OLD NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume III, Issue 129, 30 March 1863, Page 1

OLD NEW ZEALAND.

(continued from our last.) Wo shall givo a few moro extracts from tliis remarkable volume, rather to whet tho readers* appetite for more than to satisfy it j for we can assure him that the whole book from end to end is as well worth perusal as those passages wo quote. Amongst the matters in which tho Maoris have' come in contact with the European, paramount in importance is that of land pureliasing. Wo therefore extract in full the experience of a Pakolra Maori in tho purchase of land. There is much suggested by the narrative ; but our roadors must not imagine that land purchasing is quite tho sametiling now that it was in the oldon timo. In thoso days there was abundant disposition to soil land, combinod with a vory limited conception of what selling involved. Now there exists a vory good idea of what rights and obligations aro implied by a sale, but a very groat hesitation in taking advantage of them. At all events tho picture here given presents to our minds tho foundation on which all tho superstructure hat boon raised, and is worth attentive consideration.

" I now purchased a piece of land, and built a 'castle' for myself. I really can't tell to tho present day who I purchased tho land from, for thero wero about fifty different claimants, every one of whom assured mo that the other forty-nip© were 'humbugs,' and had no right whatever. The nature of the different titles of the different claimants were various. One man said his ancestors had killed off tho first owners $ another declared his ancestors had drivon off tho second party; another man, who seemed to be listened to with more respect than ordinary, declared that his ancestor had boon tho first possessor of' all, and had never been ousted, and that) his ancestor was a huge lizard that lived in a cave on the land many ages ago, "and sure enough there was the cave to prove it. Besides tho principal claims there were an immenso humber of secondary a sort of latent equities—which had lain dormant xmtil it was known the pakeha had his eve on tho land. Some of them seemed to mc at the time odd enough. One man required bay--ment because his ancestors, as he affirmed, liad exercised the right of catching rats on it, but which ho (tbe claimant) had nover dono, for tho bost of reasons, i.e., there wore no rots to catoh, except pakeha rats, which wore plenty enough,, but this variety of rodent was not counted as game. Another claimed because his grandfather hod been murdered on tho land, and—as lam veracious pakeha—another claimed payment because Am grandfather had committed the murder! Then half tho country claimed payment of various, value, from ono fig of tobacco to tt musket, oa account of a certain wahi tapu, or ancient burying ground, which was on tho land, and in whion overy one almost had had relations, or rather ancestors, buried, as they could clearly make out, in old times, though no ono had boon deposited in it for about two hundred years, and the honosof the others had been (as they said) removed long ago to a torere in the mountains. '

"It seemed an awkward circumstance that there was somo difference of opinion as to where this same icahi tapu was situated, being, and lying, for in case of my buying the land it was stipulated that I should fence it round and make no uso of it although I had paid for it. I, however, havo put off fencing till the exact boundaries have been mado out; and indeed I don't think I shall ever be called on to do so, tho fencing proviso having been made, as I now believe, to give a stronger look of reality to tho existence of tho sacred spot, it having been observed that I had some doubts on the subject. No mention was ever made of it after the payments had been all made, and so I think I may venture to affirm that tho existence of the said wahi tapn is of very doubtful authenticity, though it certainly cost mc a round »lot of trade.'"

" Thero was ono old man who obstinately persisted in declaring that ho, and ho alone, was tho sole and rightful owner of tlio land j he seemed also to have a " fixed idea" about certain barrelsof gunpowder ; but as he did not provo his claim to my satisfaction, nnd as he had no one to back him, lof courso gave him nothing: he nevertheless demanded the gunpowder about once a month for fivc-and-twonty years, till at last ho died of old ago, and I am now a landed proprietor, clear of all claims and demands, aud have an undeniable right to hold my estate as long aa ever L am able. 1 '

