XIX.

Auckland.

Stay from 22nd December, 1858, to 8th January, 1859.

Request preferred by the Colonial Government to have the coal-fields of the Drury District thoroughly examined by the geologists of the Novara.—Geographical remarks concerning New Zealand.—Auckland.—The Aborigines or Maori.—A Mass meeting.—Maori legends.—Manners and customs of the Aborigines.—The Meri-Meri.—Most important of the vegetable esculents of the Aborigines before the arrival of the Europeans.—Dr. Thomson's anthropological investigations.—Maori proverbs and poetry.—The present war and its origin.—The Maori king.—Decay of the native population and its supposed causes.—Advantages held out by New Zealand to European emigration.—Excursion to the Waiatarna valley.—Maori village of Oraki.—Kauri forests in the Manukau range.—Mr. Smith's farm in Titarangi.—St. John's College.—Intellectual activity in Auckland.—New Zealand silk.—Excursion to the coal-fields of the Drury and Hunua Districts.—New Year's Eve at the Antipodes.—Dr. Hochstetter remains in New Zealand.—The Catholic mission in Auckland.—Two Maories take service as seamen on board the Novara.—Departure.—The results of the explorations of the geologist during his stay at the island.—Crossing the meridian of 180° from West to East.—The same day reckoned twice.—The sight of the islands of Tahiti and Eimeo.—Arrival in the harbour of Papeete.

Great was the interest excited at the Antipodes by the arrival of the Novara, for besides the importance for European emigration of a country possessing a healthy climate, a fertile soil, and but thinly peopled, it was most gratifying to the members of the first Austrian Expedition to see much hitherto unsuspected natural wealth made known to the inhabitants by one of their scientific staff, and thus to prove of use to a nation which in almost every part of the globe has so incontestably borne away the palm in advancing the interests of science and the development of the treasures of the earth.

Immediately after our arrival in Auckland, the Governor of the colony, Colonel Gore Browne, renewed the request, previously made in his name to our Commodore while at Sydney by Sir William Denison, that he would permit our geologist to make a proper scientific examination of a portion of the Drury District, in which there were certain indications supposing to point to the existence of coal-fields. Upon his report would depend the exploration and the establishing of a regular system of working the mines. The little Expedition to the coal-fields, which was most munificently equipped by the Government, proved successful beyond all expectation, so much so as to induce the Governor to beg of our Commodore the further favour of permitting our geologist to make a still longer stay on the island, for the purpose of more accurately and completely surveying the dependency. The negotiations upon this subject, fraught with such happy results for both parties, will be found in the Appendix, while at the end of this chapter we shall give a succinct sketch of what was accomplished in the interests of science by the activity of Dr. Hochstetter, our geologist, during his stay in New Zealand, the more copious details of his eight months' stay at the Antipodes being reserved for a special volume.

New Zealand consists of two large islands separated from each other by Cook's Straits, a splendid channel, 150 miles long by 50 in width, and the two smaller islands, called Stewart's and Chatham Islands, about 50 by 20, separated by Foveau Straits, the latter lying in the ocean about 400 miles south-west of the province of Canterbury.

The entire group extends from 34° to 48° S., and 166° to 179° E. The greatest extent of land, from N.E. to S.W., i. e. from Cape Maria Van Diemen to South Cape, is over 1000 miles. The greatest breadth, along the parallel of 38° S. is about 200 miles, while the coast-line is several thousand miles in extent. By the constitution of 1853, New Zealand is divided into six chief provinces:—Auckland, New Plymouth (Taranaki), and Wellington in the north island, and Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, in the central islands, since which period two new provinces have been added,—Hawk Bay in the north island, and Marlborough in the middle island.

None of the remaining seven, however, is so important or possesses such geographical advantages as Auckland. Its coast-line is upwards of 900 nautical miles, while its more important rivers, such as the Waikato, Waipa, Waihó (called also the Thames), Piako, and Wairao, are navigable for small boats far into the interior. Of its 28 harbours, four, viz. Bay of Islands, Auckland, Wangaroa, and Middle Harbour, are accessible throughout the year for large ships, besides offering secure anchorage; but of the remainder only eight will admit vessels of 400 tons, while the balance can only be used by small brigs and schooners.

Auckland, the capital, lies on an isthmus about six miles in width, dividing Waitemata Harbour from that of Manukau, the first being beyond all question the best harbour on the east side, the former on the west. These two harbours furnish moreover, by the numerous streams and creeks that disembogue into them, most excellent means of communication with the interior. The products of the country through a region of 100 miles are conveyed to Waitemata by the Waihó and Piako rivers, while on the other hand the Waikato and Waipa rivers bring to the harbour of Manukau the natural products from 120 miles inland. At a comparatively small cost a cut might be carried through the isthmus, at a point where it is only a mile and a half wide, and direct water communication be thus effected between the two harbours, to the manifest advantage of the country and capital. At present the mail steamer, which comes from Sydney once a month with the European letters, berths in Manukau Harbour, near Onehunga, on account of the greater convenience of that harbour, and its being at a much less distance, whence the mails are transported in coaches across the isthmus to Auckland. Onehunga is a flourishing settlement, with interesting volcanic formations. The road thither lies through a fertile rolling country, which is, for the most part, reclaimed and under cultivation, or else depastured by large herds of handsome, powerful oxen. The three land-marks of the landscape are:—Three King's Hill, Mount Eden, and One Tree Hill. All these, of moderate elevation, were formerly crowned with páhs or native fortified villages, and were once inhabited by a large population, as is evidenced to this day by the quantities of human bones found in the lava below, and by several singular terrace-like artificial earth-works. The cottages of the settlers are handsome and clean, but of singularly small dimensions, very much the result we suppose of the dearness of building material and the high price of labour near Auckland.

According to the census of 1857 the entire population of New Zealand amounted to 108,204,[29] the white European population numbering 52,155, of whom 16,315 persons inhabited Auckland (9038 men, and 7277 women).

The aborigines (Maori in the native tongue) are officially returned at 56,049, of whom by far the larger number, above 38,000, inhabit the province of Auckland. Of all the savage races with whom England has come in contact in the course of her mighty struggles to open trade and raise humanity, the New Zealanders have hitherto proved themselves to be the most susceptible of European civilization. More than five-sixths of their number are already Christians, and have been baptized, and, settled down in comfortable residences, maintain themselves by agriculture or sailoring. More than one hundred vessels built in the colony are owned by natives, who not alone have in their hands a considerable portion of the coasting trade, but carry on business with the adjoining islands, as also with New South Wales. While Bushmen, Hottentots, Caffres, Australian negroes, all, like the Indian tribes of Canada and the United States, present the helpless type of misery and decay, all the indications here seem to promise that the splendid spectacle will be presented of one of the most savage, yet highly gifted, races of the globe being raised in the scale of humanity by education and culture, and brought permanently within the scale of civilization. Whoever has followed with critical eye the immense increase of this colony during the last twenty years, must indulge this cheering anticipation not less confidently than the traveller who has traversed the entire island totally unmolested, has been cordially welcomed in every hut, has encountered everywhere schools and Christian missions, and has seen the natives occupied solely with the avocations of peace. Those native chiefs, who from contact with civilization had already adopted the outward deportment and mode of life of the European settlers, omitted no opportunity of confessing in language of fire the consciousness of their former moral degradation, and of holding the European up for admiration, as the founder of a new era of morality and humanity in their country; nay, one Maori, who is now a zealous missionary in the interior of the island, once avowed to his hearers that he had himself as a boy eaten human flesh, and had first learned through the influence of Christianity to comprehend the abominations and wild-beast ferocity of his previous state, after which he had begun to lead a life more worthy of the dignity of manhood.

The members of our Expedition also enjoyed the opportunity of attending a Mass-meeting of Maories in the Takapuna district on the north shore of Waitemata Harbour, where they gathered, from the orations of the most influential chiefs and speakers, the liveliest conviction of their fidelity and attachment to the Queen of England and her government. We insert here a pretty full description of this remarkable meeting, as well as a brief sketch of the most interesting manners and customs of the aborigines of New Zealand, in order to enlighten the reader as to the justice of the universally expressed distrust of the capacity of the Maori for civilization, and the more readily to form an idea of the alarm and astonishment of the English Government, on being suddenly informed that the entire native population had rose in arms against the European settlers.

