New Zealand and its Aborigines ... Second edition

Introduction

Page 1

Chapter I

Manners and Customs — Tapu, with Illustrations of its Application — . Robbing, as a Punishment for Offences — Claim of Property in Shipwrecks — Laws of Descent of Property on Death — Mode of Salutation — Crying for Joy — Physical Appearance ... 9

Chapter II

Domestic Affections — Courtship — Marriage Ceremonies — Chastity — Prostitution — Sense of Decency — Dress — Tobacco — Early Maturity — Children described and treatment of — Small number of Children an anomaly — Infanticide, causes of — Euronesians — Amalgamation with Europeans — Friendship — Want of Affection — Warlike Habits examined and disproved — Illustrations — Indifference to Life — Suicide — Personal Quarrels — Placability, illustrations of — Oaths — Openness of Character — Illustrations — Temperance in Eating — and in use of Spirits — Food — Method of Cooking — Cannibalism — Trading Habits — Illustrations of — Mechanical Talents — Tendency to exaggerate — Vanity— Frequent cause of War — Illustrations — Contrasted with American Indians — VI CONTENTS.

High Sense of Honour — Instance of — Placidity — Dislike to haste and precipitancy — Formality of Behaviour — Illustrations — Timi dity — Hospitality — Generosity — Native Servants give away their Clothes — Native Feasts — Vast quantity of Food consumed, and Articles of value given away — Tribes vie with each other in the costliness and extent of these Entertainments — Manners, kind and gentle — Peacemakers — Liberality not extended to Europeans — Show much sympathy for each other — Ingratitude — Cause of it — Their Behaviour respectful — Etiquette — Superstition — Witchcraft — Power of Imagination — Instances of Death from it — Sick abandoned — Case of, in E Hongi's Wife — Attuas — -Priests- — Jugglers — Religious tendencies — Observance of the Sabbath — Missionary success — Bartering Testaments for Pigs — Evils to be apprehended from the teaching of different Sects — Personal Se curity — Great want of Conscientiousness — Most perceptible in the more Civilized — -Their Intellect — Oiatory — Trading capaci ties — Eagerness to acquire Knowledge — Letter Writing — Native Language — Native names of places changed by Government — English Language little known among the Natives — Attempt to teach discouraged by Missionaries — Draught-playing . . 32

Chapter III

Recapitulation of the Prominent Features in the Character of the New Zealanders — Hopes of their Improvement, if the means are employed — Reasons for these Expectations — Effects of Colonization — State of Natives befure Captain Hobson 's Arrival described — Their Respect for our Physical and Moral Power — Loss of Moral Power — Causes which effected it — Treaty of Waitangi — Based on Injustice, and entered into through Ignorance — Bill passed bv the Sydney Legislature for effecting a Settlement of Land Claims — A Source of Discontent — Deception practised towards the Natives — Loss of Physical Power — Causes — Robbery of Forsaith, and compromise by Government — Robbery of Settlers at Wangarei— Murders at Roberton's Island — Trial and Execution of Maketu — Exhumation — Another Murderer lodged iu Jail, and given up without Trial — Tauranga Massacre — Land Questions — Government purchase Land a second time at Monganui — Results in a Battle between the Tribes — Question of Surplus Land — Government attempt to seize upon it, and Hostile Manifestations on the part ofthe Natives — Seizure of Surplus Land an Afterthought — Wairu Massacre — Government Attempts to Survey unpurchased Land — Progressive Advancement in Knowledge, and European 'Customs — Desiie for Horses, Cows, &c. — Cultivation — Individual instances of Improvement — Bad Feelings betwixt Natives and CONTENTS. the Settlers at Cook's Strait caused by acts of the New Zealand Company — Captain Fitzroy's Arrival — Clamours of the Natives to be allowed their Rights of disposing of their Land — Their Opposition to Customs Regulations — Partial Free dom of Selling Land permitted — Its Effects — Native Disturb ance — Flag-Staff cut down — Troops sent for — Free Trade declared, and Restrictions on the Sale of Land removed — Effects of these Measures 103

