get on in one another's neighbourhood without discord, strife, and a multitude of evil passions and propensities being evoked. Hindoos, Chinese, Mussulmans, Bhuddists, Roman Catholics, Armenians, Protestants, and men of no religion at all, are to be found here in every street, all mutually tolerant, and all at peace with one another.

It is highly creditable to the Straits Government that the spirit of rectitude and fair dealing which pervades it, can thus draw such crowds together and keep races so opposed and antagonistic in peace and subordination.

Now and then a Malay will run a muck; but this M

appears to be a national frenzy that breaks out occasionally in individuals who, for years previously, may have led a quiet, well-disposed, and respectable life. It is, I believe, considered a welcome sacrifice to the blood-loving Siva; and one that is apt to suggest itself in a moment of intense excitement, or mental aberration, in individuals of a race remarkable for their violent impulses, personal intrepidity, and recklessness of consequences. There are seldom fewer than eight or nine victims of the fury of these madmen, and in the last instance that occurred, only about ten days since, fourteen persons were killed, or dangerously wounded, before the maniac was destroyed.

The largest proportion of the population appear to be Klings and other natives of continental India; they are the hewers of wood and drawers of water, the labourers, porters, boatmen, and servants. Their mere wants are few, and if these are satisfied, they appear to have no further ambition.

The shopkeepers, mechanics, and farmers are principally Chinamen, though there is a much smaller proportion of this race here than at Singapore. They are everywhere the same pains-taking, money-making race, subservient to the wealthy and

CHINESE EMIGRATION.

energetic Europeans, but looking down with infinite contempt on the crowds of emigrants from India and the Malayan peninsula. They are too a cunning set of rascals, and though apparently the least troublesome portion of the population, never openly setting the law at defiance, they are nevertheless at the bottom of most of the rascalities committed in the settlement. Mutual support is fostered among them by a sort of free-masonry, in which every individual, on his arrival in the colony, is initiated, and by which he is bound to protect and assist his fellows. This system, compelling, as it were, all classes of their race to become accomplices in the misdeeds of any one of their fellow-countrymen, and to screen and assist him, will, when the number of Chinese inhabitants is decupled, as will be the case in a few years, lead to much embarrassment and trouble to keep them in order, and to protect the rest of the population from their aggressions.

The emigration from China to all parts of the Straits is immense, promising, in a few years, to bring about great changes, in the relations of the different races, and to substitute a far hardier, stronger, and more intelligent people in place of the

the present indolent and sensual race. With the intelligent, energetic, and cheap labour of the Chinese, the wealth that may be drawn from the rich soil and productions of the Indian Archipelago is incalculable.

The half-castes, or Portuguese, as they are frequently called, are here, as in India and China, a very peculiar looking race of men, quiet and retired in their habits, fond of dress, and with a pretension to dignity in their manners that is often amusing; they are patient, steady and persevering, but with little of the active energy of their European progenitors.

It is extraordinary to find such a difference of climate as is perceived here in exchanging a residence in the plain for the mountain, although the height is only 2000 feet above the level of the sea. While in one place the people are panting with heat, they are in the other able to walk about in the open air at noonday without inconvenience. The difference in the thermometer is about ten degrees; and the atmosphere is much lighter and purer.

There are no public amusements at Penang, and only a little society, that is confined to the officials, who inflict their dignity and dulness on one another,

PENANG.

happily considering the rest of the world of too little consequence to bore them with a share of it.

There is some good snipe shooting in the rainy season on the island, and an abundance of excellent shooting of all kinds, from a snipe to an elephant, within a few hours' sail, in the province of Wellesley.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CHAP. XXVI.

SAIL FOR CALCUTTA. – HOOGHLY RIVER. – DOORGAH POOJAH. – NATCH GIRLS. – CITY OF PALACES. – MADRAS.

AFTER staying a fortnight at Penang, waiting for a vessel, we sailed in a large barque for Calcutta, and with ordinary luck should have reached our destination in about ten days. The fates, however, were against us, and after fighting with adverse gales for nearly a fortnight, we had to put back, without having got a hundred miles on our way.

Two or three other vessels, who tried to fight it out, had to follow our example, and returned with more or less damage.

Our failure, and the consequent loss of time, had made us give up all idea of going by way of Calcutta, when at the ninth hour the Honourable Company's steamer "Hugh Lindsay" called at Penang, on her way to that place, and in her we found ourselves off the sand-heads in eight days from the time we left Penang.

We found the pilot brig anchored out of sight of

HOOGHLY RIVER.

land and pitching bows under in a heavy sea, so that there was considerable difficulty in getting the pilot on board. These men receive very high rates of pay, which one cannot envy or begrudge them, after seeing their home on the waters, and knowing what an isolated life they must lead.

We anchored for the night at Kedgeree, in the midst of a fleet of vessels waiting for a change of wind to get out. Next morning at daylight we got under weigh, and steamed along at the rate of seven knots, leaving behind us numbers of vessels slowly winning their way up, with every stitch of canvas set; few of them, I dare say, looking with any complacency at the independence of wind and tide with which a steamer makes her way.

The banks of the river were low, and, from there being an embankment on each side, one could not see much of the country till we got some distance up, when large villages in thickets of trees, and surrounded by bright green paddy-fields, became frequent.

The most curious sight were the various craft and boats on the river, – queer-looking, half-junk, half-brig affairs from the Maldive Islands, Arab grabs, and country ships, with their motley crews. There were budgerows and boats, too, of the most unique

shape and rig, some of them carrying paddy-straw to Calcutta, and loaded to such a size and shape as to resemble floating stacks.

As we approached Calcutta, the river became exceedingly pretty from the cultivations, houses, and gardens along the shore, and the immense variety and number of boats, ships, and craft of all kinds under sail, and grouped in every possible position.

We anchored off the fort just after sunset, and landed on the Maidan, as a bright moon was setting off the architectural splendour of the city of palaces to the very best advantage.

As this was the great Hindoo festival of the "Doorgah Poojah," we set out at once, in our palanquins, to see the fun; and after perambulating half the city, were put down at the house of a rich Hindoo, where a grand Natch was going on.

