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CHAPTER XXI.

NEW ZEALAND.

THIS very important country, one of the greatest interest in the southern hemisphere, was not correctly known to Europe until very recent times. Its first and imperfect exploration is due to Tasman. On December 13th, 1642, at noon, he saw a great and high land at 15 miles to the S.S.E. On the 14th, at noon, he was within 2 miles of it, in 55 fathoms, gray sand. He could not see the summits of the mountains, as they were hidden by the clouds. He sailed along the coast for several days, and on the 19th anchored in a bay, probably somewhere on the South side of Cook's Strait. The natives put off, and approached the Zeehaan, his vessel, and on sending off his boat, it was instantly attacked, and four of the crew killed. He then left this bay without landing, and named it Moordenaar's (Murderer's) Bay. He continued on the coast until the 6th of January, 1643, proceeding to the northward, and attempted to procure water from a small island, but was prevented by the hostile appearance of the natives on it, and the violent surf. He named it Drie Koningen Eyland (Three Kings' Island), because it was the feast of the Epiphany. He then sailed for the Friendly Islands.

The great imperfection of geographical knowledge, mixed up as this was with the fabulous, led Tasman to the belief that he had discovered a portion of the Terra Australis Incognita; and with this idea he considered that it might be connected with Staten Land, to the East of Tierra del Fuego, then recently discovered by Schouten and Le Maire, and accordingly named this Staten Land, in honour of the States General of Holland. But, soon afterwards, this continuity being disproved, its present name of New Zealand, after the Dutch province, was applied.*

It was not until our immortal Cook returned from his first voyage in 1769, that we were made acquainted with the true character of the group. In this, and in his two subsequent voyages, he completely examined their shores, and passing through the channel now bearing his name, established their insular nature. Although Cook's surveys and remarks, in many instances, do not approach to the accuracy and amount of detail required by the present times, yet they will be found of most essential service to the mariner, and his works will be frequently alluded to.

The other earlier navigators, who have transmitted accounts of their visits to New Zealand, are Capt. Surville, of the French ship, Le St. Jean Baptiste, in December, 1769, that is, at the same time as Cook ;† then the unfortunate Capt.

For an account of Tasman's voyage, see Burney, part iii. p. 72, et seq. + Voyage aux Indes Orientales, &c., par l'Abbé Rochon, 1807, p. 382.

Marion came here to refit in March, 1772, but was killed and eaten by the savages in the Bay of Islands, June 12th, 1772.*

In the latter part of the last century many debates were held in England as to the site for a penal colony, and New Zealand narrowly escaped from this scourge, from the dread of its fierce inhabitants; and in the account of the first settlement at Botany Bay, by Governor Collins, is an account of the visit of the Dædalus to New Zealand, after having carried provisions to Vancouver, then on the American coast; this was in 1793.

As early as this period its harbours began to be frequented by whaling-ships, but the intercourse reflects little credit on humanity. There is no account, with one exception, of any white man having lived on it between 1793 and 1814. In the latter year the mutual barbarism and bloodshed, which had attracted much attention, led to the humane endeavour to ameliorate the native character by the introduction of the peace-making doctrines of Christianity. Accordingly, the Rev. Samuel Marsden, colonial chaplain of New South Wales, established a church mission in the Bay of Islands, under the protection of New South Wales, and Mr. Thomas Kendal was appointed resident magistrate. The truthful narrations of this zealous minister will be read with great interest in the volumes of the Missionary Register for 1815 and 1816. In the meantime, the great dread of white men against the natives was softening down by the publication of the works by Messrs. Savage,† Nicholas, Kendal,§ Turnbull, and others. Many converts were made, and great activity was used by the missionaries. Among those apparently converts were Hongi and Waikato, two chiefs who were brought to England by Mr. Kendal, and exhibited as Christians at the university of Cambridge. Here they became acquainted, through Mr. Kendal, with the Baron de Thierry, a Frenchman, who conceived the idea of acquiring extensive territories and rights in New Zealand, and Mr. Kendal undertook to become his agent for this purpose, receiving a large sum of money from the Baron. The two chiefs steadily directed their attention, while in England, to the acquisition of fire-arms. Hongi had no sooner regained his native land, than he threw off the garb of christian meekness, and appeared in his true character of a bloodthirsty warrior. He armed his tribe, and commenced a dreadful warfare against his countrymen. The population of the North Island was thinned and scattered, and that of the Middle Island destroyed, with the exception of a miserable remnant. Several other missions were established, but no colonization attempted until 1825, when a company in London sent out an expedition, but it did not form a settlement. Subsequent to this the irregularity of the increasing white inhabitants, and the sanguinary warfare carried on between the natives, required some remedy, and some chiefs requested protection and interference from England. Mr. Busby was then appointed "Resident" at the Bay of Islands, but he had no defined functions. This was in 1831, and in 1835 some chiefs in the North Island,

Voyage du Capitaine Marion, Nouveau Voyage à la Mer du Sud, &c., par l'Abbé Rochon, 1783, p. 155, et seq.