Chapter IV

Improvement of Aborigines — Government has done nothing- — Present Protector's Establishment inefficient — Qualifications for the Office of Protector stated — Sub-Protectors — Native Gazette — Its unbounded Influence — Illustrations — Should be published in English as well as in Maori — Subjects to be treated of — Adjustment of Land Questions — Of Disputes between Tribes — And between them and the Government — Employment for the Natives — Work suggested — Means of stimulating their Industry pointed out — Flax — Wheat — Barley — Oats — Maize — Anxiety to possess Horses and other Stock — Dress — Oratory- — Newspapers — Policy of permitting the exercise of their own Manners and Customs — Schools— Native Justices of the Peace — Foundation of the Power of the Natives — Military Force — ParkKurst Delinquents — Religious Feuds — Church Missionaries versus the Wesleyans — The Bishop of New Zealand — Native Trust Ordinance — Objections to it — Native Exemption Ordinance — Unsworn Testimony Ordinance 142

Chapter I

Change of Policy in the Government, and the hopes now held out to Settlers — Follies of the former Government alluded to — Inducements now held out to Labourers and Capitalists — Cheap Land — Native Sellers and Land Claimants — Prices — Sources of Prosperity — Agriculture — Practical Illustrations — Rearing of Stock — Bees — Small Farmers — Speculators — Capitalists — Mining Speculations — Copper — Manganese — Tin — Lead — Nickel — Coal — Rock Salt — Sulphur — Kauri — Tanekaha — Ake — Towai — Dye-woods — Tanning Barks — Sarsaparilla — Kauri Gum — Whale Fishing — Facilities for obtaining Education CONTENTS.

Chapter II

Effects of the Free Sales of Land by Natives, and Free Trade in General — Commerce considered — Land Regulations — Wakefield Theory of Colonization inapplicable to New Zealand — Labour and Capital — How regulated — South Australia — Cause of its Failure in the Outset — Concentration — Its Effects — Land Claimants — Labour, how to be supplied — Objection to the undue facility of obtaining Land stated — Its Effects upon the Natives — Upon the European and General Interests of the Colony — Persons of small Means acquiring large Tracts of Land — Difficulties of doing so — Regulations for purchasing — Commissioner of Land Claims useless, if not injurious— Illustrations — What constitutes a good Evidence of a Purchase — Impolicy of throwing obstacles in the way of the Natives freely disposing of their Land — Proclamation of the Governor permitting the Natives to sell their Land — Memorial by Legislative Council to Secretary of State 208

Chapter III

Introduction of Free Trade — Conduct of Captain Fitzroy — Prospects of the Settlers — Cheap living — Prices of Provisions — Rents — Wages — Taxation to replace Customs abolished — Ordinance considered — Not duly enforced — Defects — Common Informers — Tax acceptable to Colonists — Opposed by Government Officers — Their object — Statement of Revenue — Sum too large for the Purposes to which it is applied — Contributions in aid from British Treasury — Hitherto done Evil — Sources from whence increased Colonial Revenue could be obtained if applied to Purposes of general benefit — Wholesale Spirit-sellers — Distillers — Land-Tax — Objections to it 237

Appendix

. No,). — Rev. Mr. Turton's Letters to Dr. Selwyn .... 253 No. 2. — Protest against the Native Trust Bill 275 No. 3.— Land Regulations 277 No. 4. — Property Rate Ordinance 284 POSTSCRIPT NEW ZEALAND J 8,-c.

INTRODUCTION.

. New Zealand, from the moment the British Government projiosed to colonize it. has attracted a very large share of public interest, and has always been acknowledged to possess singular advantages as a field for colonization, in its almost unequalled salubrity and mildness of climate, and in its richness in natural productions, and other sources of wealth. Yet with all these advantages, and the strong prejudice in its favour, it is matter of no ordinary surprise that New Zealand has hitherto failed in attracting emigrants and men of capital to its shores ; and thus, while the country is universally extolled, it is altogether avoided, as if a curse hung over it to mar and neutralize every advantage it possesses.' To explain this anomalous state of things, and to remove, if possible, the apprehensions of failure B

INTRODUCTION.