We were invited to seats of honour by our host, whose very long and unpronounceable name I have not had the grace to remember, and found ourselves in the midst of an assemblage of several hundred natives, many of them splendidly, and all picturesquely costumed.

The coup d'oeil was most striking, not only from the number and variety of the spectators, but from the elegance and taste with which the splendid man-

NATCH GIRLS.

sion was lighted and decorated, and the picturesque groups of figures on flights of steps, among the columns, and under arcades of Moorish arches.

Rose water, in splendid flasks of golden filagree, was poured on our handkerchiefs, and otto of roses offered, into which we were expected to dip our fingers.

The Natch girls performed one or two at a time, the latter being the greatest number that we saw at once. They were enveloped from head to foot in tawdry silks, velvet, and muslin, richly embroidered with gold, and were so rolled up in their finery that the figure could not even be guessed at; in fact, they looked mere animated bundles of gaudy finery, as different as it is possible to imagine from the European notion of a Bayadere. Singing is the principal part of the performance, and is little more than a monotonous chaunting in the highest possible falsetto, with an accompaniment of half-a-dozen vile native instruments. The dancing, if dancing it could be called, is a slow, slip-shod walk, accompanied with occasional bowing, genuflections, and waving the arms over the head, with a monotonous slowness that, but for the shrill accompaniment and screeching voice, would soon exercise a mesmeric influence over one's faculties.

I have heard people complain of the voluptuousness of the attitudes, but they must have had wonderfully prurient imaginations, or a much quicker perception than I have, for I could perceive nothing but what was tedious and monotonous in the extreme. The words of the songs, I hear, are not of the chastest, but as they are conveyed in ambiguous metaphors of the Persian and Hindostanee, and screeched out at the top of a high falsetto voice, I fancy that the individuals who find this out must take the trouble to procure a copy of the text, so as to be sure of being shocked in the right places.

Some of these Natch girls are as highly considered as our Jenny Lind and Taglioni, and nearly as large sums are paid for their performances; but this is as much from native ostentation as from any adequate enjoyment of their performances, for it appeared to me that both the giver of the feast and the guests looked shockingly bored.

We went afterwards to two other Natches, and to a Hindoo play at the rajah's; but there was no variety, and nothing whatever to interest beyond the brilliancy of the first coup d'oeil.

Next morning I was up by daylight, and took my way across the Maidan, meeting numbers of people taking their constitutional exercise on horseback, on

THE CITY OF PALACES.

foot, or in carriages, as best suited the state of their pockets and of their livers, and with that degree of business-like earnestness that has so often amused me in watching the patients at a German watering-place.

At the Ghauts numbers of men, women, and children were performing their ablutions in the sacred stream, talking, laughing, and praying with all the chattering and volubility of a congregation of parrots, and in all the picturesqueness of grouping and colour that has been made so familiar to us by Daniel, Roberts, Stanfield, and others.

The heat was excessive, but in spite of it we managed to get about and see a great deal of the "city of palaces." It is certainly a fine city, and one feels proud to have such a metropolis in our Eastern dominions; but, for my own part, I would rather live in a reed-hut in the pleasant bracing climate of New Zealand, than call myself master of the finest mansion in the Maidan, with all the luxury and attendance befitting it.

Hyde Park, in May, could scarcely show a greater number or greater variety of equipages than are turned out for the evening drive on the Maidan at Calcutta; but the black and turbanned coachmen

and servants, and the bilious-looking occupants of the carriages, showed how far we were from that microcosm of fashion.

After a very short stay at Calcutta we embarked, on the 8th of October, on board the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam-vessel "Haddington," and anchored in the afternoon at Kedgeree, where we lay for twenty-four mortal hours broiling within the iron-sides of our vessel, and without one breath of air to console us.

There were not many passengers, and most of them were invalids on their way home for health, or worn out with a long residence in India. It is a great cooler of one's "vaulting ambition" to see the difference between the passengers going out to India and those going home: the one usually all hope, health, and gaiety; the other sickly, broken down, and indifferent to everything.

Oct. 13th. – Got into Madras Roads this morning, and were immediately surrounded by the famous Massoolah boats and catamarans. We landed in one of the former through the surf, which is a far less nervous proceeding than I had anticipated.

Our stay at Madras was only twenty-four hours, so that we had just time to take a glance at the

MADRAS.

city, which has a hot, dusty, seedy look, that made us well satisfied to return to our ship. I should prefer it, however, to Calcutta, from its being open to the sea-breezes; and it has a healthier and more wholesome look about it, though there is nothing on such a magnificent scale as the Maidan with its palaces.

CHAPTER XXVII.

CHAP. XXVII.

POINT DE GALLE. – ADEN. – BAB-EL-MANDEB. – SUEZ. – CROSSING THE DESERT.

WE sailed again from Madras on the following day, with an accession of about twenty passengers. I should like to have stayed for a couple of months to pay a visit to the Nilgherries, but as I am homeward-bound, after an absence of nearly eight years, I cannot afford to halt by the way.

These large steamers are the heights of sea-going luxury, and we have all the comforts of light winds, smooth water, a large deck to promenade on, with library, chess, &c. for amusement, and the almost positive certainty of being each day some two hundred miles nearer our destination.

We have to-day, Oct. 16th, been running along the coast of Ceylon in view of a perfect chaos of picturesque hills and mountains of all shapes and sizes.

Anchored in the harbour of Galle on the morning of the 17th. It is rather a pretty place as seen from the sea, with its houses buried in masses of foliage.

POINT DE GALLE.

and the shore fringed with an ever-varying line of surf. There is not much to be seen on landing. The houses, gardens, and general appearance of the place is very like the plain at Penang, even to the immense abundance of cocoa-nut trees, which line the roads and shelter the houses. The climate, too, is very similar to that of the Straits settlements, and by no means oppressively warm. The constant sea-breezes keep the air cool and pleasant, and make our old Indians expand their chests and open their nostrils to enjoy it. We took a drive into the country and saw the established lions, to wit, the cinnamon garden, a Bhuddist temple, and the fish-market; and after seeing all these and the town, we came to the conclusion that Galle is rather a pretty place, but exceedingly dull, and returned to our vessel not dissatisfied at the prospect of getting away on the morrow.