A wealthy and much-respected chief, named Patuóni, has been in the habit for many years past of inviting all the friendly tribes residing in his neighbourhood, as well as the most distinguished of the white settlers, to a great popular fête every Christmas. The intelligence that on the present occasion the "Kavana" (Governor), or Commander of one of Queen Victoria's allies, would attend with a numerous suite, had caused much agreeable excitement among the Maori, and they offered to send some war-canoes and two whale-boats to the coast opposite in order to convey the guests. The staff of the Expedition were however already at the place of meeting in the Takapuna district, when the war-canoes arrived at the usual place of embarkation in Auckland. Here we saw a number of large tents pitched on an eminence, and gaily adorned with English and other flags, under which were very long narrow tables, about two feet high, covered with neat little baskets elegantly woven of the leaves of the New Zealand flax, in which were cooked potatoes, roast-pork, and fish. The guests, 300 or 400 in number, sat on the ground, which was thickly covered with fern freshly gathered, some sitting cross-legged, others squatting on their heels, zealously excavating the food with their fingers, for the use of forks has not yet become a fashion among the Maori. The chief beverage was tea, and all around on the grass adjoining the tent might be seen improvised fire-places, on every one of which a huge kettle of boiling water was singing. The gait and extravagance however of but too many indicated that less harmless drinks were being supplied close by. Each as soon as he had finished his repast lighted his pipe, and mingled with the groups that were chatting about. Tobacco smoking has become a positive passion with both sexes, and even among the children of the poorer classes it is no unusual thing to see the infant carried in the arms coolly take the pipe out of its mother's mouth and begin to smoke it! The earthen pipe, broken off so short that there is barely sufficient to enable the teeth to take hold,—in one word, summing up everything to English ears—the "cuttie"—is most in favour.

Scarcely was it rumoured that the Commander of the Austrian frigate with his staff were at hand, ere the whole crowd, which up to that moment had been abandoning itself to enjoyment, suddenly dispersed pêle-mêle in wildest confusion. The gay flags were removed from the tent-peaks, and made to veil the scene of uproar; a quick but monotonous song, alternating with measured stamping with the feet, was droned out, the chiefs brandishing aloft and swinging with wild gesticulations their costly clubs (meri-meri, literally "Fire of the Gods"), made of primitive rock. Each Maori who had a club beside him swung it with wild gesticulation, while the rest tossed in the air the ends of their woollen garments. In order to give us a more complete idea of their ancient customs, a war-dance succeeded to this, in which men, women, and children took a part. Although this is nothing but a confused advance and retreat of two bodies of people arranged opposite each other in regular order, who suddenly rush towards each other with impetuous vehemence and loud discordant cries, yet the wild shrieks, the rapid motions of those who took part in it, the rolling of the eyes, the protrusion of the tongues, combined to make a formidable impression, and to give some idea of the frightful appearance of these warriors, when, instead of simulated rage, they were animated by the ferocity of real warfare with the foe! As soon as symptoms of lassitude and fatigue began to be visible among the war-dancers they arranged themselves, at the command of the old chief, Patuóni, on both sides, three ranks deep, and permitted the strangers to pass from end to end of the camp. Here we were once more welcomed in genuine New Zealand fashion by the various chiefs, some of whom endeavoured to strike up a conversation. Mr. W. Baker, Government interpreter, and Secretary to the Native Department, who had been desired by Government to attend the Novara staff to the feast, was so kind as to translate.

The first to emerge from the ranks was Paora Tuhaera of Oraki, who spoke as follows: "Welcome, O chief from a foreign shore, messenger of a king and a nation of which we only lately have heard tell! Our English friends explained to us that your countrymen have long been friends and allies of the British people, whose Queen is our protectress, and under whose laws we live in undisturbed tranquillity on our own lands. You are a stranger among us! You for the first time behold a race whose fathers passed their lives in ignorance, in war, in the practice of every evil custom. You have been present at this place and witnessed how we sought once to give vent to our passions and to scare our enemies. This spectacle you saw in peace, and no man ventured or even thought of lifting the hand against you! Yet had you come among us at the period of which I spoke, our arm would have been raised to inflict the deadly blow upon you, or your hand, which I have just pressed, would have been striking at me to compass my destruction! You have seen many lands, many perhaps fairer than this island of ours; but here there is nothing to injure us or to make us wish to live in other countries. The laws of England shield us from the hand of the aggressor, we live happy and at peace, and rejoice to welcome those who, like you, come to us on a mission of good will!"

This speech and the two following, the Commodore responded to in English, in terms of warm cordial thanks, and enlarged on the material and intellectual progress of the aborigines, all which was duly translated by Mr. Baker to the Maories.

After this Cruera Patuóni of Awataha, an elder brother of Tamati-Waka-Néni, advanced and said: "Welcome! welcome! The young men have welcomed you, and I, an old man, a friend of the Europeans from the earliest days in which they planted foot in New Zealand, I also bid you welcome! What can I say more? You have heard what we were,—you see now what we are! It needs not that I should add to what has been said by those who spoke before me. Welcome then to the land of the Maories, friends of the white man."

After several more of the younger chiefs had greeted the Commodore and staff in the most hearty manner, Hui Haupapa, of colossal stature and frank expression of countenance, made with his powerful arm a passage for himself through the compact crowd, placed himself in a somewhat theatrical position, and began in a loud voice, and in evident excitement, brandishing his meri-meri as he spoke:—

"The chiefs of this neighbourhood have welcomed thee. My tribe lives far from here, but I am here, and I bid thee welcome! Thou hast said we are happy and live at peace. It is true the laws of our Queen have contributed to this fortunate state of things. Formerly, war, murder, and spilling of blood formed our chief occupation. Even now troubles arise, which it is often difficult to smooth over. Just as thou wert landing we were engaged reading a letter informing us that a dispute of long standing between the Ngatiwhatua and the Uriohare threatened to give rise to a war. Were we still in our old Maori state we should assuredly have had recourse to arms for its settlement, but the two tribes will remember that the laws do not permit one family of our Queen's children to make war against another, and they will therefore restrain their anger in the hope that their differences may be amicably arranged. But what interest have these things for you? You came to us in peace and friendliness, take with you the love of the entire assembly, which is proud of having been visited by an officer of the great king, who is a friend of Queen Victoria and her children."

The natives, who were standing closely packed on either side, and listened in breathless silence, expressed their acquiescence by head and hand at the end of each oration. The manner in which they are accustomed to express themselves at these assemblies is quite unique. The speaker plants himself at a distance of about ten steps from his audience, whom he gradually approaches in his speech till within three feet, when he turns round in silence, resumes his former distance, and begins anew. This custom has several advantages; it gives the orator time to collect his thoughts, while his eloquence has time to sink into the heart of his hearers. Each speaker advances his opinions and sentiments with singular calmness and dignity. Only at certain "points," which seem to him to be of importance, does the orator throw up his right hand, while on his left arm, hanging by his side, lies his stone club, without which no chief would think of addressing a meeting.

During these speeches we had drawn near the groups surrounding us. The majority were dressed in European clothes, the chiefs usually wearing a black cap with gold band, the rest in the most various costumes, apparently as accident or caprice had dictated their choice. The old men were tattooed more or less, according to their rank, strongly contrasting with their European habiliments. The elder women, except that they were bare-footed, were mostly clad in European dress, some even in elegant silks and muslins, and had their lips and chins tattooed, whereas the young folk of both sexes no longer followed that custom, and hence we frequently had occasion to remark exceedingly agreeable features. Only a very small number of aborigines seemed to be contented with their own national dress, and wore either the universal blanket, or else the Cacahu, a handsome kind of cloak, very artistically made by the Maori women from the fibres of the New Zealand flax. All had the flaps of their ears pierced, and a piece of oval-shaped rock passed through the orifice, or were adorned with shark's teeth, which are usually made fast to a narrow black silk ribbon. As we inspected some of these groups, and especially were admiring their splendid figures, we came upon two individuals who had hid their heads under their blankets, and were weeping bitterly. To our inquiry as to the cause of their uncontrollable grief amid such a festive gathering, we were told that they were two relatives who had long been separated, and were thus celebrating their meeting again. Friends and relations usually express their joy at seeing each other again by sitting for hours together, according to their friendship or esteem, rubbing noses and sobbing bitterly, and weeping over each other the while! If unobserved this will go on with uncovered head; otherwise they will draw a blanket over themselves. Kissing and hand-shaking have only become a fashion among the New Zealanders since their more intimate intercourse with Europeans.

As we withdrew from this singular never-to-be-forgotten people's festival, and were on our way to our boats, the entire merry multitude assembled on the slope in front of the tents, and to show, it may be supposed, that they were not unacquainted with the usages of other countries, gave, with genuine English good-will, three rousing hurrahs in honour of the departing guests!

The study of the language and history of the traditions, habits, and morals of the aborigines of New Zealand, must necessarily be of special interest on account of our presumed acquaintance with the race they are descended from, and the important conclusions thence deducible as to the settlement of Polynesia at large.

