The Maori King; Or, The Story of Our Quarrel with the Natives of New Zealand

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Chapter I. Introductory

State of Affairs at Anckland in 1860 — Alleged Causes of the Maori Revolt — First Visit to Waikato— William Thompeon, alias Wireran Tamihana — Official Intercourse with the Natiyes . . . P. 1 — 11

CHAPTER 11.

WAIKATO.

The meaning of « Waikato "— The Position of English Oat-settleTs among the Maories — ^The Presumption of the Natives — ^Description of the Waikato Country^The Maori Capital— Upper Waikato — Former JVosperity and present Desolation — Houses, Food, and Habits of the Waikatos— Maori Agriculture— Roads . P. 12—86

CHAPTER IIL

THE QUKEN'S SOVEREIONTT.

The Treaty of Waitangi— Never signed by the Waikatos— The ** Sugar and Flour Policy" — Ordinance for the appointment of Resident Magistrates — Maori Justices — Land Feuds— Native Schools— The " Maori Messenger" — ^Miscarriage of the Qovemment Measures for the Civilization of the Natives P. 87—67

b

Vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BBVOLT.

The causes of the " King Movement "— (L) Want of a Government— The Traffic in Rum— (ii.) Desire to prevent the farther Alienation of Territory— The King's " Mana "— (iil) Mortification at Political and Social Inferiority— The Maories have no share in the Franchise — ^Maori and European Hospitality — Desertion of Half-caste Children P. 68—80

CHAPTER V.

P0TATAT7, mB KINO.

Tamihana visits Auckland in 1857— His Reception and the Consequences — Potatau is nominated King — Gtevemor Browne visits "Waikato — The Great National Assembly at Rangiriri P. 81—97

CHAPTER VI.

THE JUSTICE ON CIRCUIT.

Mr. Fenton appointed Magistrate of Waikato— His First Circuit — ^His Proposals to Government — Mr. McLean's Objections — Second Circuit — ^A Maori sent to Gaol — Mr. Fenton suppressed by the Native Department—The Waikato Committee P. 9^—129

CHAPTER VII.

THE TABANAKI WAB.

Violence and Bloodshed at Taranaki — Wiremu Kingi's Land-League — The Waitara Purchase— War— The Natives seek for Help from Waikato — ^The Government is accused of Injustice — The Waikatos join in the War — Death of Potatau and Succession of his Son — Auckland in Peril— Battle of Mahoetahi — Lamentation for Wetini P. 180-155

CONTENTS. Vll

CHAPTER VIII.

Tamihana yisits Waitaia— Negotiates with General Pratt — Persuades the Maori Warriors to disperse— Is threatened with War in Waikato — The Governor's Manifesto — Meeting at Ngaroawahia — ^Tamihana's Lettei^-ifiir Geoi^ Grey reappointed Governor. . . P. 156—182

CHAPTER IX.

THE INTERSEONtJM.

The Taranaki Natives nnsubdned — ^The Government regarded as Dishonest and Perfidious — Resolution of the Waikatos to maintain their Liberty — Distrust produced by the presence of a lai^ Military Force— The Double Government P. 183—201

CHAPTER X.

SIB GEOBOS GBBY.

The Waikatos stand aloof— The " New Policy "—The Governor visits the Bay of Islands — Negotiation with the Waikatos — The Meeting at Taupari — Sir George Grey's Si^eech — ^Tipene's Reply— Mutual Recrimination — ^The Troops begin to make a Road to the Waikato P. 202—282

CHAPTER XI.

FACE TO PACE.

Mr. Fox assumes the Responsibility for Native Affairs — Visits the Upper Waikato—Reception at Hangatiki— Proposal for settling the Waitara Dispute— A Diay spent with Rewi and Wiremu Kingi— The Waikatos resolve not to begin the War P. 283—244

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII.

THB "new institutions."

The Maori Bunanga — Oiganization of Lower Waikato — Patene tries to expel the Magistrate from Upper Waikato— Venial Loyalty — Story of the Ngatlwhaoroa Tribe— Division of authority at Head-Qnarters — Lawlessness of the Loyal Natives P. 245—260

CHAPTER XIIL

THE MAOBI KINGDOM.