. which have, hitherto, been but too justly entertained, is the object ofthe following pages. The representations of the savage and cannibal ]3ropensities of the natives, and the consequent dread of personal insecurity, have operated to deter many from settling in their country. That these appre hensions are altogether unfounded, I shall endea vour to show in a more minute and comprehensive account of the aborigines than any hitherto pub lished. My object, however, is not merely to remove groundless fears, but to diffuse correct notions as to the character and capabilities of these people, and to suggest practical measures for their advancement in civilization. The accounts hitherto published may have been sufficiently minute for the general reader, but are far too vague and scanty to admit of any system of treatment being based upon them.

I have not, therefore, hesitated to describe the minutest shades of the national character that presented themselves, although, in so doing, I may become obnoxious to a charge of prolixity, or even of tediousness. It is vain to hope that the natives of this the last and fairest of our colonies, may escape the fate which has hitherto attended the aborigines of other countries when brought into connection with civilized man, while the proper means for ensuring

INTRODUCTION.

. to them a better destiny are either unknown or neglected. The natives of other countries have certainly been less hopeful subjects than the New Zealanders ; but even they might have been im proved — at all events, have suffered less — had any vigorous exertions been made to save them. Nor is it enough to have the willingness to do this, with the readiness to supply the funds necessary for such a purpose. Success would still be wanting, without an intimate and practical knowledge of the mental characteristics of the particular people to be acted upon. Look, for instance, to the revengeful, proud Indian, who would rather sacrifice his life than owe it, under whatever circumstances, to the generosity of another ; — who, from infancy, is trained to endure, without flinching, the most exquisite pain, — who is a hunter by nature, — warlike, restless, and wander ing in his habits, — and clinging to these, and even to his very feelings and ideas, with invincible tenacity.

How different would be the treatment applicable to such a being from that to be pursued towards the New Zealander! who, on the other hand, cultivates the ground, is quiet and placable, and pretends to no courage, — is as much afraid of the physical prowess of others as he is of the Attua which his own fancy has created ; and who, above all, is a trader by nature ; changing his habits, feelings, and ideas with the utmost ease and rapidity, b

INTRODUCTION.

. and being therefore, in the highest degree, a fitting subject for rapid civilization. Still, his peculiar dispositions require to be minutely known, and carefully considered, by those who would promote his improvement : and I am convinced, that if the character of these aborigines were accurately known, they would cease to excite any fears ; and, so far from being an obstacle in the path of the colonist, they should be regarded as the chief element of his success ; being at once the producers and consumers of vast quantities of articles of commerce, and there fore a source of great wealth to the settler. The other causes which have operated to check emigration to New Zealand are equally obvious. It is well known that efforts to colonize New Zealand have hitherto been made by two separate bodies, — the Government and the New Zealand Company, — and these, unfortunately for the colony, have not only been distinct, but frequently opposing influences.

The part which the Government have played in this colonizing tragedy is soon told. Incompetent officers were appointed to establish British authority, and to prepare the country for the reception of emigrants. When these officers arrived they found a flourishing and industrious little colony already established ; but instead of nourishing, protecting, and extending

INTRODUCTION.

. it, the measures adopted by these functionaries ut terly overturned it ; while their efforts to rear a new colony on the ruins of the old one signally failed. Such are the simple facts of the case ; but the explanation of the causes which have hitherto pre vented that flow of emigration so reasonably to have been looked for towards the Government settlement at Auckland would still be incomplete, were it not stated that the settlers at that place have proved themselves a most honourable exception to emigrants in other colonies, who, by misrepre senting the state of affairs, have allured new victims to their settlements in order that the former victims might, by preying on the new comers, be enabled to leave the scene of their misfortunes. In this respect the public press, in the Government townships, have behaved most honourably, and, in stead of recommending emigration, have almost con tinually discouraged it.