The "Achilles" came in on the following morning, bringing the China mail, which we received, together with a reinforcement of about a dozen passengers, bringing up our number to about sixty, which is quite as many as there is comfortable accommodation for.

I can scarcely imagine how passengers manage to exist when there are 150 of them on board at

once, as is sometimes the case, and that too in the hot season.

Anchored at Aden at daylight in the morning, after twelve days of uninterruptedly fine weather. This place is somewhat changed since I was last here, and there are more houses and far more fortifications. It still, however, looks the same fire-scathed rock, without a blade of grass or the slightest symptoms of vegetation on the black and precipitous sides of its craggy hills.

The cantonment is in a valley, or rather plain, surrounded by black precipitous hills; it has no water, no vegetation, nothing but a bare, stony, arid surface, that reflects back the sun's rays with a blinding glare. There, too, is the native town, with a motley assemblage of Arabs, Parsees, Negroes, Jews, and Sepoys. A number of camels and donkeys, with their loads of wood and water, help to fill up the scene, and add to its originality.

The fortifications are on an immense scale, making this place another Gibraltar in strength, and exhibiting in many instances a recklessness of expense that is one of the commonest features of English and Indian colonial management.

Owing to the heat of the sun and the reflected glare from the black rocks, the European inhabitants are

ADEN.

close prisoners from sunrise to sunset; and even when they can get out, there are no pleasant rides or drives, no society or amusement; so that a more dreary, soul-sickening place for a man to be sent to, I cannot imagine.

We passed through the celebrated straits of Bab-el-mandeb on Nov. 1st., and saw, as may always be seen, immense shoals of seer-fish, who appeared to have a hard time of it, for when under water they were pursued on all sides by sharks and porpoises, and when they got to the surface were immediately pounced upon by hungry gulls, of which thousands were always on the look out.

Nov. 3rd. – Steaming along rapidly, but the heat is excessive. The thermometer 96 deg. in the shade. We shall, in the course of another ten days, see it almost down to freezing point – a matter of some 60 deg. difference, and rather trying to the nerves.

Nov. 5th. – Last night we saw the sun set, gilding the venerable summits of Sinai and Horeb: this morning we passed the spot where tradition says that Moses crossed the Red Sea, and all around us were mountains, streams, and springs, with historical and legendary names, the least of them venerable for antiquity, even though often of fabulous origin.

This afternoon we landed at Suez, which is won-

derfully changed within the last five years, and among the numerous buildings, hotels, quays, and public offices which have sprung up since I was last there, I found it difficult to recognise any portion of the old mud-built city, or the dilapidated caravanserai, where Bonaparte once sojourned, and which was more recently the head-quarters of all passing travellers.

The first convoy of carriages started within an hour after we landed, and with much less of the kicking and plunging among the horses than there used to be in the olden time.

As we entered the desert, we met long trains of camels making their way towards the town to get in before the shutting of the gates at nightfall. Occasionally an Arab passed on his long-stepping dromedary, while our four-in-hand stepped out at a good round trot of about nine miles an hour.

Since I last came this road, (some five years ago,) many improvements have been made; and it would now be so hard to lose one's way in crossing the desert, as on one of our own turnpike roads.

Telegraphic stations have been erected on every piece of rising ground between Suez and Cairo, and the roads have been pretty well cleared of the large stones and rocks that, in former times, were almost enough to dislocate one's bones.

CROSSING THE DESERT.

Three huge meals were provided for us between eight o'clock in the evening and the same hour in the morning, at which turkies, Irish stew, and hams were the principal comestibles. Some ten years ago, how the moustache of a true believer would have curled with scorn at the hog-eating Giaours, seen in the act of feeding on the unclean beast! Now they cut up slices of the unholy food with the blandest smile, and a look of benevolent satisfaction at the unbeliever's appetite, only wondering that the dogs don't eat more as there is nothing to pay; nor do they forget to ask for sixpence backshish for the waiter.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CHAP. XXVIII.

CAIRO. – RIDING THE HIGH HORSE. – THE STREETS AND PEOPLE. – THE NEW MOSQUE. – MOSQUE OF SULTAN HASSAN. – THE NILE. – MEHEMET ALI. – ALEXANDRIA. – EGYPTIAN MEN-OF-WAR. – CHANGE OF CLIMATE. – MALTA.

WE got to Cairo about the middle of the following day, having been about eighteen hours "en route."

The greatest changes have taken place here within the last few years, and the traveller particularly feels the benefit of it in the choice of some half-dozen English, French, Italian, and German hotels, instead of being obliged to put up with the wretched caravanserai, which was a few years ago the only shelter the city afforded.

The principal hotels are on the splendid square of the Ezbekieh, and in sight of the pretty gardens, promenades, and avenues where the "beau monde" of Cairo most do congregate. Beneath the trees were groups of Turks, Jews, and Giaours, black-robed Copts and Armenians, thick-lipped Nubians, Abyssinians, Arabs, sharp-looking Greeks from the

CAIRO.

Morea, veiled women, children, ragged beggars, bearded Muftis and Moolahs, ambulant musicians, and representatives of nearly every nation find profession in the world, with costumes and physiognomy as various as their nations.

Baths, hot, cold, and Turkish, were ready for us at the hotels, and within five minutes of my arrival I found myself in a marble bath, in an elegant room, boiling out the dust of the desert, and, at the same time, ruminating on the wonderful changes so quickly brought about in "El Musr," the city of victory, the stronghold of Islam, where, a few years ago, the Giaour dare not appear in the streets mounted on anything more pretentious than a slow-going donkey. Now we come in with four horses at full gallop, making more clatter than a caliph of old, scattering the true believers to the right and left, unmindful of their muttered curse, and careless even if we damaged their faithful toes.