Maori Administration of Justice — The Great Council of Ngaruawahia — ^The King's Soldiers — Opposite views of Tamihana and Rewi— The King's Finances — ^The Waikatos hostile to the Colonial Government, not to the Queen P. 207—285

CHAPTER XIV.

BUMOUBS OF WAB.

The Waitara Dispute cannot be Settled— Military Preparations— The Waipa Road — Strange mixture of Violence and Forbearance in the behaviour of the Kihikihi Natives — ^The Waikatos assemble to protect the Gold-fields of Coromandel — Sir George Grey's Letter to the King, and its effect P. 280— 299

CHAPTER XV.

THE AWAMUTU.

Plan of Police-schools at Te Kohekohe and Te Awamutu— The Waikato Steamer — Doubts of the Natives — Papal Aggression and Protestant Demonstration in Waikato — Prosperity of the Awamutu School — Quarrels with the Kihikihi Natives— Fiui^her Dissensions in the Double Government— The Native Lands Act . P. 800—817

CONTENTS. IX

CHAPTER XVI.

TATARAIMAKA. .

The Peiia Meeting— Bishop Selwyn's Speech and its Eflfect— Sir George Grey welcomed at the Maori Capital— Interview between the Governor and Tamihana— Tataraimaka is occupied by British Troops — ^The Doable Government debates the Waitara question— The Natives ask counsel of Waikato P. 318— Sil

CHAPTER XVII.

KEWI MANIAPOTO. ,

Fate of the Kohekohe Timber— The Rival Newspapers— Indignation of ' the King's Friends — Wi Karamoa's Song — Rewi attacks Te Awamutu and carries off the Printing-press — The Chiefs of Waikato denounce Rewi's violence— Last Interview with Tamihana— Last Visit to Ngaruawahia^The Printing-press restored — Te Awamutu abandoned P. 382—365

CHAPTER XVIII.

THB OUTBREAK OF WAK.

Warnings and Ambuscades — Infatuation of the Double Government — The Oakura Massacre— Surrender of Waitara— Sentiments of Ihe Waikatos — Tamihana separates from Rewi and prevents an Attack on Auckland — Preparations for Invasion P. 866 — 869

CHAPTER XIX.

THE INVASION OP WAIKATO.

Aporo is arrested— The Waikatos alarmed by Bonfires in Auckland — Panic of the Citizens and Government — Manufacture of a Proclamation — General Cameron crosses Mangatawhiri — The Maories living near Auckland are driven from their Homes and their Property is plundered — Seizure of Ihaka — ^Waikato unites to resist Invasion P. 870—889

X CONTENTS,

CHAPTER XX.

CONCLUSION,

How are the Maories to be Managed I— The Past and Fatnre Effects of War — The Colonial Confiscation Scheme— Neceagity of putting an end to Doable Gbvemment — ^The Colonial Ministry unfit to role the Maories — Suggestions for the Future Management of the Natives — A British Resident — ^Native Police— Council for Native Afiairs — Information received from the Colony is not to be depended on ... , P. 890—409

NOTE

It is convenient to observe here, that the Maori names which are generally used throughout the following pages for Maori chiefs and places, can be correctly pronounced by attending to three rules : —

(1) The vowels have the Italian sound.

(2) Diphthongs are pronounced by uttering the two component vowel-sonnds in one breath.

(3) " Ng" is pronounced as in the word " sin^ng."

It has been sometimes necessary to use colonial or native words, such as "cultivations," "tapu," &c., to denote things which have not English names.

THE

MAORI KING.

CHAPTER I.

INTEODUCTORT.

I FIRST landed in New Zealand in May, I860, just after the outbreak of the Taranaki war. The entire colony was at that time absorbed in watching the struggle that was going on between a handful of ill-armed sayages and the Queen's well-disciplined soldiers, and in speculating on the probability of the whole Maori population rising to join in the conflict.

People in Auckland were especially anxious about the course that would be taken by the tribes liying on the Waikato River, upon whose forbearance the very existence of Auckland appeared at that time to depend. A range of forest hills was pointed out from the town of Auckland, extending from east to south, and not more than twenty miles distant. Beyond these hills, the stranger was told, lay the Waikato country, inhabited by fierce warlike Maories, whose armed bands

B

2 THE MAORIES IN REVOLT.

could at any moment swarm through the hill-side forests into the plain below, to bum the houses, drive off the cattle, and tomahawk the settlers.