It was early seen that the measures of the Government were totally ruinous . and that the sooner the doom was accomplished, the sooner might a change for the better be expected ; and the colonists nobly resolved to endure the eviL themselves without attempting to draw others into the same snare. At the same time they were not disposed to endure their wrongs in silence, and accordingly made every exertion to bring their grievances before her Majesty's Government.

INTRODUCTION.

. These, it may be stated, are now redressed, though by indirect means ; for they might still have existed had not the officers, by their fortunate reckless extravagance, soon left themselves without the means of carrying on the system any longer. It may with truth, therefore, be affirmed, that from the arrival of Captain Hobson, in January, 1840, the portion of the Colony under the immediate superintendence of the Government became every day less desirable as a field of colonial enter prize, and never having been puffed and written into notoriety it fell at once to its natural level. These circumstances are, therefore, quite sufficient to account for the anomalous statement already made, that New Zealand, while it is still acknowledged to possess the greatest inducements to the emigrant and man of capital, has hitherto been perfectly neglected.

The efforts of the New Zealand Company, as the other colonizing agent, have led to an almost equally unhappy result, though the means pursued have been widely different. The Company, like the Government, did not find a colony ready made to their hands ; but they were men of business — of energy and of vast resources and they lost no time in attempting to make a colony. Every expedient that ingenuity could devise was resorted to in order to force emigration.

INTRODUCTION.

. 7 They have founded three settlements — Port Nicholson, Nelson, and New Plymouth ; but from their not having, properly, purchased their lands from the natives, and other causes to which it is not necessary here to allude, many thousands of our countrymen who were induced to quit their homes, were doomed to the bitterness of disappointment, and the Company are only now re moving obstacles which might have been overcome _- o before these emigrants were sent to the country. However, my design is not to write a history of that Company, but merely to adduce the fact of its having failed in its object, as completing the list of causes w-hich have hitherto prevented the coloniza tion of New Zealand. It is necessary to do tins much in order to remove the groundless fears to which the tales of misery and suffering sent by the Company's settlers to their friends in England have given rise.

These statements have doubtless ope rated more powerfully than perhaps the parties themselves intended, since they have been made to apply to the whole of New Zealand. Many, however, of the evils of the Company's management are of a merely temporary nature, and such as a change of jDolicy may easily obviate. It is confidently believed that a better day has now dawned upon New Zealand, and that a career of prosperity has at last commenced ; and firmly

INTRODUCTION.

. entertaining the opinion that such is the case, I shall state the reasons upon which my hopes are founded, in order that others may be enabled to decide for themselves the momentous question as to the colony which holds out the best prospect. I have been myself a victim of the grossly exag gerated and deceitful statements which were made use of to force emigration to South Australia, where I spent ten months of misery ; and I have subse quently witnessed, in the case of others, similar suf ferings in Port Phillip, Sydney, and even in New Zea land, in which last I have been since the foundation of the Colony. In this experience I have, therefore, seen too much misery to wish to induce one person to emigrate against his inclinations, far less have I any desire to excite extravagant hopes, or to exaggerate any advantages ; but should I have been be trayed into error in this latter respect, let it rather be ascribed to the pleasure which I feel in making my first favourable statement regarding the Colony, than to any intention to deceive.

PART I DESCRIPTION OF THE ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEA- LAND, AND THE

MEANS OF ADVANCING THEM IN CIVILIZATION.

Chapter I

Manners and Customs — Tapu, with Illustrations of its Application — Robbing, as a Punishment for Offences — Claim of Property in Shipwrecks — Laws of Descent of Property on Death — Mode of Salutation — Crying for Joy — Physical Appearance. The New Zealanders are a highly interesting and singular people ; nor has their disposition anything of that repulsive character which their well-known cannibal propensities would naturally lead one to* expect. At first sight one ' is struck with their intelligent, manly, and sedate appearance ; and further acquaintance with them serves to confirm these impressions. They frequently display, as might be expected, a childish curiosity to inspect the various new objects which their European visi tors may possess ; and strangers, on this account, may, at first, be inclined to think them children in b point of intellect : their acute remarks, however, on subjects with which they are familiar, their keen perception of their own interest, and the readiness with which they appreciate any new thing of real practical usefulness to them, soon prove that their intellect merely requires a little cultivation to place them on a footing with their civilized brethren.