A Maori legend relates that their first progenitors came in seven canoes from the island of Hawaiki (i. e. cradle of the race), one of the Sandwich Islands, 4000 miles to the N.E. of New Zealand.[30] These canoes had outriggers to prevent foundering, and were called Amatiatia, whereas those they now use, which are also of very simple construction, are named Wakka, and have evidently borrowed their form from the dried seed of the New Zealand honey-suckle (Rewarewa). The first canoe that came from Hawaiki was named Arawa. It brought over Honmaitawiti, Tamakekapua, Toi, Maka, Hei, Jhenga, Tauninihi, Rongokako, and others, and these were the first settlers from whom the New Zealanders are descended.

One of the earlier authors respecting these isles of the Antipodes, Richard Taylor, the missionary, relates that in 1840 there was living in the village of Para-para, on the road from Kaitaia to Doubtless Bay, an aged New Zealand chief named Hahakai, who was thoroughly conversant with the history of his native land, and used to enumerate twenty-six generations since the first arrival on the island of the ancestors of his tribe. Taylor is of opinion, however, that a number of these generations must be considered as divinities, and that hardly more than fifteen generations or five hundred years can have elapsed since the first vagrants from the north settled in New Zealand.[31] At that period they knew neither the custom of Taboo (the sanctity and inviolability of all things) nor cannibalism, both of which customs they first began to practise in their adopted country. As the aborigines before the arrival of the Europeans possessed no written language, these traditions were usually handed down from father to son, while one or more relatives of the more influential families of each tribe were duly set apart to study their traditions, as well as their laws (tikanga) and religious ceremonies. The persons thus educated supplied for them the place of annals, books of laws, or written precedents.

Both Taylor and Dieffenbach incline to the opinion of older authors respecting these twin islands, namely, that at the period when these immigrants from the north arrived there, they were inhabited by another dark race of a different descent. Against this hypothesis, however, there is to be urged that not the slightest vestige of any such race can be produced, in addition to which there is but one language spoken throughout the extent of the islands, with dialects few in number and hardly differing from each other. In none of the many Maori legends is any mention made, either express or implied, of any such circumstance, which one would think would hardly have been passed over in silence, had the islands at the first landing of the emigrants from Hawaiki been inhabited by another race. The great disparity in physical frame between individuals, recalling now the Malay, now the Chinese type, and even the African and Jewish as well, is much more probably explained by the intermixture of the New Zealanders with the inhabitants of the various island groups, which they visited at the period of their migration.

The Maories are on the whole a handsome race of men, well-built and powerful, generally not less in stature than the Europeans, whom they resemble somewhat in their complexion, which gives the idea rather of being embrowned than naturally brown, by their thin, weak hair, sometimes black, sometimes of a chesnut brown, and whom they closely approach in their features. Indeed full-blood Maories sometimes have such a European aspect, that even the numberless tattoo marks upon their faces do not destroy the impression, but have rather the appearance of those "painted faces" we are accustomed to see in actors, when they wish to give their countenances a more effective cast upon the boards.

The custom of tattooing, or "Moko," is one of those most characteristic of this remarkable people, and is worth being described in detail, inasmuch as it has been almost entirely discontinued since the diffusion of Christianity, for, according to the sentiments of the missionaries, every native, henceforth, who submits to this operation is held to have renounced Christianity, and to have openly dubbed himself a heathen. It has been suggested as the most probable explanation of the rapid spread of this painful practice, that the "Moko" imparts to the countenance a sterner expression in presence of the enemy, and that the Maori women attach more importance to the caresses of a tattooed man than of one whose visage is unmarked. Possibly tattooing was a symbol of puberty in both sexes, and a token of their being of marriageable age.

At first they contented themselves with marking the face with certain straight lines, called by the natives Moko-Kuri, which was the stage it had attained when Cook visited these islands. The present complicated system of tattooing was first introduced by one of the tribes of the east coast by a certain Mataora, and the first man whose face was thus tattooed was named Onetunga.

Usually this painful operation is performed by a priest (Tohunga), who paints, or rather sketches out, one of the many different models with black colouring matter upon the face of the person to be tattooed, having first obtained his opinion, by showing him his visage reflected in a tub-full of water for lack of a mirror. As soon as the latter has signified his assent to the design selected, the further process is begun.

The instruments used were the following:—

The "Uhi," a small piece of wood, one extremity of which is armed with a small piece of sharp-edged bone, set in a vertical direction. This needle-like tool, which was formerly made either of human bones or of those of the albatross, has been since supplanted by proper steel instruments.

The "Ta" or "Tuki," a stalk of fern, which is pressed upon the Uhi in order that it might enter the skin, and bring out the desired pattern.

The necessary colouring stuff (Ngarahu) is made from the soot of the wood, when burnt, of the Kauri fir (Dammara Australis), which is collected in the leaves of the Ti-reed (Cordyline Australis), and is prepared with an infusion of the bark of the Hináu (Elæocarpus Hinau), in the form of small cones.

Immediately before the tattooing begins, the colouring matter thus prepared is moistened with the juice of the fruit of Tupa-kihi (Coriaria Sarmentosa). The complete "Moko" comprises the face, the hips, and the upper surface of the thigh as far as the knee. Every separate tattooing has its appropriate name and its special position. Dieffenbach counts 17, and Richmond Taylor 19 of these, distinguishable by their several markings.

The operation is of so severe a nature, that very frequently it cannot be completed without endangering the life of the individual. Only one instance is on record, in which a native sat out the whole formidable process at one sitting, and he died just as the last line was finished. Usually the first tattooing took place at the 18th year, and was continued at various intervals. During the process, the patient lies on the ground with his head reposing on the bosom of the Tohunga, who holds the "Uhi" in his left hand, and the "Ta" or "Tuki" in his right, which he strikes upon the former with a rapid constant motion. As soon as an incision is made, the blood is wiped off with a piece of fine flax, and the colouring matter rubbed in. While this is going on the priests and the friends standing by keep up a continual chant, in order to cheer the patient and stimulate his courage.

After the operation the face swells, and for some time presents a downright hideous appearance, and instances have occurred in which it has been permanently distorted. Usually, however, the wounds heal after ten or twelve days, when the incised lines made by the "Uhi" present a bluish-black appearance.

With the women the operation is much more simple, being confined to one or two vertical or horizontal lines upon the lip and chin. This tattooing occasionally, however, takes place twice, in order to bring out a black colour, as the New Zealanders consider a black lip as the very ideal of beauty. It also figures as such in the songs chanted by the Tohunga on such occasions, of which the following stanzas may be presented as a specimen:—

The Tohunga is usually well remunerated, and frequently in the course of his chant makes allusion to the amount of reward he expects, and indeed sometimes stimulates the generosity of his patient by singing amongst other ditties, something like

The marks, when completely brought out, are so manifold and various that hardly any two New Zealanders are to be found who are tattooed entirely alike. Accordingly these markings serve neither to indicate variety of tribe, nor difference of rank. A slave, if he possess the means, may have his face tattooed with the same ornaments as his master. However it appears, as we were informed by Colonel Browne, that on the occasion of the chiefs ratifying the treaty with the English, they superscribed the various documents with the lines upon their faces, like so much heraldic blazonry, instead of writing their names.

Another remarkable custom of the Maori consists in the right of the priest to declare certain persons and things taboo, that is, consecrated and inviolable. This custom, which is nothing else than a religious ordinance instituted for political purposes, is frequently most beneficial in its consequences. So great and universal was the respect paid to the law of taboo, that even hostile tribes were in the habit during war of leaving unharmed all persons and things thus protected. A plot of ground planted with esculents, a fruit tree, a sick person, a "lady in the straw,"—all these were so many objects declared holy and inviolate.

Formerly polygamy was tolerably frequent among the Maori, although instances were by no means rare in which a man had but one wife to whom he continued faithful. At present this custom, incompatible with the Christian notion of the family tie, is confined to those few chiefs who are still heathens.

Usually the young men and girls marry very young. English travellers state they have seen a mother only 11 years of age! Usually the first wife of a young chief is much older than himself, but, on the other hand, instances were frequent of old men marrying young girls. The daughters of men of very high rank frequently remained unmarried.

The mortality among infants under a year old is very great. At present not more than three children are reckoned to each family, and the number of barren marriages is much greater than those that prove fruitful.

Infanticide is at present as rare as in Europe. In former times, especially during the wars of the interior, it was by no means unusual for a mother to put her children to death, especially if females, in order to spare herself the trouble of nursing and bringing up. Male offspring, on the contrary, were taken more care of, because they would increase the aggressive power of the tribe, and were looked upon as the avengers of injuries sustained and not yet compensated. Illegitimate children they almost always put to death, either by strangling them or compressing the mouth and nostrils. The practice of infanticide among the weaker sex took its rise chiefly in the life of slavery which was the normal state of the women during their heathen condition. Such was the reasoning once avowed by a murderess of her child:—"Why should my child live? to be brought up as the slave of the wives of my husband, to be beaten and kicked by them!"