It was said that these dreaded tribes had some years before declined all farther connexion with their British rulers, and set up a king of their own. Their choice had fallen on a very aged warrior, named Potatau, one of that nearly extinct race of Maori heroes who had been not only conquerors but cannibals. Very little was known by the colonists about this monarch's foreign or domestic policy^ except that it was said he would allow no more native territory to be sold to the British Crown ; and as the Taranaki war had arisen from the resistance of a turbulent chief, Wiremu Eangi, to the sale of land, it seemed not improbable that the sympathies of the Waikatos would lead to their supporting his cause in arms, and in what better way could they aid him than by making a raid upon the rich and defenceless settlement of Auckland ?

The result of our government of the Maories, thus seen in New Zealand, was marvellously inconsistent with the story usually told in England. It had always been sidd that the Maories possessed remarkable capacities for civilization, that they had been treated with singular kindness and perfect justice, and were happy and prosperous under British rule. It was natural to inquire the cause of such unfortunate results.

The story turned out to be strange and interesting.

BRITISH BENEVOLENCE. 3

Our rule, when first established in the country, was hailed by the Maories'with delight. Both parties commenced relations with cordial good-will. The British Government, charmed at the prospect of beginning a new system in the treatment of native races, and of illustrating the Christian philanthropy of Britain by civilizing instead of exterminating, resolved to do its duty to its Maori neighbours, to be true and just in all its dealings, and, above aU, not to covet or desire Maori lands. The natives, on the other hand, were ready to accept with gratitude the promised benefits, and looked forward with joy to the time when in all respects they should become the equals of their civilized Pakeha friends. The Colonial, as distinct from the Imperial Government, had not long existed, but it had already contrived to exhibit, by votes of money and by the manufacture of several excellent laws, solicitude for the welfare of the Maories. The leading settlers, especially those who had been long in the country and had lived in native districts, spoke of Maories in terms of esteem and friendship. Only the lowest newspapers and the most ignorant class of colonists allowed themselves to indulge in abuse of their fellow-subjects ; but it would be unfair to infer from the conduct of one class in time of war that there was any general or permanent enmity between the races. The Maories had enjoyed the further advantage of having all the acts of Government scrutinized in their behalf by the

B2

4 THE MISTAKE.

Bishop of New Zealand and his missionary clergy — ^men of sound education and independent opinions, whose bias, if any, was rather towards the natives than the colonists. Except in the case of the purchase at Taranaki, upon which the opinions of the most intelligent persons in the colony were nearly equally divided, no 2M of injustice towards the Maories was alleged. Indeed, the disposition of their rulers towards them and the vigilance of their disinterested protectors forbad the idea of any wilful wrong. If a mistake had been made by us, it lay not in what Ve had done, but in what we had left undone. We had been so afraid of the cost of trenching on native independence, that we had forborne even to attempt to govern. No effort had been made to teach obedience to rulers — indeed, it had never been quite settled on our side who the rulers of the Maories were to be. The policy of the Government, even after the natives had gone so far as to set up a king of their own, had been one of strict non-interference. So that it was the very caution and timidity of our policy that had brought us upon the horns of a dilemma, in which we must either give up the right to govern, which we had been too weak to exercise, or plunge the colony into a war of races.

Not long after my arrival in New Zealand, the kindness of the Rev. B. Y. Ashwell, a missionaiy long resident in Waikato, gave me an opportunity of visiting that country. It was just at a time when the discovery.

A VISIT TO WAIKATO. 6

in the forest Bouth of Auckland, of the corpse of a Maori, apparently murdered, had filled the settlers with alarm. The Waikatos, it was feared, would make this a pretext for declaring war and attacking Auckland* But the missionaiy did not seem to think that even the chance of actual war would expose a stranger trayelling in the district to the least risk. We accordingly set out

What most struck me, in this my first visit to Waikato, was the strange contrast between the material poverty and the mental attainments of the people. In all outward signs of civilization the Maories proved to be extremely backward ; their houses, clothing, food, and way of eating were of the most barbarous descrip* tion ; but in reasoning, especially on pohtical topics, in making provision for their own government, and for the education of their children, they exhibited unexpected cleverness and good sense. There were at that time numerous village schools (which, unhappOy, war and excitement have since swept away), founded and managed entirely by the natives themselves. The school-houses were lai^e and neatly built, and the scholars cleaner, better lodged, and better mannered, than the neighbouring natives. The sexes were carefully separated. The girls wore clean print frocks ; the boys blue cotton shirts and duck trowsers. The pupils could invariably answer simple questions on religion, read their own language well, and in some schools