Their curiosity is not childish wonder, but the result of a quick, inquiring mind. From what I had read in the very meagre accounts already published, I expected to find them restless, active, and irascible ; but the contrary of this is the fact. They are perhaps the most patient, equable, forgiving, people in the world. These qualities, with their extreme superstition, it will be shown, are the most strongly marked features in their character. I shall now endeavour to give as minute a description of the manners, customs, and intellectual peculiarities of this interesting people, as I have been able to obtain, from personal observation, and from the accounts of others who have had longer, more intimate, and more extensive intercourse with them. While thus minute, however, I shall carefully abstain, as far as possible, from an enumeration of individual peculiarities, confining my remarks to what appear to be national characteristics.

Before proceeding to give an account of thdir intellectual peculiarities, I shall notice some of their manners and customs, and among these the system of tapu, or rendering sacred, deserves to be first mentioned, from tlie overwhelming influence which it exerts over them. It is difficult, however, to give a satisfactory account of this, as no information can be obtained beyond the isolated applications of the system ; and these seem frequently so arbitrary, if not positively contradictory, that it becomes doubtful how much is really a fixed law or custom, and how much is liable to be changed according to the cir cumstances of each particular case. For instance, a chief can tapu anything he chooses, so that no one of inferior rank will afterwards touch it. But the chief can, at his pleasure, remove the tapu, with all its consequences, and so the matter ends.

Some things again are, in their own nature, sacred ; such as a dead body, — and a person, by merely touching it, becomes for a time thereby tapued, and during the continuance of the tapu is prohibited the use of his own hands. He is fed by others, or eats his food out of a basket placed before him, without touching it with his hands. When the sacred period has elapsed, however, there is this difference between this case and the former, — that, here, the person who takes off the tapu must take all the duties, or rather encum brances of it upon himself. This is generally done by an old woman, who is constantly sacred or tapued, and such are generally chosen to handle dead bodies, so that as few persons as possible may be put in this helpless condition. Again, as to some things, the tapu goes off after a certain period has elapsed, as a matter of course, without the intervention of any one, or the transfer of its obligations.

Kumaras (sweet potatoes) are an example of this. This vegetable is very highly esteemed, and is called the food of Ran gatiras (chiefs). With the view, apparently, of its better preservation, the use and cultivation of it has been invested with a certain amount of solemnity : those planting or gathering it, while performing these operations, and for three days afterwards, are not allowed to leave the ground, nor can they touch with their hands the food they eat. Were these ceremonies not attended to, it is supposed the kumaras would not grow. The chiefs, as might be expected, are fully aware cf the advantages of the tapu, finding that it confers on them, to a certain extent, the power of making laws and the superstition on which the tapu is founded will ensure the observance of them. Were they to transgress the tapu, they believe that the attua (God) would kill them, and so universal is this belief that it is, or perhaps rather teas, a very rare occurrence to find any one daring enough to commit the sacrilege.

To have preserved this influence so completely among a people naturally so shrewd and intelligent, great care must, no doubt, have been taken not to apply it unless in the usual and recognised manner. To have done otherwise would have led to its being frequently transgressed ; and consequently to the loss of its influence. Before the natives came into contact with the Europeans the tapu seems to have acted with the most complete success ; as the belief was general, that any disreo-ard of it would infallibly subject the offender to the anger of the attua, and death would be the conse quence. Independently, however, of the support which the tapu derives from the superstitious fears of these people, it has, like most other laws, an appeal to physical force in case of necessity. A delinquent, if discovered, would be stripped of everything he possessed ; and if a slave, would in all probability be put to death — many instances of which have actually occurred.