There seems to be some mistake in the assertion of several writers upon the customs prevalent in New Zealand, to the effect that on the death of a Maori it is customary to sacrifice his nearest relatives. Only when a great chief dies, are some of his slaves occasionally put to death at the same time, that their spirits may accompany him who has preceded them to the shadowy land, to serve him there, and execute his commands as they did while on earth.

So too it occasionally happened that, on the death of a much-esteemed chief, a hostile incursion was made by a number of warriors, in order to provide a victim from another tribe, and thus make it feel the same pang as that which they were suffering in the loss of their chief. Suicide, on the death of a near relative, is even at present far from uncommon as a token of inconsolable grief. A low estimate of the value of life seems to be a leading feature in the character of the New Zealander; it needs but a slight cause to make him take his own life or plunge into some abyss.

Slavery, to the extent that existed among the aborigines in former times, is no longer to be found, though many prisoners taken in war are still held as slaves by their captors. In many cases the slaves prefer to stay with their present masters, if they have been well treated, rather than return among their own race, from whom they feel themselves estranged, and by whom it is probable they have long been forgotten.

The introduction of Christianity was immediately followed by the manumission of all slaves throughout the islands. Under the old laws, the owner of a slave was undisputed master of his person and property, and might put him to death, or sell him,—in short, do with him as he pleased. Everything that the slave possessed belonged to his master. Slaves were usually made in battle, either during the storming of a fortified village, or páh, or during flight before a victorious enemy. Each warrior might take as many prisoners as he could, who thereupon became his incontestable property. Chiefs, however, and youths of rank were usually put to death on the spot.

The offspring of such prisoners of war were also slaves, and equally the property of their masters. However, it frequently happened that a young slave married a girl of the tribe of his conqueror, in which case their offspring were no longer considered as slaves, although they were reputed of low rank. According to the old Maori laws, there were no slaves other than those taken in war and their descendants.

Among the free Maori, there are a number of varying grades; but the principles on which they are bestowed do not seem as yet to have been accurately ascertained by any European observers. Any individual who is able to trace his descent from distinguished parentage of either sex, has the right to assume the title of a chief. As a rule, the elder branch of a family takes precedence over the younger. The heir-male was always regarded as the head of the family, and in the olden times was its priest or tohunga.

The wars of the Maori were chiefly carried on with spears and clubs of various shapes and sizes, but since the arrival of the Europeans the use of fire-arms has become almost universal. Hángi, one of the most renowned and formidable chiefs, who visited England in 1826, on his return exchanged all the splendid presents made him by George IV. for European fire-arms and ammunition, in order the more readily to subjugate all the races on the island by means of these new and dangerous weapons, and make himself omnipotent. Since that period the older warlike implements (taiaha, paki, ehi) have only been kept as objects of curiosity for the various chiefs to show.

But the most remarkable weapon of the New Zealanders, which was held by the chiefs in high honour as an emblem of rank, a sceptre so to speak, and which descended from generation to generation, is a piece of nephrite beautifully polished, from 10 to 20 inches long, 4 to 5 inches broad, and half an inch thick, called by the natives Meri-meri, "the fire of the gods," which is pierced at one end, and is usually attached to a cord passed round the hand. In the days of heathenism the Meri-meri was used occasionally as a weapon of defence, as also to scalp prisoners.

The various weapons of nephrite that we had an opportunity of examining were of a pale green colour, which became transparent at the sharp edge, which ran all round, and had a peculiar flame-like glow.

The stone from which these costly weapons are made (the manufacture of which, in consequence of the dearth of suitable instruments before the arrival of the Europeans, was often the work of several generations), is found in loose fragments among the various mountain-streams along the west coast of the central island. The places where they are found in greatest abundance are Arahura and Ohonu on the N.W. coast, beyond Wakatipu, an inland lake, one of the sources of the river Matan, and Piopiotahi, a mountain-torrent on the S.W. coast. At the last-mentioned place, which, although we have little reliable information concerning it, has long been known to seal-hunters, a gigantic block of nephrite, many tons weight, was found in the middle of the current, which owing to its size was valueless, because useless to the aborigines. A sealer, who visited this coast once during a flying visit to Sydney, overheard a remark that this description of stone was much prized in China, and being aware of the existence of this colossal block of nephrite at Piopiotahi, he already beheld himself the possessor of considerable wealth. A company was quickly got up, with a merchant from Manila at the head, and a number of miners were forthwith sent to the spot, in order to blast the huge, unshapen rock into fragments admitting of easy transport. After immense labour and incredible hardships a few tons of the rock thus blasted were dispatched by the labourers to Manila for the purpose of being tested and examined. The workmen remained some months at Piopiotahi, anxiously awaiting intelligence of the results of their toil. At last, when they had about exhausted their provisions, and were still without intelligence, they buried the fruits of their exertions, and dispersed themselves among the small Maori settlements adjoining Foveau Straits.

The samples of nephrite were duly sent from Manila to China, where they proved to be of very poor quality, being disfigured by small black specks. For some years after small quantities of nephrite were annually brought for sale from the Piopiotahi to Wellington, where they found plenty of purchasers among the natives of that district at about 1s. per lb.

In former days the Maori used to make long and difficult journeys from the east to the west coast of the island, in search for the much-prized stone. When found it was usually shaped and polished by rubbing it upon a flat sandstone block; this operation was so long and arduous that its completion was often the work of two generations; and this is probably the main reason why such value is attached to it. The extraordinary hardness of the stone, which admits of its being ground to a very sharp edge, also made it an excellent substitute for iron in the manufacture of hatchets and chisels, the New Zealanders having only become acquainted with that metal since their intercourse with the Europeans.

The shape which the Maories gave the Meri-meri when completed, resulting from the absence of implements with which to manipulate this stone, which is so hard that even iron does not bite it, probably gave rise to the notion that when found the stone is in a soft state. Sandstone, however, is found efficacious in the process just as it polishes iron also, and the holes requisite for suspending it, are made by the very simple process of drilling with a piece of pointed hard wood, with fine sand and a little water.

Cannibalism may be said to have entirely ceased in New Zealand. Any allusion to this revolting practice is very painful to the New Zealander of the present day, as reminding him of his former low position in the scale of nations. Every time that we endeavoured to make any inquiry of the natives respecting this custom, they withdrew with an ashamed look.

In like manner dog's flesh has ceased to be an article of food, ever since the introduction of pork by Captain Cook. Formerly the native or Maori dog, which at present is very scarce, was eaten on certain occasions, while its blood played a somewhat conspicuous part in Maori pharmacy.

The vegetables most extensively used for food before the arrival of the Europeans were:—

1. Raorao (Pteris esculenta), a fern three or four feet high, which covers vast tracts of land, and the root of which, before the introduction of the Peruvian potato, formed the chief subsistence of the Maori.

2. Kumara (Convolvulus Batata), or sweet potato, the most valuable of New Zealand products. Various legends of adventure exist among the natives respecting its first introduction. The harvest-time for this plant is accompanied by a grand festival, and the fields in which the Kumara is grown, as well as the labourers engaged in raising it, were declared by the priests taboo, or consecrated. Of the varieties of the Kumara, one, the size of a yam-root, is named Kai-pakeha, or "white man's food," and is exceedingly palatable. The common potato (Solanum tuberosum) was first brought hither from the Cape of Good Hope, by Captain Cook, who planted it here.

3. Mamaku (Cyathea Medullaris), one of the most elegant tree-ferns in the country, whose whole stalk, sometimes 20 feet high, is edible, and is sufficient to maintain a considerable number of persons. The pith of the Mamaku, when cooked and dried in the sun, is an excellent substitute for sago.

Fermented liquors, like the Kawa of the South Sea Islanders, or the Chicha of the Indians of Southern and Central America, seem never to have been known to the New Zealanders.[32] The only fruits from which liquors are occasionally prepared are the Tawa (Laurus Tawa) and those of the Trepa-Kihi (Coriaria Sarmentosa), the latter of which, however, when the stamens of many are mingled together, is apt to be followed by symptoms of poisoning, resulting in violent convulsions and death.

Although their short stay at Auckland, coupled with other indispensable business, did not admit making an adequate number of measurements of the physical proportions of both sexes of natives, we nevertheless had an opportunity of measuring some individuals, whose appearance seemed to present a very fair average.

Here we ought to remark that many years ago, Dr. A. Thomson, surgeon of the 58th regiment, impressed apparently with the value of these experiments as aiding the diagnostics of various races of men, had made a great number of measurements of the natives during a long residence on the island. These, however, were mainly confined to height, weight, magnitude of chest, and physical strength of individuals, but which are of much value, having been compared at the time with similar results obtained from an equal number of British soldiers, thus furnishing most interesting standards of comparison for the two races. Dr. Thomson measured, for instance, the height of 147 natives, and found them to average 5 ft. 6 ³⁄₄ inches. Of these, 35 measured 5 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 7 in.; 20 from 5 ft. 5 in. to 5 ft. 6 in.; 2 from 5 ft. 11 in. to 6 ft.; one 6 ft. 1 in.; and one who measured 6 ft. 5 ¹⁄₂ in. Of 617 men of the 58th regiment, the average height was 5 ft. 7 ³⁄₄ inches.