+ Some Account of New Zealand, by John Savage, Esq., surgeon, London, 1807. Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand, by John Liddiard Nicholas, Esq., London, 1817. Missionary Register, December, 1817, p. 523.

alarmed at the pretensions of the Baron de Thierry, who claimed his right of sovereignty over the islands, and proclaimed his intention to take possession, formed themselves into an independent state, with the title of the "United Tribes of New Zealand." Disorders still continuing, the efficient project of colonization was resumed; it had been first proposed by Cook, and many schemes had been formed by various persons, including Dr. Franklin. In 1837 a society was formed in London, including the names of Lords Durham and Petre, Messrs. Barings, Charles Enderby, Hawes, Lyall, &c., whose plans being matured were submitted to the Colonial Office, but they were discouraged and opposed by the government. In 1839 the New Zealand Land Company was formed, but were unsupported by the government, and consequently were driven to the alternative of “land-sharking," that is, purchasing the sovereignty of the land of the native chiefs. They sent the Tory to take measures for commencing the colony on May 12th, 1839, reaching Cook's Strait August 17th, and purchased the South portion of the North Island of the natives. The first detachment of emigrants arrived at Port Nicholson, the site selected, about the end of January, 1840. Others followed soon after. The government had taken means, by following up Cook's claim of sovereignty for the British, by sending Capt. Hobson to the Bay of Islands as consul and lieutenant-governor, and furnished with a staff of civil officers. He established the seat of government at Auckland, in the Shouraka Gulf. Major Bunbury had proclaimed the sovereignty of England in the South and Middle Islands in June, and the British flag was first hoisted, and courts held first, by the late Capt. Stanley at Akaroa. This was but just in time, as four days later a French expedition arrived to take possession of Banks's Peninsula as a penal settlement.

Thus New Zealand dates, as a British colony, from May, 1840; then as a dependency of New South Wales. In May, 1841, it was proclaimed a separate colony, under an independent government; the seat of that government being at Auckland.

The New Zealand Company received a royal charter February 12th, 1841, with a capital of £300,000; and with these means they founded, in addition to Wellington in Port Nicholson, the settlement of Petre on the Wanganui, and New Plymouth in Taranaki; a fourth was afterwards added, Nelson, in Blind Bay. The affairs of the company did not flourish, and, from various causes, their efficiency diminished, and, according to an agreement with the government, they abandoned these projects in April, 1850. Such are the particulars of the first colonization of New Zealand. It cannot be entered into more fully here. It was erected into a British colonial bishopric in 1841.

The islands of New Zealand, as is well known, consist of three principal ones; the two northern of which are separated by a strait, Cook's Strait, varying from 4 to 25 leagues in breadth. The general trend of the land forms an extensive curve facing the N.W. It is from this quarter that the most frequent and the most furious winds blow in this part of the globe, and D'Urville considers that it is to their action, incessantly continued through many ages, that the configuration of the islands is owing. The currents caused by these prevalent winds have so acted on the shores, that in course of time this strait separating the islands has

been formed by them, making a free passage for the constant drift of the ocean to the S.E.

The names by which the islands have been distinguished are involved in some doubt. Cook says, with some uncertainty, that the principal were Tovy-Poennammoo and Eahi-No-Mauwe. This was afterwards found to be correct, as far as the country on either side of Cook's Strait is concerned. But it is considered that there is some error in the transcription of Cook's manuscript as regards the latter name, which, according to Mr. Kendal, should be Ika-Na-Mawi, the name of the South Island being more properly Kai-Kohoura (lobster-eaters). The orthography usually adopted is T'avai-poennammoo, or Tavaï-pounamou by the French, and Ika-na-mawi.