Not long ago, for a Christian to be kicked, or cuffed, or spit upon, might be considered rather a polite attention from the favoured of Allah, which the unhappy dog was obliged to acknowledge by a pleasant and gratified look. Now one sees the unbelieving "Kelb" mounted on an Arab horse, the holy turban on his brow, the "ataghan" at his side,

and, horror of horrors! an unveiled she-dog, his wife, riding at his side! And for these heathenish hounds, whelps of Sheitan, the holy Mufti, the learned Moolah, the expounders of the sacred word of Allah and of the Prophet's law, must give way or be rode over, even though every bristle in their venerable beards curl in scorn and hate.

After my bath and a tiffin of dates and fruit, I started for a ride through the bazaars and town, and saw everywhere the marks of an improving hand in the new public buildings, in the busy and well-behaved crowds, in the shops full of wares, and the men of all nations and creeds jostling one another in the crowded bazaars without quarrel or interruption.

The streets of Cairo are exceedingly picturesque, and afford much that is amusing and interesting to the traveller, from the number of various and gay costumes: the shops open in front, with all the wares exposed to view, the windows of the houses projecting over the street, and covered with a curiously-carved and elegant lattice work of wood, which baffles the scrutiny of a prying eye; the mechanic cross-legged at his work, the shopkeeper and merchant with all his merchandize within reach, smoking the pipe or narghile while awaiting customers.

We passed guard-houses, cafes, and schools, all open

THE NEW MOSQUE.

to the street, where one might see the soldier lounging or sleeping away his time, or the bearded pedagogue squatted on his heels in the midst of a set of urchins, all shouting their lessons at the top of their voices, as if for the edification of the passer-by.

Groups of Arab women and girls, lightly clad and with their veils generally flying over their shoulders, allowing one often to see a pretty face with fine black eyes and good teeth, were in groups at every street corner, gossiping, chattering, or selling dates and other trifles.

The new mosque, which was only just commenced when I was last here, is now nearly completed. It is a glorious building, rich in alabaster and the most beautiful marbles, in elegant columns, domes, and Saracenic arches. It is worthy of the glorious site on which it is built, a precipitous and isolated hill, overlooking the beautiful city, with its minarets and domes, their outlines sharp and distinct in the brilliant and pure atmosphere. Farther distant are dark cypress groves, and the palaces, villas, and gardens of the princes and wealthy men dotting the emerald green of the valley of the Nile; the Nile itself, like a silver thread, bearing on its bosom thousands of graceful boats: and in the distance the Great Desert, with the huge and mysterious pyramids

on its nearest edge, looking like emblems of its vastness and uselessness. A more lovely panorama it is impossible to imagine, or one more suggestive of reminiscences of the past, whether gleaned from the pages of old Herodotus, of sacred history, or of the captivating fables of the East, the fairy-land of our youthful imagination, so full of gorgeous splendour and of poetry.

Besides the mosque, there is, on the same hill, the Pacha's palace, the citadel and its batteries, and Joseph's Well, said to have been the work of Sultan Saladin.

The palace is a small building, that gives one the idea of the establishment of a luxurious bachelor, which in some measure it is, as the harem is in an adjoining building, impervious to curious eyes.

My next visit was to the square and mosque of Sultan Hassan, built nearly seven hundred years ago. We were allowed to enter without even taking off our boots, cheating the Devil, the Prophet, and Sultan Hassan by allowing a piece of rag to be tied round each foot, and were then invited into the most sacred adyta to inspect the Koran and relics of the Sultan; while one of our lady passengers went tripping about as quietly as if In a chapel of ease. Skinning alive or impalement would, a few years ago,

CAIRO.

have been scarcely punishment sufficient for such a profanation, or one might have looked to see the old Sultan himself start from his cerements to denounce us, but now "on a change tout cela," and the only annoyance is the servile clamour for "backshish." A few paras scattered among the faithful set them by the ears with one another, and rid us of their further attendance.

Cairo is certainly a most interesting and picturesque city; and I should be delighted to be able to spend a winter here, particularly as the climate at that season is delightfully genial and healthy. About an hour before sunset, the promenades of Ezbekieh gardens were crowded with "flaneurs," European and Asiatic. The chairs round the small cafes were all in requisition, and we, with many others, enjoyed the fine evening, the novelty of the passing crowd, and our pipes and coffee at the same time. An excellent dinner at the French Hotel sent us perfectly contented to bed; and when next day I had to bid adieu to Cairo, I did so with regret at leaving behind me, on so short an acquaintance, so much that was pleasant and beautiful.

We embarked on the Nile from the picturesque little town of Boulak, not as formerly, from the muddy banks of the river, but from a good stone quay. Two steamboats took the whole of our passengers

and about half a million in specie on its way from India to London, and carried us along at the rate of eighteen miles an hour: seven or eight miles of this, however, we might fairly lay to the account of the current, there being a strong fresh in the river from the subsidence of the inundations.

A few miles below Cairo we saw the commencement of a gigantic undertaking to make locks and dams across the river, so as at all seasons to have sufficient water for navigation and irrigation, and to render the agriculturists more independent of the inundations than they have ever yet been. A bridge is also to be built on the same spot, and this, with a road and a canal from Cairo, will complete the undertaking. Numerous steam-engines are employed in the work, and not less than 70,000 labourers; so that when they are encamped here with their wives and families, there is a population of not less than 200,000 souls.

It must require no slight foresight and management to provide for the wants of so large an army, suddenly-transplanted from distant provinces to a district where no provision had been made for such an accession to its population. It is one of those gigantic schemes that could only be undertaken by a despotic government, and by such men as Bonaparte or Mehemet

MEHEMET ALI.

Ali – iron men in their own age, but, in reality, the greatest benefactors to their nation and to succeeding generations, by crushing with a strong hand the prejudices of ages, carrying out a great principle with utter recklessness of the present cost and suffering, and regenerating a whole nation by the sacrifice of a holocaust of its degenerate children.