Like the English, the Maories attain their full stature after they have completed their 20th year, the average height of 46 individuals between 16 and 20 being 5 ft. 6 in., whereas of individuals between 21 and 25 it was 5 ft. 6 ³⁄₄ inches, the average height of the human race in the temperate climes of Europe being 5 ft. 5 in. to 5 ft. 6 in., according to Haller.

The weight of New Zealanders, as compared with that of English soldiers, gave the following remarkable result in the case of 150 men of both races who were examined at Auckland:—

8Maoriesweighedmorethan112lbs.,butlessthan126lbs.avoirdupois.

25""""126""""140""

54""""140""""154""

41""""154""""168""

19""""168""""182""

3""""182""""196""

The average weight of a Maori, deducting their mats and clothes, is about 141 lbs.; of 617 Europeans (both English and Irish), who were weighed, the average weight was 143 lbs. Dr. Thompson found the natives under 21 less fully developed than soldiers of the same age, but after that the Maori began to turn the beam as regards weight.

The girth of the chest, measured above the nipples, gave as the average of 151 natives 35.36 inches; of 628 soldiers of the 58th regiment, 35.71 inches. Between 16 and 20 the chest of the native is more than half an inch less than that of the European; a little later it is found to be about the same.

In order to test the physical and muscular strength of the Maori, Dr. Thompson made them lift the utmost weights they could from the ground, with the following results from 31 individuals on whom he experimented:—

6New Zealanderslifted410to420lbs.

2""400"410"

5""390"400"

3""380"390"

6""360"380"

5""340"360"

2"" 336"

2""250"266"

The average of the foregoing gives 367 lbs., the highest being 420 lbs., the lowest 250 lbs. A similar experiment made with 31 soldiers of the 58th regiment (averaging in weight 144 lbs.) gave the following figures:—

2soldierslifted504lbs.

6""460"to480lbs.

14""400""460"

9""350""400"

Thus the average weight which the British soldiers could lift from the ground was 422 lbs., or 55 lbs. more than the Maori.

Perron in his "Voyage des Découvertes aux Terres Australes," observed as the result of numerous experiments, that the weakest Frenchman had more muscular strength than the most powerful native of Van Diemen's Land, and that the weakest Englishman was stronger than the strongest native of New Holland. Judging by that standard, the Maories are of a far more powerful build than the Australian aborigines.

What appears to us most interesting in the results of Dr. Thomson's observations, is the immense disparity of the muscular strength of the Maori as compared with that of the Anglo-Saxon race, although in height, weight, and girth they so closely resemble them. The main reason of this astonishing dissimilarity is undoubtedly due in the main to the exclusively vegetable diet of the New Zealanders, which it is well known promotes the deposition of fat in the system, without proportionately increasing the amount of muscular tissue. Moreover the uniform, uneventful life of the Maories by no means tends to the development of muscular strength.

Dr. Thomson justly remarks that the foregoing facts completely demolish the arguments of those who find a pleasure in representing the world as degenerating, and mankind as much less powerful and free from blemish than in former ages, ere trade and civilization had exercised their unpropitious influence upon the habits and manners of mankind. For here we have the New Zealanders, living up to the present century a life of the most primitive simplicity, yet evidently in respect of mere corporeal strength lagging far behind the denizens of a country, where culture and machinery have brought about social changes of such magnitude, as no other civilized people on the globe can show.

Of few races inhabiting the southern hemisphere, have the proverbs, poetry, songs, and traditions been the subject of such zealous study as those of the Maori, and no one has made more careful investigation into this interesting feature than the present Governor, Sir George Grey, who set on foot most minute inquiries into the older history of the Maori, which he published in a variety of valuable works,[33] although several of the missionaries, as also educated settlers of many years' standing in the colony, have extended our acquaintance with the Maori race, by the publication of a grammar and dictionary of the Maori language, as also many valuable works upon the natural history of the New Zealand Islands.[34]

To this most honourable and widely-diffused activity, science is indebted for a specimen of literature which furnishes an excellent sample of the high cultivation of the native race, and makes us acquainted with moral axioms and pieces of poetry which would do honour even to a poet of Caucasian descent.

We subjoin a few adages and short poems of Sir George Grey's valuable collections, which more especially indicate the dignified character and originality of thought of this singular people, and are taken from a larger number embraced in Sir George Grey's collection of "Proverbial and Popular Sayings" already mentioned.

Not less conspicuous is the vigour displayed in the poetical conceptions of the Maori. There is in them a depth of sentiment, a vividness of imagery, which would almost make us doubtful of their true origin, if the original were not at hand to compare with.

Thus, for example, how beautifully do the following lines, borrowed from a dirge for the chief Te-Huhu, describe the wild anguish of a warlike people, mourning the loss of a beloved leader:—

DIRGE OF TE-HUHU.

As deeply imbued with the spirit of true poetry is the following dirge of a mother, a heartfelt effusion of maternal affliction for the loss of an only daughter:—

A LAMENT FOR NGARO.

The truly paternal interest and attention bestowed by the Government on the destinies of the New Zealanders, and on the means being adopted to raise them morally and materially, as also the repeated asseverations of loyalty, fidelity, and gratitude towards the British nation, which were constantly in the mouth of the New Zealanders (the Gascons of the South, as an English author nicknames them), gave no reason to anticipate that the colony was about to become the scene of a war, which can hardly have any other result than the total extinction of the small remnant of the Maori; for although the English troops have hitherto encountered a severe and protracted resistance, and the Maori, intrenched in their Páhs, required Armstrong guns, bombs, and heavy artillery to be brought against them ere they yielded, yet to the impartial observer the issue of the contest cannot be for a moment doubtful. This unhappy contest originated in the sale of some land in the province of Taranaki, or New Plymouth, on the S.W. shores of the Northern Island. A native, named Te Teira (John Taylor), had sold to Government, under the provisions of the treaty of Waitangi, a small piece of land adjoining New Plymouth. Rangitakí, or as he is better known by his Christian name, Wiremu Kingi (William King), a resolute and powerful chief of the Ngatiawa tribe, opposed the sale, on the ground that Te Teira had in fact no right to dispose of this land without his consent, and obstructed the surveyors sent by Government to measure the piece of ground. On their being reinforced somewhat later, Kingi took up arms to resist them, and intrenched himself on the property in dispute. How little the Colonial Government intended to encroach upon the Maori privileges, is best shown by the circumstance that the Ngatiawa tribe, and their allies of the Taranaki, are but 3000 in number, men, women, and children all told, who claim as their property districts covering an area of 2,000,000 acres, and during the last twenty years have only cultivated some small patches along the coast. The white settlers also number about 3000, and with the consent of Government have, during that period, purchased 40,000 acres, of which hardly one-fourth part is devoted to agricultural purposes. On 17th March, 1860, Kingi was at last attacked by the English troops under Colonel Gold. This was the commencement of a series of sanguinary combats, carried on with the most desperate obstinacy,[39] and the more serious, as it stands out in singularly bold relief, that the majority of the missionaries, Bishop Selwyn and Archdeacon Hadfield at their head, take part with the Maories, and that the learned justice, Dr. Martin, endeavours to prove that the war has broken out entirely in consequence of a breach of the rights of property by the Colonial Government, and therefore that the conduct of the recusant chief, so far from being a rebellion, was a bare vindication of right! Nay, it has even been openly stated (and it throws an interesting light upon certain political complications in Europe) that the Protestant missionaries and certain former protégés of the Government are chiefly to blame for the difficulties now existing between the English and the natives. Amongst these adversaries a certain Mr. Davis, formerly official translator and interpreter, a highly-educated but calculating man, who once sung the praises of Sir George Grey, and among other works has published the Maori Mementos,[40] so interesting in a historical point of view, hit upon the clever notion, in company with a Maori named William Thompson, or "The King-maker," of instigating the natives to rebellion. With this object in view, they organized far in the interior, among the tribes hitherto but little civilized, immense popular gatherings, at which in long speeches they always contrived to come back to the assertion that the Maories and not the English were the real lords of the soil, and that they therefore were entitled to be governed by a king selected from among themselves. Thompson, thoroughly versant in the foibles and vanities of his countrymen, and supported by ambitious, crafty, intriguing foreigners, was speedily master of the situation, and it is much less matter of surprise that in 1858 a king was chosen in the person of Potatáu[41]-te-Whero-Whero, one of the most renowned of the Waikato tribe, than that the Government, from the year 1854, suffered this conduct to go unpunished, and with cool indifference beheld the movement grow in proportion without taking the slightest precautionary measures!