6 JUSTICE AMONG SAVAGES.

showed a knowledge of arithmetic that filled me with surprise. I also passed court-houses, originally built under the guidance of a European magistrate — Mr. Fenton — whence writs were still issued and where bases were still tried. At every village the alleged murder was temperately but eagerly discussed, and clever arguments advanced in support of their unanimous demand that the murderer should be given up to them for trial.

Soon after we reached the mission-station of Taupiri, it was rumoured that a large war party was coming down the river. The few traders and settlers in the neighbourhood took alarm and began to talk of going into Auckland. Just at this crisis a case occurred which much impressed me with the forbearance and good sense of the leading Waikato chiefs. A party of natives had claimed a debt of 5L from an English trader, and were threatening to strip his house if he did not pay. The trader denied the debt, and begged Mr. Ashwell to interfere in his behalf. A letter was immediately sent off to Ngaruawahia, the Maori capital, which brought over the next morning a gentlemanly, well-dressed chief, who was said to be one of the king's councillors. He inquired into the trader's case, and decided that the 5l. should be deposited by him with a Maori clergyman until the matter could be further examined. He then talked in a deliberate quiet way about the murder. News had come, he said.

A WAR-PARTY. ^

that the murderer was discoTered, and that he was a European. The natiyes were all determined to demand his surrender for trial. The governor had called their king "child's play," and they were resolved to show that they were in earnest When Maories committed offences against Europeans, they were given up to the governor for justice — so now, as one of their men had been killed, we must in our turn hand over the murderer.

A few days later a war-party of about 300 men passed Taupiri in three large canoes, headed by Wiremu Tamihana, or, as Europeans call him, William Thompson, who, since the recent death of Potatau, the king, was considered the greatest man in Waikato. Potatau's son, Matutaera, who had succeeded to the vacant throne, was a weak man, entirely under Tamihana's influence. The war-party stopped at Taupiri, and the chief came on shore to beg Mr. Ashwell not to be alarmed. He said that, whatever happened, Mr. Ashwell's house and family were " tapu" (sacred), and no one would dare to meddle with them. He also invited me to continue my journey up the country, and especially pressed me to visit his schools at Peria, in the Thames Valley, offering to send with me a young chief, a cousin of his own, to guard against the least risk of danger.

The acquaintance thus commenced with William Thompson became afterwards more intimate. I visited

8 TAMTHANA MAKES PEACE.

him just before he went down to Taranakiy and was present at the gathering of his tribe and the discussion that took place as to whether he should go, and what he should do on his arrival. The pacific intentions which he declared at that assembly were considered by the !New Ziealand GoTemment, to whom they were reported, as a mere pretext to disguise an intended assault on Auckland. Even the missionaries doubted Tamihana's sincerity. Yet eyeiything which I had heard him promise in the Waikato, he punctually fulfilled at Taranaki. After his return, he sent for me to come and listen to a fiill account of all that he had said and done on his expedition. From his manner, he appeared vexed and mortified at the way in which his good intentions had been met by Government, and he assured me that there would very shortly be war in Waikato, as the governor was going to attack their king, whom they were determined never to surrender. He gave me at the same time some account of the origin and purpose of their Maori monarchy, which he declared had been established only when they foimd the British authorities would do nothing to repress crime amongst them ; the Maories, said he, had now lost all confidence in our Government, and would never give up their own king.

It appeared to me, even at that time, that the history of this effort of a barbarous people to create a system of internal administration for themselves must be in

TAMTHANA QUOTES ST. PAUL. 9

itself carious and worthy of record. Under a rude form of govemment of their own invention they had done more for themselves than we had ever done for them. Person and property were as safe on the Waikato as in the town of Auckland. Even during the excitement and irregularity consequent on the Taranaki war, neither traders nor missionaries suffered from violence. Strangers like myself traversed the country without rif>k. I was informed that tribal wars^ which had formerly been frequent and bloody, had been entirely stopped, and that the king's magistrates had successfrilly put down the traffic in spirits.