So powerful is this superstitious feeling, that slaves will not venture to eat of the same food as their master ; or even to cook at the same fire ; be lieving that the attua would kill them if they did so. Everything about, or belonging to, a chief is accounted sacred by the slaves. Fond as they are of tobacco, it would be perfectly secure though left exposed on the roof of a chief's house ; no one would venture to touch it. To try them, a friend of mine gave a fig of tobacco to a slave ; who, after having used it, was informed that it had been on the roof of the chief's house. The poor fellow, in the greatest consternation, went immediately to the chief telling him what had happened, and beseeching him to take off the tapu from the tobacco to prevent the evil consequences. The ceremony of taking off the tapu is performed by cooking some food, — generally kumaras.

This is presented to the chief who eats a little of it, and throws the remainder away, which, it is believed, is eaten by the attua, or, at all events, that it, in some manner, appeases him. The New Zealanders never eat their meals in a house lest any great chief may have been under its roof. It is contrary to the mysteries of the tapu to touch anything that has been over the head of a chief, that portion of his body being deemed sacred. For this reason, no slave would venture on the roof of a house to repair it, and the chief would be compelled to perform the operation himself. I witnessed a practical illustration of this among the tribe with whom I resided. The chief having much against his inclination, refrained, for upwards of three weeks, from entering the house, as the roof was not finished ; as he knew that if he once entered it, the workmen would not afterwards complete the job ; when he, or another chief of equal rank, would have to perform the work.

Some of the settlers take advantage of this peculiarity by getting the chief, under whose protection they reside, to tapu their house so as to prevent the slaves from entering it, an object of great importance, in asmuch as the proprietor is protected from intruders, who could not otherwise be got rid of except at the risk of giving offence, which it is always desirable to avoid. The taj-U, however, even in such cases, is not without its disadvantages, as everything in the house, as well as the house itself, is tapued, nor could any goods be sold out of it. In general, the settler is therefore satisfied to get his tobacco pipe tapued, to prevent the natives from borrowing ; as they are in the habit of doing among themselves. In no case, however, is the power of the tapu seen so distinctly as when applied to and connected with their dead.

Not only is the spot where a dead body is deposited sacred, but even the ground over which it has been carried ; and no one (for many years at least) would go near it. Nay, the very sea, if the body has passed over it, is also tapued. That the smallest amount of inconvenience, however, may be sustained in such cases, the canoes are paddled as near the shore as possible. The canoe, however valuable, becomes sacred, from having conveyed the body, indeed it is generally placed over the grave with a pole driven through its bottom. Along the coast are to be seen many such tapued tracts which, to Europeans, prove a very serious annoyance, as no natives will accompany them to such idaces ; nor could they venture to go by themselves, except at the risk of being robbed for their temerity ; that is, if the natives supposed them aware of the tapu.

Europeans are thus frequently obliged to go out of their way many miles. At one place I have seen a tapued creek where vast numbers of wild ducks resort, and nearly as tame as if domesticated, the na tives allowing no one to molest them. During my stay at the place, a chief died who had been for some time in the last stage of con sumption. A detail of the various ceremonies which took place on the occasion may be interest ing. This chief had not been abandoned in his sickness, according to their barbarous superstitions, but had slaves to watch over him ; and, on life be coming extinct, which was late in the evening, the CEREMONIES ON THE intelligence was immediately communicated in the usual way by firing off a musket. The natives who were in the house of the European settler with whom I resided, on hearing the report, seemed at once to be aware of the death, and commenced the tangi — a sort of whining howl, — the nearest possible resemblance to genuine grief.

We hastened to the spot where the dead chief lay, and found his legs had been drawn up to his breast, and his blanket wrapt round him. These the settler cut away, in order to get the body stretched out, knowing that the head chief of the tribe would wish a coffin made for it, in imitation ofthe custom ofthe white people. This death created a great sensation in the little community, and the news was speedily and widely circulated by the firing of muskets, which might be heard for many miles up and down the Frith. (Thames.) As these signals are the approved method of testifying respect on such occasions, and being aware that our chief would appreciate the compliment, we also got our guns and joined in the salute— thus giving him an occasion for boasting to the other tribes of the attentions of "his white men," as he called us.