Only by such indulgence, not to say negligence, did it become possible for the native league against the sale of land, and the accompanying King movement, to have attained their present importance, the number engaged in them having risen to a total of 15,000 able-bodied warriors. Since the restrictions recently placed on the importation of weapons and ammunition, there have been imported during the last three years fire-arms, powder, lead, and caps to the value of £50,000, so that we may estimate their present supply of gunpowder at 100,000 lbs. at the least, and the fire-arms, exclusive of those imported at the time of Hongi, at about 20,000 stand.

Already, at Christmas, 1858, when the staff of our Expedition were passing a week or two in Auckland, there was a noticeable amount of political agitation in various parts of the interior, and we ourselves witnessed some chiefs, friendly to the Government, who before starting for a great Maori meeting near Drury offered to the Governor their good services, and asked his orders. The Maori chiefs, whom Colonel Browne received in his study, could only be distinguished from white men by the wonderfully copious tattooing on their faces, and were in all other respects attired exactly like Europeans. Some wore black round hats and blouses, others wore caps. Only in the flaps of their ears they carried small pieces of green nephrite, while suspended round the neck by a thick chord was the inevitable club-shaped meri-meri, that renowned stone weapon which descends as an heir-loom in families, and is so highly prized that a New Zealander will pay as high as £100 for one. The chiefs candidly remarked that at this gathering the selection of a Maori king would come up for decision, and they therefore wished, as loyal and true subjects of the Queen of England, which they said they always had been and wished to continue, to know from the lips of her representative how they ought to act in such a case. Colonel Browne, who like most of the British settlers in New Zealand seemed to attach but little importance to the whole Maori movement, or, if so, did not like to make it known, simply thanked the chiefs for this renewed expression of their loyal sentiments, adding in the spirit of Maori oratory that "he had already considered them as good friends both to himself and the Government, and therefore left them to act as they saw best without further pledge, for he felt fully assured, if the chief (who had addressed him) should go to this gathering he might feel as if his own right hand were there, and everything therefore would result entirely as he could wish." Unhappily these anticipations were not realized, but on the contrary a war burst forth out of the long-despised movement, of such dimensions, and of such terrible cruelty, that the results of the civilization of the last twenty years have been seriously imperilled, and the original Maori, divesting himself of the whitewash of superficial Christianity, has become suddenly visible in all his savage thirst for blood. We do not indeed believe that the whole race have been seized with this much-to-be-lamented proclivity towards their old barbarism, nor that the application of the proverb (parodied from the celebrated mot of Napoleon), "Scratch the Maori and you will find the savage beneath," receives its full illustration here; but neither, on the other hand, can we resist the conviction that a long continuance of hostilities will foster old customs, and that a war waged with ever-increasing animosity must ultimately result in the decay and extinction of the New Zealand aborigines.

Independently of this, there was visible, even during the former days of peace and tranquillity, so marked a falling off of the Maori population, that the Colonial Government felt called upon to institute most minute inquiries as to the supposed causes of this lamentable feature. In a very exhaustive work upon this subject, by Mr. F. D. Fenton,[42] we find for example that the proportion of births and deaths among the entire population—the former of which in England is 1 : 59, and the latter 1 : 34, and among the white settlers of New Zealand is 1 : 136 and 1 : 25—gives among the aborigines the following startling results,—deaths 1 : 33.04, births 1 : 67.13. The cause of this appalling decay of the Maori race, which has been steadily going on since 1830, is not alone due to the contact of the natives with civilization, but chiefly to the sanguinary wars between the various races, of which New Zealand was the theatre for a series of years, and the natural results of those wars. For it was not merely that in their constant battles the flower of their respective tribes lost their lives,[43] but the mothers, to facilitate their own escape, put to death most of the female infants at the breast. Upon this followed, apparently in consequence of the great privations of their wandering life, through hard work and want of nutritious food, a serious sterility among the female sex. Whereas, according to Muret, out of 487 women only 20 (or 1 in 24) are barren on the average, the proportion among the Maori amounts to 155 in every 444, or 1 in 2.86.

The want of nutritious and wholesome food, their diet consisting mainly of salt-fish, roots, and fruits, the absence of clothing, or any care for the body, their wretched abodes, and exposure to the weather, all these causes must greatly contribute to the diminution of the race, as affecting the conditions of sound health of the present generation, and tending to produce those forms of disease, such as scrofula, pulmonia, phthisis, &c., by which the Maories and their offspring are at present decimated. Dr. Fenton also adduces the intermarriage of near relations among the New Zealanders as one prominent cause of their disease and physical degeneracy. These near alliances, however, at least among the lower classes, do not seem so frequent as Dr. Fenton imagined, as is apparent from the surprising diversity of physiognomy and colour of skin. The chiefs indeed of the tribes, who migrated from the north some four centuries since, may indeed have so frequently intermarried that they now constitute little other than a large family connection, but the populace have most undoubtedly made frequent alliances with the inhabitants of the adjoining island groups, as they are to this day accustomed to do with the whites, from which latter cross results the unhappy bastard race Paketa-Maori, which, like the quadroons of Louisiana and the mulattoes of Hayti, or the mestizoes of the Indian races of South America, despising the pure blacks and looked down upon by the whites, are the sworn foes of both.

It seems to us too hazardous a speculation to go into minute investigations as to the decay of the Maori race, and the most suitable means of averting that disaster, at the very moment when their foreign conquerors, in order to strengthen their power, are actually engaged in a war of annihilation with the aborigines.[44] It is much more important, and will better repay our time, to enumerate the advantages which must accrue to European, especially German, immigrants into a country where the natives have played out their part.

As already remarked, there are few countries beyond the limits of Europe which are so favoured as regards climate, fertility of soil, natural wealth, and geographical situation,[45] or hold out such excellent prospects of ultimate comfort and prosperity, as New Zealand. The mean temperature of the whole islands for the year is 56° Fahr., and is 5° less at the south, and in the north about 4° higher, so that, for example, Auckland possesses the same temperature as Florence, Rome, Marseilles, or Toulon.[46] Gales are frequent along the coast, and the damp south winds known as "bursters" are exceedingly disagreeable and oppressive, but they do not on the whole affect the health of the inhabitants. According to Dr. Thomson's observations, it would seem that of every 1000 soldiers in the various British military stations 8.25 die in New Zealand, 14 in Great Britain, 18 in Malta, 20 in Canada.[47]

Of the superficial area of New Zealand, which, if we include Stewart's and Chatham Islands, may be estimated at 75,000,000 acres, one-third consists of forest and bush capable of being reclaimed for agricultural purposes, one-third of meadow, grass-pasture, and valley, well adapted for cultivation, and the remaining one-third of barren rock, or sandy desert, besides lakes and rivers.

The amount of land, in various holdings, reclaimed and made fruitful throughout New Zealand for the year 1857 was 190,000 acres, of which 121,648 were arable land, sown with esculents (chiefly wheat, oats, potatoes, and grass for fodder) and fruit. Of late years the annual increase of land reclaimed has been 40 per cent. It is calculated that each new arrival from Europe is equivalent to the cultivation of four acres of land, and the breeding of 30 cattle. The cost of clearing amounts in New Zealand to from £2 to £5 per acre.

Hence it is that the Colonial Government are straining every nerve, by holding out certain material advantages and inducements, to attract land-purchasers and handicraftsmen to a country, which, inhabited at present by not more than 130,000 human beings, is quite capable of supporting 30,000,000. The "Auckland Waste Land Act," besides giving every necessary information as to the unreclaimed districts (where land is sold at ten shillings per acre), also contains certain arrangements, by virtue of which intending emigrants of the labouring classes, who shall come out at their own expense, receive some assistance to enable them to settle on certain proportions of the land which the Government presents to them by way of indemnification for the expenses of their voyage, in the proportion of 40 acres to each person above 40 years of age, and 20 acres to all between 5 and 17 years.[48] The sole condition attached by the Government to this land-indemnity is that the emigrant bind himself to remain five years in the province; which period once elapsed, he may dispose of the land at his pleasure. In order to encourage persons accustomed to tuition to settle in Auckland, all persons who are fitted to instruct children in elementary knowledge and English grammar, on their having discharged such duties for five years to the satisfaction of Government, are entitled to a grant of 80 acres of land.

The most important products and articles grown for export are, all sorts of cereals, wool, and ship-timber. A marked increase has taken place in potato cultivation, of which in 1857 there were exported 4430 tons, value £23,328, and in 1858, 6116 tons, value £33,056. Of building timber of all sorts there were exported in 1857 £12,205, and in 1859 £34,376 in value.