The NATIVES of New Zealand have been so often described that it is needless to repeat much here. Their ferocity and cannibalism distinguish them, but their many redeeming qualities place them high in the scale of human nature. It may be remarked that, at present, on no part of the coast is the native population. stationary; they wander from place to place without fixed habitation. It would appear that there is not now a single tribe, properly so called; but the entire population consists of scattered families, and remnants of tribes, which were nearly exterminated, twenty years since, by the inroads of the Rauperaha and the Kawia tribes, when the latter were driven from the centre of the North Island by the warfare of E Onghi and his followers. The total number of natives, from a close estimate by Mr. Edmund Halswell in 1841, amounted to 107,265. The most thickly peopled parts are North of Poverty Bay, around Wangaroa, and the Bay of Islands. They have been the actors in some dark tragedies since the settlement of their coast by Europeans.

New Zealand is preeminently a volcanic country. In the North Island are seen active volcanoes of great height, and some very singular localities and phenomena are described by Dr. Dieffenbach, existing in its centre. No active volcano is known to exist in the South Island, but the central chain of lofty peaked mountains, rising above the limits of perpetual snow, appears to be of the same character. Earthquakes are of very common occurrence in the vicinity of Cook's Strait, and their frequency and intensity do not appear to have been sufficiently noticed in the accounts of the colony. They have acted seriously on the prosperity of Wellington and other parts.*

The CLIMATE of New Zealand is equable, and is considered to resemble that of the land between the South of Portugal and the middle of France. It is without great extremes either of heat in summer or of cold in winter. Rain appears more generally distributed throughout the months than in the North; there is no distinct rainy season; it is rare for a fortnight to pass without at least refreshing showers. In consequence of this great quantity of moisture the vegetation is remarkably vigorous. One of the productions most interesting to

Exclusive of the general range of voyages which all more or less contain information as to the natives, the reader will find much interesting matter in a work, entitled The New Zealander's Library of Entertaining Knowledge, 1831; Dr. Dieffenbach's Travels in New Zealand, 1843, vol. ii.; and in Edw. Jern. Wakefield's Adventure in New Zealand, 1845. The latter works, too, give a good account of the proceedings of the colonization. The above estimate of the population is given in detail in the Report on the Colonization from Ireland, 1848, pp. 30-43.

mariners is the famous kauri pine, or, as it has been called, cowdy. Its botanical name is Dammara Australis, and its straight and even trunks, sometimes rising to the height of 90 feet before any branches shoot out, furnish some of the most excellent masts in use, and several cargoes have been sent to England for the navy. It is abundant on the hills from Cape Colville to Kati Kati, in the Bay of Plenty, lat. 37° S., its southern limit. A resinous gum exudes from it, forming large solid masses around its roots, and these masses found in the earth are an evidence of the former existence of forests where none now remain. This resin may be valuable, but is not much gathered.

There is no part of the world, says D'Urville, in which the winds are more violent than on the coasts of New Zealand; and, if they had been known to the ancients, without doubt they would have here placed the court of Eolus. Here, as elsewhere, the winds ought doubtless to be most formidable in the winter months, but seasons will not guarantee the navigator from their attacks. When the weather is apparently the finest, and the sky the most clear, there is no certainty of security. Often when these winds appear to be lulled, they break forth with equal fury either from the same quarter or from the opposite one. In a word, mariners called upon to frequent these parts cannot exercise too much vigilance in their manœuvres.*

Tasman was the first who suffered from the violent gales of New Zealand. Cook, in his excellent examination, more than once escaped destruction. They very nearly caused the loss of Surville, and did not spare Marion; indeed almost every navigator has related some account of their fury, and that, too, during all seasons.

It will be needless to quote here the numerous auth rs and surveyors who have furnished us with materials for a nautical description of New Zealand. They will be referred to in their proper places.

Before entering upon the detailed description, it may be premised that the three principal islands were, at the time of the proclamation of the British government over the group, directed to be called New Ulster, or North Island; New Munster, or Middle Island; and New Leinster, or Stewart, or South Island. The first appellations in this proclamation have not come into very general use, neither have the native names, from their length. We commence with New Ulster, or

THE NORTH ISLAND.

The THREE KINGS, or MANAWA TAWI, are the northernmost appurtenance to New Zealand. They were discovered and named by Abel Tasman, on January 6th, 1643, as previously noticed. The principal of the group is in about lat. 34° 13′ S., and lon. 172° 10′ E.

These islands have a barren aspect, are of moderate height, and may be seen on a clear day at the distance of 25 miles. They lie in an angular position, in a North, South, and East direction. The eastern island is the longest, and may be a mile in length; the other two are about equal, both in size and height, and may

* D'Urville, vol. ii. p. 337.

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