It is a pity that some such men cannot arise in Spain and Italy, to wake the people from their long slumber, and compel them to shake off the indolence, ignorance, and prejudice that has been growing for ages, till they have, like parasites on a noble forest-tree, almost stifled it in their poisonous embrace. Weak men tremble to touch the parasites, fearing that without them the tree must fall; but the strong one attacks them root and branch, till the noble tree is restored to the wholesome influence of sun and air.

It was an unhappy day for Spain when Bonaparte was driven across the Pyrenees; a few years of his strong rule would have done more to remove the mists of prejudice and arouse their energies than a century of their own factions, interested quarrellings, and drivelling pretence of liberalism.

But to return to the Nile, where we saw numerous evidences of increasing wealth in improving towns and villages, and all the activity and bustle of pros-

perity. Numerous steamers were plying on the river, and we met no less than four carrying the mail and one hundred and fifty passengers, that have just arrived from England on their way to India.

We arrived at Atfeh in the evening, and were transferred to a fine, large, roomy canal boat. Here, too, immense changes have taken place, and one sees capital quays, warehouses, and shops, instead of the excavations in mounds of mud, in which the inhabitants formerly lived more in the style of rabbits or water-rats than anything human.

At about eight o'clock on the following morning we landed at Mahmoudieh, where there are now numbers of elegant mansions, villas, and gardens, the residences of nearly all the European merchants and consuls, and where the pacha and his family have their palaces.

Half-a-dozen well-horsed, comfortable omnibuses were waiting under the trees at the landing-place, ready to take us to the different hotels, to which we drove along roads, through fortifications, and by streets, barracks and public buildings, that seem to have sprung up by magic.

The shops and streets of Alexandria are more European than those of Cairo; its hotels and cafes are numerous and good, and it has all the bustle of a busy and prosperous sea-port town.

ALEXANDRIA.

The bay was full of merchant-ships, steamers, and men-of-war, and from it the city has a very imposing appearance, from the number and extent of the public buildings, palaces, fortifications and moles, which look upon the harbour, and the greater part of which have been built within the last five years. Among the Egyptian men-of-war were some very handsome frigates and line-of-battle ships looking very gay, their rigging covered with flags and streamers in honour of the "Feast of the Prophet."

Near the shore were numbers of dismantled line-of-battle ships, having a very forlorn air in the absence of yards and rigging. Some of them were of very large size, and probably the oddest specimens of naval architecture extant; others were being repaired to serve as hulks for workmen, soldiers, and prisoners.

We left the harbour of Alexandria in the afternoon, and I drank a quiet bumper to the health and long life of Mehemet Ali. They say the poor old fellow is already trembling on the verge of the other world, where the Houris are beckoning him into the seventh heaven, but where he will ungallantly let them wait for him as long as there is virtue in medicine, or skill among Frank physicians.

His step-son, Ibrahim Pacha, 16is also dangerously

ill, and with their death will probably be extinguished the dawning prosperity of Egypt, either by civil strife, or by its becoming a bone of contention among European nations.

Nothing can exceed the ease and security with which one can now travel through Egypt, and even women and children find no inconvenience. The mails and large sums of money, amounting sometimes to nearly a million sterling, are forwarded with as much security as between London and Liverpool; and some of the passengers' baggage accidentally left open was transmitted from Suez to Alexandria without a single article being lost or stolen, though for three days, and in a distance of three hundred miles, it must have gone through the hands of numbers of poor boat-men, porters, and camel-drivers. The Pacha himself undertakes the transit, and manages it on a very liberal scale; and one meets everywhere with civility, attention, and despatch. From my experience of it when managed by Europeans, I should say that the present is by far the best administration, and better than it would be in any other hands.

From the moment one leaves the harbour of Alexandria, the homeward voyage is divested of all its Orientalism. English tars take the place of Lascars;

MALTA.

Indian servants are replaced by English waiters; mulligatawney and curry are seen no more, or if they should be introduced, are left untouched, for they have no resemblance to their Indian namesakes. Linen jackets and white trowsers are exchanged for good honest broad cloth, and instead of crawling about the deck in search of a cool place, the passengers may be seen stepping out at their best pace to keep themselves warm. Calls for beer and soda-water are rarely heard, and the want of ice is not regretted; but "en revanche" the port wine, porter, and whiskey-punch begin to be in great demand. Debilitated invalids gradually straighten out; men with the liver begin to be reckless of consequences; and by the time the steamer arrives at Malta, a complete revolution has been operated in the habits and appearance of the greater part of the passengers.

At Malta we were in quarantine, so that our peregrinations were confined to the walls of the lazaretto; and, for want of other occupation, most of us managed, with the intervention of sundry pairs of tongs, to spend our loose cash in gloves, lace, and trumpery jewellery, to the infinite advantage of the Maltese shopkeepers, who manage to appropriate a good round sum from every cargo of passengers.

At Gibraltar we were in the same predicament as

at Malta, and could not land on account of the quarantine regulations, which limited our communication with the "Rock" and its inhabitants to a distant view; this was the more tantalising to me as Gibraltar was my first station abroad, and the two very pleasant years I passed there have left many agreeable reminiscences of persons and places, with both of which I would have gladly renewed my acquaintance.

16 He is since dead.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

I.

In the commission for settling land claims at Wellington in May, 1842, the following conflicting claims were laid before the commissioner: –

Kapiti – by Daniel Cooper, Holt and Rhodes, purchased in 1839 for 100l.

Do. A part of Kapiti claimed by Thomas Evans for 100l.

Do. by F. Preston as part of 23,040 acres, more or less, for various articles of merchandize; value not stated.

Do. A. Fraser; various goods to the amount of30l.

Do. New Zealand Company, as part of a large block; consideration not stated.

All these parties claim to have purchased from the same tribe, and appear to have produced the signatures of Rauperaha and Rangihaeta.

Porirua is claimed by eight parties, who declare to have purchased it at various times from Rauperaha & Co. One thing appears evident, that these chiefs were not in want of protectors to look after their interests.