One of the most valuable trees of the New Zealand forests is the Kauri pine (Dammara Australis). This elegant tree, 80 to 120 feet in height, furnishes the English ship-building yards with a large number annually of rounded logs, 74 to 84 feet in length, of better quality as well as more lasting than those of the Norwegian or American pines.[49] The Kauri or yellow pine also produces the kind of rosin so well known as Dammara rosin, of which this valuable tree produces such quantities, that in those districts where the Kauri tree has long since yielded to the axe of civilization, it has been found in immense masses on the soil, in a high-dried state. The Kauri rosin of commerce is not therefore procured, as with us, by making an incision in the tree, but is actually dug out of the earth, into which to the despair of the farmer it has often percolated for several feet, rendering the soil barren. During our excursions we came repeatedly upon whole tracts of rosin-fields, which were covered several feet thick with this substance. The Dammara pine only grows on the northernmost island, and chiefly in the northern parts.

In Auckland we saw several pieces of Kauri rosin weighing 100 lbs. In 1857, 2521 tons, worth £35,250, of this substance were exported, chiefly for its valuable properties as a varnish, and for "fixing" certain colours used in the calico manufacture. It has also of late been extensively used in the manufacture of candles.

The cultivation of the Harakeke, or indigenous flax (Phormium tenax), might be made to conduce greatly to the wealth of the country, if some mechanical process could be invented which should without too much expense liberate the fibres from their hard envelope, which is the only obstacle in the way of its competing successfully with Russian flax. Impressed with the importance of developing the cultivation of Phormium tenax, the Colonial Government has offered a reward of £1500 for the invention of such a machine as shall bark the native flax, and prepare it for and make it saleable in the European market. At present no more than 50 or 60 cwt. of the flax, worth about £800, is exported from Auckland. The New Zealand flax surpasses almost every known plant in the strength and toughness of its fibres, its ratio as compared with the fibres of European plants of the same species standing as high as 27:7. For Great Britain the cultivation of this flax is not alone of great interest in an economic point of view, but is even politically of importance, as the amount of flax annually imported from Russia for her industrial energies averages £3,000,000.

Sheep-farming has of late years made an enormous advance in New Zealand, the export for 1857 being 2,648,716 lbs., value £176,581, that for 1859, 5,096,751 lbs., value £339,779, averaging 1s. 4d. per lb. The list of articles suitable for export must continually increase with immigration, and the consequent spread of population through the interior.

The entire commerce of New Zealand, both import and export, is at present about £2,000,000, the value of imports having risen from £597,827 in 1853 to £1,551,030 in 1859, while the exports, which in the former year were only £331,282, had risen in 1859 to £551,484. The last-mentioned year employed 836 ships, of which 438, representing 136,580 tons and 7594 of crew, were engaged in the import, and 398 of 120,392 tons and 6483 of crew, were employed in the export trade. The net revenue of the Government for the same period was £459,648.

The majority of the colonists are emigrants from Great Britain, only a small fraction coming from the continent.[50] A large Irish population lives in the neighbourhood of Auckland, while the Scotch cling together about Taranaki and the southern parts of the island. The European population was 52,155 in 1857, and 73,343 in 1859, the proportion of sexes in the latter year being 42,452 males, and 30,891 females.

While most of the naturalists of the Novara staff went on the invitation of Government to examine the coal-beds lately discovered in Drury district, others made frequent excursions in the environs of Auckland, three of which deserve special mention.

The first was to the picturesque Judges and Oraki Bays, the latter formed by the ruins of a crater. Here for the first time we beheld what is called the New Zealand Christmas tree, Metrosideros Tormentosa, which at the festive season comes forth pranked in all its gay blossoms, and is extensively used in decorating churches and dwelling-houses. Its large deep-red, umbellate blossoms are visible from afar gleaming among the green vegetation along the coast. The natives call this tree the Pohútu-Káwua; it is most extensively found on the slopes along the coast. The wild pepper, Kawa-kawa (Piper excelsum), is very common in the country round Auckland, but is not brewed into an intoxicating drink like the Piper methysticum of the Southern Ocean. The natives indeed are exceedingly temperate, and, unlike other half-civilized races, are very little addicted to drink; this however may be partly due to the wise precautions of the Government, which under a heavy pecuniary penalty forbids all tavern-keepers throughout the province from selling the Maori any drink except beer. Two species of grass eminently characteristic of the country, which often overrun vast tracts of land, and are used by the natives for thatching their huts, are the Toi-toi (Lepidosperma elatior) and the Kekaho (Arundo Australis). There are also the Puka-puka, or paper-seed (Brachyglottis repanda), an object which, where it is found, imparts a peculiar aspect to the landscape, like the silver poplars on the flanks of Table Mountain at the Cape. The name of the plant is derived from the under side of the leaves being as white as paper.

We also during this excursion saw great quantities of Raorao or Aruhe (Pteris esculenta), and were told that the roots (roi) of this fern, baked and ground, were highly prized by the Maories as a specific against sea-sickness. No native makes a sea-voyage, at least to any distance, without carrying with him a piece of this root, using it when baked as an antidote against that most depressing of maladies, from which even primitive races are not exempt. The efficacy of this remedy is however rather reputed than actual, the experience of Europeans, who have availed themselves of its supposed virtues, tending to show that it is absolutely worthless.

While at Oraki Bay we also visited the Maori village of Oraki. Here we found some 80 natives, men, women, and children, who had encamped on a hill outside the village. They were clothed partly in European style, partly in clothes made of native flax. The diversity of feature was most remarkable, as was also the great difference in the hair of the head. Some had thin black, others crisp, hair; many had it of a dark brown colour, while yet others had regular fox-coloured locks. The elder men had their faces and hands beautifully tattooed; the women on the lip only, and the younger generation were not tattooed at all. After the customary salutation of "Tenákoe, Tenákoe" (which in fact means literally nothing more than "Here you are," or "I recognize you"), they were little communicative, and showed little disposition to enter into closer conversation with the foreigners, although some of our companions spoke their language fluently. As our instructions were to ship on board the Novara any handsomely tattooed natives who should of their own free will wish to enter our marine, we let slip no opportunity, and accordingly endeavoured to induce some of the natives we now saw to ship with us. However, they could not be persuaded to make a cruise with us to see other lands and nations, as they could not comprehend what motive Austrian voyagers could have in inviting the natives of such a distant quarter of the globe to join them on such favourable terms. Their chief hesitation arose in the idea which they, the offspring of cannibals, firmly believed, that we wished to take some of their companions with us instead of fresh provisions, with the ultimate intent, so soon as we ran out of victuals, to put them to death, and banquet on Maori flesh! Thereupon we showed them some Caffres who had been 15 months on board, and were perfectly well treated. "Who knows," replied one of the most cautious of the Maori, "very possibly the Caffres have only been spared because the necessary moment has not yet come!" We returned to Oraki, our efforts vain to induce any Maori volunteer to make a cruise.

A not less interesting excursion was made to the Kauri forest in Titarangi, among the Manukau hills, to which we were conveyed in a couple of dog-carts. It was an exquisitely beautiful sunny morning. The air was so invigorating yet so mild that we immediately felt how well Sir Humphrey Davy's celebrated remark about Nice, "mere existence here is luxury," may also be applied to Auckland. After a drive of three hours through charming fields and meadows, we entered upon the forest at a spot where an Irishman named Smith has erected a block-house and a saw-mill, which seemed to do an excellent business. The whole appearance of the farm and its residents made a most favourable impression. Old Smith accompanied us in person to the forest, which consisted principally of the lofty, slender, broad-leaved Kauri pine. These have much more the look of chestnut trees than fir. The whole forest displayed a luxuriance and beauty of vegetation such as we had not anticipated in these latitudes. Creepers, parasites, and tree-ferns, gave it quite a tropical character. There were a charm and a voluptuousness about this green garb of nature, as displayed in New Zealand, such as the virgin forests of even the Nicobars or Java could hardly surpass in grace and majesty.

The slender trunks of the Kauri pine, the Rimu (Dacrydium Cupressinum), and the Kali Katea (Podocarpus excelsa), are here sliced into planks and boards, and so transported to the port. 100 cubic feet are worth about 15s., and 100 cubic feet of the beautiful Rimu wood, which is much used for furniture, fetches about 30s. A saw-mill labourer is paid from £7 to £8 per month, besides rations.

On our return, thoroughly fagged out and overheated with three hours of climbing and rambling, to the hospitable residence of our worthy Irish friend, we found an elegant carpet spread on the floor of the room, and everything clean and neat, to welcome the unexpected guests. His entire family was waiting to receive us, and after a comfortable meal we took our leave, doubly impressed with the glories of New Zealand forest scenery, and agreeably surprised to find in such close proximity with half-reclaimed nature such a peaceful picture of contentment, and such sterling results of well-directed human industry.