When the arrival of Sir George Grey in 1861 gave some hope of a peaceful solution of the difficulty, I was appointed Commissioner and Magistrate of the Waikato country above Taupiri, to which the rest of the district from Taupiri to the sea was afterwards added. My friend William Thompson never quite foi^ve my defection to the Govemment side. He said he was sorry to find how little the Pakehas thought of me, for Paul said — " Set them to judge who are least esteemed in the Church." We always remained very good friends, and he several times interfered in my behalf against men of other tribes ; but the very last time we met, he lamented over the sad downfall of his once-beloved Pakeha in becoming a thing so mean as an officer of Govemment.

A residence of eighteen months in the neighbourhood

10 MAORI FORBEARANCE,

of Rangiaowhia and Eihikihi, among the most violent of the king's partisans^ and the frequent journeys on horseback which I made through the neighbouring districts during that period in discharge of my duties, gave me abundant opportunity of observing the practical working of the Maori king's government. A nearer view revealed its defects as well as its excellences. Constant intercourse with native chiefs of every shade of temper and opinion acquainted me with their own story about the causes of their revolt against our rule, their disposition towards our race, and the reason of their persistently holding aloof from Sir Geoi^e Grey. It is but common justice to state here, that although the presence of an officer of Government in the midst of them was extremely distasteful, I was not only never treated with nideness, but was everywhere received with the utmost kindness and hospitality. I was never plundered of a single article of property, nor subjected to the least injustice ; and finally, when they broke into open insurrection, not only were all Europeans living amongst them spared, but not a cow, nor a horse, nor any kind of property, was taken from us. Our houses, our furniture, and all goods which could not be removed, were, four months after the war had begun, still remaining as we left them — ^untouched and unharmed.

It appears to me that the story of how a deadly quarrel arose between such a race and rulers so well intentioned cannot be unimportant or uninteresting.

HUMANITY NOT IMPOSSIBLE, 11

But there is, moreoyer, another reason why this episode in our colonial history ought to be examined. New Zealand has been recently quoted as a proof of the impossibility of civilizing barbarous races. It is urged that, wherever the brown and white skins come in contact, the former must disappear, and that the old fashion once pursued by our forefathers in the back woods of America was a more merciful, because a more speedy, way of doing the inevitable work than the lingering modem method which has superseded it. Against a theory which thus despairs of justice and humanity, this book is meant as a protest. It may be our own Christianity and civilization are so imperfect, that our efforts to Christianize and civilize others are not likely to be very successful ; and of this, no doubt, New Ziealand is a case in point. But I hope to be able to convince the reader that the unhappy quarrel with the Maories has been the result of errors which might have been avoided by wiser people than ourselves, and that therefore the task we undertook and failed to accomplish was not an absolute impossibility, but only an impossibility to us.

CHAPTER 11.

WAIKATO.

" Waikato" is used indifferently as the name of a river, a confederation of Maori tribes, and the country inhabited by them. The basin which is drained by the great river and its tributaries is occupied by a very large number of tribes, distinct though intimately related. They are divided geographically and politically into three sections — ^Ngatimaniapoto, Ngatihaua, and a group of small tribes called Waikato, over which Ngatimahuta, the king's tribe, is dominant. The name Waikato is, hovfever, often applied to the whole confederation which the three sections have formed, not only by the colonists, who do not trouble themselves about nice tribal distinctions, but even by the Maories themselves.

The Maories of the Waikato confederation have been for many years regarded as the most important in New Zealand. Their pre-eminence over other tribes is due not to any intrinsic merit of their own, but solely to their geographical position. Their greatness has grown up with the settlement of Auckland— the richest in the

PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION. 13

North Island — which lies at their feet, and has been for many years at their mercy. The land on which they live is fertile and difficult to be invaded ; while at their backs they have a rugged inaccessible country, a retreat where they can set our civilized armies at defiance. When New 2jealand was first colonized, no one supposed that in the end we should have to fight the Maories for the possession of the soil. The early settlers confidently pushed their way into the heart of native districts: homesteads of a few hundred acres, isolated in the midst of Maori villages, were bought without apprehension by European fermers, and inhabited in security by their wives and children. The Government did not hesitate to purchase blocks of land cut off by intervening native territory from the main settlements, which were retailed in small farms to settlers without a suspicion that the latter were being thereby doomed to ruin. And now that a quarrel has at last arisen between the races, the consolidation of our own territory and the formation of a defensible frontier between European and Maori land imperatively demand conquests which must entail bloodshed and suffering upon both sides.