" It took about three montlis' negotiation before' the purchase of the land could be made; nnd, indeed, I at one time gave up the idea, as I found it quite impossible to decide who to pay. If I paid ono. party, the others vowed I should never have possession, and to pay all seemed impossible; so at last I let all parties know that I had made up my mind not to havo the land. This, however,, turned out to bo tho first step I had mado in\ th<* right direction ; for, thereupon, aU tho different claimants agreed amongst themselves to demand fc

certain quantity of goods, and divide them (amongst themselves afterwards. " I was glad of this, for I wished to buy the land, as I thought, in case I should ever take a trip to the "colonies," it would look well to be able to talk of "my estate in New Zealand." The day being now come on which I was to make the payment, and all parties present, I then and there lianded over to the assembled mob the price of the land, consisting of a great lot of blankets, muskets, tomahawks, tobacco, spades, axee, &c, •&c. ; and received in return a very dirty piece of paper with all their marks on it, 1 having written the terms of transfer on it in English to my own perfect satisfaction. The cost per acre to lrio was, as near as can be, about five and a lialf limes wliat the same land would have cost mc at the same time in Tasmania; but this w. s not of much importance, as the value of land in New Zealand then, and indeed now, be r ng chiefly imaginary, one could just as easily suppose it to be of a very great value as a very small one; I therefore did not complain of the cost. While I am on the subject of land and land titles, I may as well here mention tbat many years after the purchase of my land I received notice to appear before certain persons called " Land Commissioners," who were part and parcel of tho new inventions which had come up soon after the arrival of tha first governor, and which are still a trouble to the land. I was informed that I must appear and prove my title to the land I have mentioned, on pain of forfeiture of the same. .Now, I could not see what right any one could liave to plague mo in this way, and if I had had no ono but the commissioners and two or three hundred men of their tribe to deal with, I should have put my pa in fighting order, and told them to "come on;" for before tlus time I had had occasion to build a pa (a little misunderstanding), and being a rcgularh/ naturalised member of a strong tribe, could raise men to defend it at the shortest notice. But Bomohow these people had cunningly managed to mix up the name of Queen Victoria, God bless her! (no disparagement to King Potatau) in the matter; and I, though a Pakeha Maori, am a loyal subject to her Majesty, and will stick up and fight for her as long as over I can muster a good imitation of courage or a leg to stand upon. Tlus being the case, I made a very unwilling appearance at the court, and explained and defended my title to the land in an oration of four hours' and a half duration; and which, though I was much out of practico, I flatter myself was a good specimen of English rhetoric, and and which, for its own merits, as well as another reason which I was not awaro of at tho timo, was listened to by the court with tho greatest patience. When I hod concluded, and having been asked "if I had any moro to say ? " I saw tire commissioner beginning to count my words, which had been all written I suppose in short .wild j and having ascertained how many thousand I had spoken, ho handed mo a bill, in which I was charged by the word, for'every word I had spoken, at the rate of one farthing and one-twentieth per word. Oh, Cicero! Oh, Domosthenes! Oh, Pitt, Fox, Burke, Sheridan! Oh, Daniel O'Connell! what would liave become of you if such a stopper Iwd been clapped on your jawing tackle P Fame •would never have cracked her trumpet, and "Dan " "would never have raised the riot. For my part I liave never recovered the shook. I havo since then become taciturn, and have adopted a Spartan brevity when forced to speak, and I fear I shall never again have the full swing of my mother tongue. Besides this, I was charged ten shillings •each for a little army of witnesses who I had "brought by way of being on the sure side—five shillings ahead for calling them into Court, and five more for ' examining * them; said examination consisting of one question each, after which they were tola to 'be off.' I do believe had I brought up a whole tribe, as I had thoughts of -doing, the Commissioners would not liave minded examining them all. They were, lam bound to ■say, very civil and polite; one of them told mc I was' a damned, infernal, clever fellow, and he should liko to sco a good many more like me.' I hope 1 am not getting tedious, but this business made such an impression on mc, tliat I can't help being too prolix, perhaps, when describing it. I liave, however, often since that timo had my doubts whether the Queen (God bless her) got the money or knew half as much of the affair as they wanted to make out. I do»*t believe it. Our noble Queen would be clean above such a proceeding ; and I mean to say its against Magna Charta, it is! * Justice snail not be sold* saith Magna Charta; and if it's not selling justice to make a lovnl pakeha Maori pay for every word ho speaks when defending his rights in a Court of Justice, I don't know what is.

"Well, to make matters up, they after some time gave mc a title for my land (as if I had not one before) ; but then, after some years, they made mc give it bock again, on purpose, as they said, that they might give mc a better! But since that time several more years have passed, and I have not got it; so, as these things are now all the fashion,' I wish I may get it' "