While our eyes were still dazzled with the beauties of the New Zealand forests of the Manukau range, a visit to St. John's College gave us an excellent and cheering glimpse of the admirable zeal displayed by various philanthropists to impart instruction in the great truths of Christianity to the coloured race of this and the adjacent groups of islands, and to educate missionaries. St. John's College has been set on foot with this praiseworthy object in view by the Church of England Missionary Society. Of the forty lads who attended it while we were there, the majority came from Loyalty Islands, the Solomon Group, and New Caledonia. Many only remained at the institute during the warm summer months, and for health's sake returned before winter set in to their own milder climate. Some had thus returned to school for the fourth time. The management of this humane undertaking is entrusted to Mr. Patterson, a gentleman of remarkable ability and perseverance, who speaks with fluency most of the Polynesian languages, and annually faces much privation and danger during his visit, in a schooner provided by the Missionary Society, to the various islands of the Southern Ocean, where he communicates with the natives, urging them to give their children the benefits of a certain amount of education. The course of instruction consists of reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. It is unfortunate that no provision is made for their instruction in mechanical employments, as such knowledge would go far to make their heathen kindred appreciate the advantages of Christian civilization. The pupils seem to be warmly attached to Mr. Patterson, and regard him with the child-like reverence paid to a father. The results are surprising, and demonstrate what splendid germs of capacity for education lie slumbering in even the rudest primitive people, if only care be taken to awake them sufficiently early, and foster them judiciously.

As in all English colonies, there is much intellectual activity in Auckland. Several English journals,[51] some really well written and digested,—such, for instance, as "The Southern Cross," "The New Zealander," &c.,—not only discuss the most important political events, but also endeavour to enlarge the views of their readers upon all questions of political economy and commercial and industrial progress.[52]

A few months before our arrival a paragraph appeared in several English and German journals, one of which accidentally fell into our hands at Shanghai, to the effect that "in April, 1858, considerable excitement had been created in England by intelligence of a peculiar species of silk-worm having been discovered growing wild in New Zealand in immense quantities." The London correspondent added that the worm inhabits a cocoon which is of a dull brown externally, under which however is a particularly fine quality of silk, with which some Glasgow houses had made experiments that induced them to value it much more highly than the qualities hitherto procured in Europe. Owing to the great alteration in the prospects of the silk trade, generally held out by the march of events in China, we deemed it advisable to inquire minutely as to the existence of a worm, which, as reported, not merely enjoyed advantages of climate similar to those of several parts of the Austrian domains, but seemed to require but little attention, living, as was said, "wild" in the "bush." After protracted investigation, however, it turned out that the silk procured in New Zealand was furnished by the ordinary mulberry-fed silk-worm, and that the extraordinary delicacy attained in the fabrics made from it at Glasgow was only due to its very superior quality.

The little expedition to the coal-beds of Drury already mentioned was accompanied by results so valuable, that considerable excitement arose among the settlers of the district, and a society was formed for the exploration of this mineral wealth. The excursion, however, was not confined to visiting the coal-fields, but was intended to give the naturalists of the Novara an opportunity of seeing part of the interior of New Zealand, by traversing the forest, 9 to 15 miles wide, between Auckland and the river Waikato, and thus visit the lovely shores of that river and the native villages of the neighbourhood.

The expedition was under the conduct of Capt. Drummond Hay, aide-de-camp to the Governor, and thoroughly acquainted with the country, and Mr. Heaphy, chief engineer of the province; Mr. Smallfield, editor-in-chief of the New Zealander, accompanied it as historiographer, while the Government invitation was extended to several of the scientific inhabitants of Auckland, among others the Rev. Mr. Purchas, and a recently-arrived German named Haast. The following is an extract from a journal, kept by one of the party from the Novara, of all the most interesting episodes of this excursion:—

"On 28th December we set out in five waggons, and advanced among extinct craters and volcanic cones, on which in former times Páhs or intrenched villages had been erected by the natives, as is plain from the succession of terraces of three or four feet high, rising in regular order, and cut into the side of the hill. The villas and farms on either side of the road, or at the foot of the hills, buried in their splendid flower-gardens, formed a charming contrast with the ancient lava currents, stretching in every direction and over-grown with tree-ferns and dense coppice. Now and then horses were rolling about upon the velvet-like meadows, or herds of cattle and flocks of sheep were passed feeding and ruminating, and bearing ample testimony to the advanced stage of material progress so quickly attained by one of the youngest of English colonies.

"Already we had found banners waving from the houses of Otahuha, a little village closely adjoining a very interesting extinct volcanic peak with a crater, and during a brief halt we made here, crowds of well-dressed inhabitants came flocking in to welcome the German guests of the Government, who were to develope the natural wealth of the country. From Otahuha the road lay across the plains of Papa Kura (red levels) to Tamaki. It is a wide paved road well ballasted, the bridges solidly built, everything, in short, betokening the fostering care of an enlightened Government, making it a point of duty to open up as speedily as possible convenient means of communication between the capital and the interior. The farms and country-houses were not so numerous in this section, though the rolling country seemed of excellent quality.

"At last, about 1 P.M., we reached Drury, a rather large settlement 29 miles from Auckland, where we were most cordially welcomed. Young's Hotel, which had been engaged for the Expedition, was gaily decorated with flowers, rare forest plants, and ferns, while from the gable floated side by side the British and Austrian standards.

"Drury is situate in a fertile rolling plain, the country is everywhere fenced in, corn-fields and meadows give variety to the landscape, and the well-to-do, fresh-looking countenances of the settlers, the groups of rosy-cheeked children, and the herds of splendid cattle, amply attest the salubrity as well as fertility of the neighbourhood. The party now split into two. Our geologist, with several companions, went forward about a mile and half from Drury into the forest, there to commence his investigations at a spot where a coal-bed 12 feet thick had been laid bare. The rest of the naturalists strolled about, engaged in botanical and zoological researches among the soft, beautiful woodland scenery of the almost soul-enchaining primeval forest.

"A couple of days were passed in such little excursions in the environs of Drury, in the course of which a trip was made in a Wakka or New Zealand canoe to the Tahike springs, near a Maori village of the same name. Our craft consisted of a single hollowed-out trunk of a kahika tree (Podocarpus excelsa), about 25 feet in length by 2 ¹⁄₂ in breadth. For such a boat a native pays about £5, and it lasts from 20 to 30 years, whereas a canoe of red Totara (Podocarpus Totara) costs when complete about £30, but lasts much longer. Canoes are frequently pointed out prepared from these giants of the forest, 70 feet in length and from five to six in breadth, which were used in old times as war-canoes (Wakka-wakka), and could accommodate 100 warriors. Ours was covered at either end with fresh-gathered ferns, and was provided with four paddles tapering to a point, one of which was used by one of the Maories who accompanied us, while we applied ourselves to learning the management of this novel mode of propulsion by seizing on the rest, and by imitating his motions speedily mastered its difficulties. Unfortunately, owing to the distance, we could not reach the village itself, and, after a variety of curious adventures with the natives, found ourselves compelled to return when about half-way, in order to husband our strength for the exertions of the ensuing day.

"By dawn the noise in the hotel drove away all further thought of sleep, and presently came flocking in from every quarter the horses, both saddle and pack, which had been engaged for the expedition. The morning broke in uncommon splendour, and the whole landscape lay bathed in a rose-coloured flush, whose exquisite tints recalled the immortal beauties of Claude Lorraine. The winding road that leads over the intervening hills begins at this point to be impracticable for wheeled vehicles, although it is possible to advance a few miles farther in country cars. For upwards of an hour we rode along through beautiful rolling pasture land, for the most part neatly fenced, and covered with herds of noble cattle. Now and then we came upon a stately mansion, buried in flowers and foliage, whose appearance sufficiently attested that the proprietor had long since left behind the struggles of the early days, when the hardy settler inhabited a wretched log-hut (whari), a "clearing" cut with incredible labour amid an almost impenetrable forest, the soil of which he had to prepare for the reception of corn-seed.

"At last we reached the forest, which extended from where we were to the banks of the Waikato. The deeper we penetrated into it, the closer and more majestic grew the trees, and the denser and more impervious was the underwood. Gigantic trees, 150 feet in length of stem, were entwined, trunk, limbs, and summits, with flexible lianæ and other parasitical creepers, while birds of the strangest descriptions were flitting hither and thither among the trees, alarmed by the tramp of our horses, which echoed strangely loud through the silent depths of the forest. The most frequently visible of these feathered denizens of the forest is the Tui (Prostemadera novæ Zelandiæ), called 'the parson' by Captain Cook, in consequence of its having two white feathers in the lower part of its neck resembling bands. In colour and shape it is very like the kingfisher, and its melodious notes present great variety. In addition to the Tui, the forest is frequented by the Kakariki (Platycercus N. Z.), a small green parrot, which, stealing softly through the mysterious greenwood shade, emits its singular shrill shriek. We also fell in with a solitary specimen of the New Zealand cuckoo (Endynamys Taïtensis), called by the natives Koekoea, which was eagerly bagged by the zoologists.