The outsettlers of Auckland are mostly small farmers who live in rough wooden houses, scattered about the country, and surrounded by a few fields. The adjoining land is commonly an unenclosed tract of fern and forest owned by Maories or European speculators. The loneliness of a colonial life forces nearly every man into

14 WHAT THEY QUARREL ABOUT.

matrimony, and a family of stout hearty children is the usual result Compared with Australian or Middle Island squatters, the Auckland outsettlers are poor ; in the eyes of their native neighbours they are rich. The cattle, horses and sheep, which form their wealth run at large in the open country outside their fences. If the land is Maori, rent varying between IL and 20L is demanded for this privilege ; and when the title to the land is disputed by diflFerent owners it is necessary, in order to enjoy quiet possession, to pay them alL At times the wandering cattle, in their search for food, come upon native cultivations of wheat, potatoes, or green juicy maize, wholly exposed, or defended only by a rickety fence of small sticks tied up with flax. As these cultivations are often remote from human dwellings, the cattle of the settlers may and often do commit a great deal of mischief before they are found out. On the other hand, gaunt long-legged Maori pigs, roaming at large, feed in the settler's potato-fields and root up his grass paddocks, setting hedges, ditches, and dogs at defiance. A fence that is secure against a Maori pig is a thing still to be invented. So long as Europeans and Maories continue to farm on antagonistic principles — ^the one fencing their crops and letting their cattle run at large ; the other, tying up their cattle or driving them to other regions, and leaving their crops e;g:posed — there must be disputes whenever the two races come in contact. If the white man is intimate with native ways

HOW QUARRELS ARE SETTLED. 15

and can command his temper, he will generally, but by no means always, get justice. I haye known cases in which even missionaries of twenty years' standing hare only avoided a quarrel by submitting to grossly unfair demands. But when the white man is unskilful or passionate, there is invariably an affray, in which the Maori is sure to get the best of it. The European either has no weapons, or, having them, dares not use them ; the Maori is well armed with guns and ammunition, has a dozen uncles and cousins to back him if he wants help, thinks nothing of flourishing his tomahawk a few inches off his adversaries' heads, and generally closes the argument by helping himself to a cow or a horse as '' payment," which the Englishman may get back again as he can. In New Zealand it has been hitherto so notorious that a European has no chance but submission in a native quarrel, that it has become the common opinion of settlers that they are safer when unarmed. Even when the present war broke out, settlers showed very strong reluctance to take weapons into their hands. Raglan, a small settlement on the west coast, sixty miles south of Auckland, was in danger of attack from the Waikato. A shipload of arms for the defence of the settlers was sent down from Auckland. But they held a meeting, resolved that to arm was dangerous, that it was safer to trust to the friendliness of the Raglan, and the forbearance of the Waikato, natives, and so the ship was sent back to

16 THE WAIKATOS CAEE FOB NO MAN.

Auckland without being allowed to unload her cargo. When it is considered how entirely the rich white men have been at the mercy of their poor Maori neighbours, how the latter are without, and yet long for, almost all the articles of wealth which the former have, the only wonder is that there has been so little robbery and violence, and that redress could ever be obtained at all. The position was hurtful to the morals of both races ; Europeans were continually smarting under a sense of wrong, and Maories grew insolent and contemptuous, filled with an overweening confidence in their own powers and the unresisting patience of the oppressed race. But though every Maori in New 2iealand, and especially every Waikato, despised the single European as an enemy, it did not follow that the British Government, which had always an army at command, should be aB little regarded. The reason why the Waikatos never have feared and do not fear us now, even though we have invaded their country with 20,000 men, to whom they have little more than 2,000 to oppose, is the extraordinary resources their country offers for resisting invasion. It is impossible to understand the attitude taken up by the Waikatos towards the British Government without such a description of their country as will show what those natural defences are in which they place so strong and apparently so just a confidence. The point of the Waikato River nearest to Auckland is between thirty and forty miles to the south. The