Case No. 70. – Cooper, Holt and Rhodes claim "All that tract of land bounded on the west by the waters of Cook's Straits, commencing at the mouth of the Waikanahi River, thence in a northerly direction along the coast to the entrance of the Otaki River (ten miles), and from thence turning to the eastward along the banks of the Otaki; on the north, by the said river to its source, or to the termination of an easterly line forty miles into the interior from the entrance of the Otaki; thence turning south parallel with the west coast, until it meets a line running easterly thirty miles from the aforesaid mouth of the Waikanahi opposite Kapiti; and on the south by the Waikanahi to its source, or an easterly line forty miles from the mouth of the said river. "

Alleged to have been purchased in 1839 in consideration for merchandize to the amount of 150l. (for which their own valuation is taken). It would puzzle an arithmetician to state the number of acres contained in these elaborately described boundaries, and the purchasers appear to have been quite as indifferent to the quality of the title as to the quantity of the land; their claim being derived (as they assert) from two individuals of the same tribe, while three distinct tribes, at least, are settled within these boundaries.

Mr. John Terry Hughes, of Sydney, claimant in part, claims all that land known by the name of Porirua, from the rocks on the N. E. side of the river Porirua, called Kai-katoa; N. E. by N. thirty miles, and bounded on the E. by a range of snowy mountains; to the south by a range of hills three miles from Port Nicholson, upon the

S. W. side of the River Porirua, to Tetahi Bay; from Tetahi Bay S. E. by E. to the branch of the Porirua River.

John Jones, of Sydney, claimant in part, modestly asks for 16,000 acres in return for merchandize, value not stated.

Frederick Peterson asks for 23,040 acres for the same consideration as John Jones; he makes a further demand for a whole island.

W. C. Wentworth claims 16,000 acres, but omits to state the consideration.

There are no less than 374 of these claims in the southern district alone, varying in quantity from two acres to 200,000, and with boundaries that remind one of the story of the Kentuckian, who defined his country as "bounded on the east by the rising sun, on the west by the setting ditto, on the north by the Aurora Borealis, and on the south by a darned sight further than you'd like to go, strannger;" which, "se non e vero, e ben trovato."

II.

There was a thriving little town at Korararika, in the Bay of Islands; but instead of supporting a place which already existed, a new town was proposed, that of Russel, situated in the same harbour, but in a place totally unfit for settlement: 15,000l. was expended in the purchase of that spot; and much time of the Surveyor-General and his assistants was lost in laying out a town; but, fortunately, the project was afterwards relinquished. – Deiffenbach.

III.

A short time afterwards, April 16, 1841, the town of Auckland, which is situated in the estuary of Hauraki, on the eastern coast of the northern island, was put up for sale. The mania for becoming suddenly rich by speculations in town allotments, spread like an epidemic through all classes: some of the highest government officers were infected by it. At the first sale, only 116 allotments were brought to the hammer, covering a surface of 35 acres, 1 rood, and 7 perches. Five roods and seven perches had been previously chosen by government officers, who had that privilege. The whole realised 21,499l., and thus the government received a sum which could be brought forward as a sign of the prosperity of the colony, and of the great value of land there; the truth, however, was, that a few land-jobbers raised the price thus high, having bought the ground in all the best situations. Not because they were convinced that the land had that value, but because they could sell it a few days afterwards, parcelled out into diminutive pieces to the new emigrants, who daily arrived, and who required, cost what it might, a piece of land to erect their houses on.

By this the land-jobbers realised from 300 to 400 per cent. As no land for cultivation was to be obtained, every one thought it best to speculate in land, or to open public-houses, with which the place soon became crowded.

A town was made, and nothing was done to support it; a price was given for town land which precluded every chance of its gradually rising in value; on the contrary.

as was foreseen by all who knew the resources of the country, it must decrease as soon as people opened their eyes, and thus cause the ruin of the unfortunate purchaser. How could it be otherwise, when a small building allotment actually sold, a short time afterwards, at the rate of 20,000l. per acre? – Deiffenbach.

IV.

Extracts from a Petition to Her Majesty from the inhabitants of Wellington and the neighbourhood:

Sheweth:

"That the European population amounts to about 13,000 persons (in 1843).

"That about 10,000 of these reside on the shores of Cook's Straits and the southern part of the northern island, so near together as to possess a common interest and to form one community.

"That the Other 3000 persons are resident at Auckland, Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and other places, from 400 to 500 miles northward of Cook's Straits; that they have scarcely any common interest with the settlers in Cook's Straits, and cannot be regarded as the same community.

"That the only means of communicating between Cook's Straits and Auckland is by sea, and that the voyage there and back occupies from one to two months, rendering the distance between the two equivalent, in practice, to between 2000 and 3000 miles, at the ordinary rate of travel.

"That the settlements in Cook's Straits were founded first, and that Auckland was not selected as the seat of government till more than a year afterwards.

"That the community in Cook's Straits have contributed in taxes to the expense of the colonial government, at the rate of nearly 12,000l. a year, nearly the whole of which has been carried to Auckland, and there expended, without any advantage being derived from its expenditure by those who contributed it.

"That a commission was appointed by your Majesty in the year 1841 to adjudicate on the disputed (land) claims.

"That in the neighbourhood of Auckland upwards of 600 claims have been disposed of, but not one in the neighbourhood of Cook's Straits.

"That, in consequence thereof, the settlers on the shores of Cook's Straits have been prevented from cultivating the lands they purchased before leaving England, and have been obliged to live on the produce of foreign countries, while their capital has been wasted and themselves nearly ruined.

"That the primary causes of all the evils under which your petitioners suffer, and of the late massacre (at the Wairau), has been the non-settlement of the land claims and the want of an independent government.

"That the annual expenditure of the protectorship of the aborigines is about 3000l. a year, while not one penny is expended in protecting the settlers against the natives.

"That the protector and the sub-protectors are persons totally unfit for the offices they fill; and that, instead of

having contributed to the mutual harmony of the two races, they have exercised an influence over the natives which we believe to have led in a great degree to the hostile state of feeling now existing, and the late unhappy events.

"That a proclamation has been issued by the chief protector of the aborigines containing false statements, which have not yet been retracted.

"That when the false statements were promulgated, the parties who promulgated them had in their possession true accounts of the events they referred to.

"That a proclamation has been issued by the officer administering the government, which was calculated to act as an official invitation to the natives to commence further aggressions, which, with the proclamation in their hands, they have actually done, and driven industrious settlers in consequence off their lands."

V.

In the immediate neighbourhood of Auckland, towns and villages, never destined to exist except on paper, started up, like the creations of a fairy tale: No. 2. of the suburban allotments, consisting of 3 acres and 3 roods, was sold for 303l., and was cut up directly afterwards into thirty-six allotments, which were sold for 7l. 15s. per foot, frontage! It is amusing to skim over the weekly paper of Auckland, and read the names of about six or eight towns, villages, and even race-courses, none of them above three miles from the town of Auckland,

which were put up for sale in the short space of a fortnight. – Deiffenbach.

VI.

Extracts from a private Letter from a Settler, dated Wellington, August 14th, 1843.

"It is truely heart-breaking when one looks back to the last four years, to see this line colony, which was established under the most favourable auspices, and with every chance of success, damned by such gross mismanagement and injustice as we have been subjected to by the officials from Auckland.

"The colony had succeeded, we were progressing rapidly, the natives were happy and satisfied, everything promised a fair return for the enterprise and energy displayed, until the blighting hand of a weak and unjust government came upon us. Before the officials came near the place, we were on the best terms with the natives, and they were happy, living among us; but now, they have been brought to look upon us with distrust, – and to deny having sold their lands, although they have signed the deed of sale.

"The same officials have unsettled everything. You will scarcely believe that not a single land claim has been settled, although the commissioners have been sitting since May, 1842; more than two years, and nothing done. We have another proclamation from Auckland forbidding anybody to settle on lands until the claims are admitted; and we have a report that Colonel Wakefield has refused

to receive the arbitrator's decision respecting the amount of compensation, which he had agreed to abide by, so that we are in "a regular fix." Should these disputes continue unsettled much longer, the consequences cannot be told; – all confidence is destroyed; the emigrants who arrive become alarmed, and leave for other colonies. This is not the worst: since the government officials have tampered with the natives, they are every day becoming bolder in their demands; raising all sorts of objections to the titles; dissatisfied with everything that is done for them; and, in many cases, using threats, and turning the settlers off their lands.....Nothing they like better than driving a man from his land, after one or two years' of toil and expense has converted a mere waste into a cultivated and valuable property. The natives were a quiet inoffensive people before they were tampered with by the officials, and visions placed before them which it is impossible can ever be realised; they are not the happier for all this; – it keeps them in a state of suspense, and renders the feeling towards the whites more bitter every day.

"In the face of all these distressing circumstances, I have faith in the ultimate prosperity of New Zealand: let them only treat us better, and settle the land claims, and we shall yet surprise you. I have, in my own experiments in farming and breeding stock upon a pretty large scale, proved the country to be admirably adapted to both."

VII.

Extract from another Letter of nearly the same date.

"After the Wairau affair, they (the natives) seemed to be another race of people. They say, they are told that they have no occasion to sell their land, if they don't like; agree with Rauperaha in almost everything he says; very suspicious, obtrusive, boisterous, thieving, plundering, taking every advantage of the white man in dealing; impudent, asking for everything, thinking you will give it them through fear; firing off muskets, trying to frighten you; practising their war-dances and songs; eating more pork to make them strong; buying a deal of gunpowder and lead; making tomahawks, laugh at the white people, say they are cowards, the queen is but a girl, they are ready to fight the people of Port Nicholson."

Extract from another Letter, February 22nd, 1844.

"What has tended more than anything else to check the rising prosperity of the country, has been the non-settlement of the land claims. Strange as it may appear, it is not the less true, that at present the government refuses to acknowledge the Company's right to a single acre of land. This is carried so far, that when a settler, named 'Manson,' complained to the magistrate that the natives had driven him from his land, the magistrate replied, 'Your land! you have no land; it all belongs to the natives!'"

Extract of a Letter from G. Grahame, Clerk of Works, to Colonel Bolton, R. E.

"Auckland, Nov. 23, 1847.

"I beg to state that 147 different natives have been employed in that space of time (twelve months) by Royal Engineer Department; at the present time there are 104 employed belonging to twenty-one different tribes, and related to the most influential chiefs from all parts of this island; they all seem much attached to the government, and keep their working hours as correctly as Europeans. Civilian labour continuing scarce, and consequently high, I have been compelled to employ them at all kinds of work, – in rafting timber for the erection of cottages for the New Zealand Fencibles. I have lately had frequent occasion to employ them in the water, late and early, owing to the tides, in carrying timber, making mortar, removing stone, and, in fact, at all labourers' work. I feel much pleasure in employing them, as they give me very little trouble, and I can depend on them as well as on most of the European labourers in this colony. At this time there is not one European civilian labourer in the employ of the Royal Engineer Department. In the erection of the boundary wall, hospital, and barrack-stores, I have instructed several to dress stone and build, and I can now boast of ten good stone-dressers; and though they have been employed but a short space of time, can dress splayed coins in hard stone, or throat and sink a window-sill, as well as most stone-dressers in the

colony; likewise thirteen good masons, or builders, who perform their work very creditably indeed."

"At the quarry I have only one European employed, – the overseer; there they not only bore and blast the rock, but also use the hammer and wedge, and split the scoria-stone far better than any Europeans I have been able to obtain for this kind of work. Since their first employment, no instances of misconduct have come under my cognizance, save one of drunkenness; and the tools left in their custody are taken great care of, and I may assert with truth they are rapidly adopting European habits. On Sunday they all attend their various places of divine worship, as also to their morning and evening prayers; and his Excellency, the governor, having presented them with slates, &c., they can all write but two, I believe, and the whole of them read the Testament. The rate of their wages varies from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per diem, according to their respective merits."

Major Marlow, R. E., to Colonel Bolton, commanding R. E.

(Extract.)

"Dec. 7, 1847.

"I have frequently gone round the works, and have observed with pleasure the zeal and perseverance they (the Maories) continue to show in their employment; the portion of the work they have executed has been done in a very efficient manner, and equal to that performed by any European mechanics. From the great

difficulty I have experienced in procuring civilian labour, I have no hesitation in stating, that the works under the superintendence of the Royal Engineer Department would have progressed but slowly without the assistance of the Maories, and would have cost the government a much larger sum; in fact, in the present state of the colony, I consider them indispensable."

Capt. Russel, 58th Regiment, Surveyor of Military Roads, to Governor Grey.

(Extracts.)

"Wellington, June 24, 1847.

"From the middle of 1846 to 1847, the total amount paid to the natives of the southern district was 3,274l. The money thus acquired appears to have been expended in the purchase of flour, European clothing, agricultural implements, mills, cooking utensils, and, occasionally, in the purchase of breeding cows and mares. In Wellington, the sale of blankets is fast giving place to that of trousers, caps, boots, blue shirts, &c." With regard to their efficiency, – "During the year, and for this 3,274l., they have felled about 20 miles in length, by 120 feet in breadth, of dense forest, have constructed seven miles of bridle road, chiefly cut out of the side of steep hills and precipices, and have helped to construct six miles of carriage road, taking part in every operation, such as bridge-making, sloping, draining, and metalling.

"This amount of labour may not equal that which the

same number of expert European workmen would have accomplished, but I consider it exceeds what the same number of soldiers would have performed in the time, while the wages paid the natives have been little more than half of those of European workmen. The greatest good feeling has existed between the European overseers and native workmen, nor have I heard a case of misconduct alleged against any one of the natives who have been in my employment.

"In the course of the year 350 natives have been employed, the greatest number at any period being 280. The settlers are already out-bidding the government, by giving higher wages, food, &c., and are even carrying out contracts by native labour. "

"Wellington, January 1, 1848.

"They rapidly improve as workmen, and it is extraordinary that men whose previous lives have been passed in uncontrolled idleness should now work for months together so incessantly as to rest but one hour out of ten, and under such restrictions as not to be allowed to smoke, or even to talk to the interruption of their work; yet this result has been obtained by means so slight as to appear quite insufficient. An idle workman is fined sixpence, or if so talkative as to interrupt work, he is placed alone without listeners; if he has given satisfaction, he, perhaps, receives his week's wages in crowns, or, if otherwise, in sixpences. The greatest crime has been that of stealing an axe by a discharged native, when another of the tribe, after working all day, travelled all night to

recover it, and returned with it in time for work next morning.

"They (the superintendents) assure me that the bearing of those natives, where they have known them up the coast, was so different from that which they now exhibit with the parties, as to make them appear a different race."

"They do not object to the mixture of tribes in working parties, though at first they were much opposed to it. From such material, and without additional expense beyond clothing and arms, I conceive an artificer corps might be formed peculiarly valuable in this country, and scarcely less so in peace than in war, affording, in the former case, a command of labour in any desired locality, and, in the latter, out-posts admirably adapted to the country."

T. H. Fitzgerald, Colonial Surveyor, to the Superintendant at Wellington.

(Extracts.)

"Wellington, July 1, 1847.

"The road from Wellington to Pai-tu-mokai has now been laid out from end to end, the entire distance being 39 1/2 miles. The total cost will not exceed 14,136l. or 9991l. in addition to what has already been expended, and the whole road will be completed by May, 1848. In a north-easterly direction from Pai-tu-mokai, a road may be carried for thirty or forty miles at an almost nominal expense per mile. From inquiries I have made on the subject, I believe that but one range of hills of any mag-

nitude would have to be crossed between Waira-rapa and Taupo Lake: by omitting to build bridges over the large rivers, and establishing chain-ferries that could be worked by a person on either bank, a road might be carried through with great rapidity at very moderate expense, opening out a vast tract of country for grazing and other advantageous pursuits."

"I may here observe, that the system of employing the natives as labourers on the roads appears to have succeeded in an extraordinary degree, and confers an incalculable benefit on them. From a lazy, indolent people, they are now becoming quiet, active, and industrious. They are fond of money, and spend it generally in European clothing, in provisions, and in acquiring useful property. After nearly twelve months' experience, I believe great advantage is derived by the government in employing them, for, at the relative rates of pay between them and Europeans, I think they do almost as much as Europeans, although few of them have been accustomed to regular work for any longer period than eight or nine months; in proof of which I may state, that the contractors for portions of the road find it their interest to employ them at 2s. 6d. per day. With the supply of native labour that can be obtained, I am sure that, by proper management, works of no ordinary magnitude might be undertaken and carried through by their means."

Governor Grey to Earl Grey.

(Extract.)

"Auckland, March 11, 1848.

"Duties of customs were only collected at the ports of New Zealand during a portion of the year 1845, and they did not, during that time, average more than about 14,000l. per annum; while it will be found, from the enclosed return, that the Customs revenue has, in the space of two years, increased to nearly 36,000l. per annum; and I have little doubt that as the numerous native population advance in civilisation, and become more and more desirous of obtaining European comforts and luxuries, the Customs revenue will continue to increase with great rapidity, thus constantly affording the means of more efficiently governing the mixed and peculiar population of this country, and affording an indication of the benefit conferred upon British commerce by the trade which has sprung up between her merchants and the inhabitants of these islands."

Governor Grey to Earl Grey.

Otago. (Extract.)

"Auckland, March 6, 1848.

"I am happy to state that I have never seen any locality which appeared to me better adapted for the occupation of British settlers; and from the fertility of the soil, the unequalled facilities which it offers for the depasturing of sheep and cattle, and its general remark-

able advantages, there can be no doubt that the southern portion of the Middle Island offers prospects of the most cheering kind to the intending immigrants, of whose ultimate success there can be no doubt."

"It will be seen from Lieut. Col. Bumbury's report to Governor Hobson of the 28th of June, 1840, that this officer, even at that date, fully reported the capabilities of the southern portion of the Middle Island, and my own observations lead me entirely to concur in his views; in fact, I have never seen a country better adapted for the reception of immigrants."

THE END.

LONDON:
SPOTTISWOODES and SHAW,
New-strreet-Square

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