OUR HOMELAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19838, 7 January 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

OUR HOMELAND.

j BT »T*ni) K. MORTON.

te; ■ : THE BEAUTIFUL BAY OF ISLANDS. [THE TREATY OF WAiTANGIOnce again the voyagers were flying in the Silver Plane over the rippling seas of the beautiful Bay of Islands. Just across tha bay from Russell the plane descended on a narrow strip of beach, and nsxt moment Pixie and Pat were running toward a tall white monument standing in a neatly-railed enclosure beside a red-roofed Maori meeting-house. The monument itself was a shaft of marble, standing on a square base, with words carved on each of four sides. "I know!" cried Pixie, "This is the monument to mark the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.'" "Wrong!" smiled the guide. "It is the monument that commemorates the signing of the treaty, but the treaty itself was signed at an old homestead over on the other side of the Waitangi River, the home of Mr.* George Buisby; who was Queen Victoria's representative in Russell before Captain Hobson was made Governor. Mr. Busby arranged for Captain Hobson to meet the Maori chiefs at a spot just below his house, and here the treaty was signed. This inscription gives the wording of the treaty itself." . " Let us read it," suggested Pat, but to their great disappointment it was all in Maori, and the only word the children could translate was " Wikkitoria." " Did the Maoris sign it without any trouble 1" asked Pat, " or did they realise that they were placing themselves in the power of another race V " Some of them were quite willing, but others were suspicious and inclined to make trouble. There was a very stirring scene when the signing of the treaty, which was written in Maori and English, side by side, was discussed. One great chief, Rewa, said: 'Do not sign the paper; if you do, you will be reduced to the condition of slaves. Your land will be taken from you, and your dignity as chiefs will be destroyed.' It seemed at first as though the treaty would not be signed, but two other great chiefs, who were friendly to the British, spoke so eloquently that they succeeded in convincing their brother chiefs that it would be to the advantage of the Maori race to sign." " Which chiefs were they ?" asked Pixie. " One of them was the good old Tamati Waka Nene, whose grave you saw over in Russell churchyard, and the other was Erua Patuone, who lies buried in the little O'Neill Point Cemetery at Devonport. Tamati reminded the chiefs how their race was being almost wiped out by constant bloodshed and warfare, and how much better had been the standing of New Zealand since the coming of the white men. Turning to Captain Hobson, he made a beautiful and eloquent plea. ' You must not allow us to become slaves. You must preserve our ancient customs, and never permit our lands to bo wrested from us.' And in spite of all the unworthy efforts that have been made during the past three-quarters of a century to get the best of the Maori by disregarding certain clauses of the treaty, the British authorities have stood staunch and true, and honourably observed the promises made that day to the Maori race." "It is just like a bit of history come to life!" said Pat thoughtfully, still gazing at the famous monument. " Only it seems a great pity this monument couldn't have been put up where the treaty was actujdly signed." "It is indeed a pity," agreed their guide. " But the people who owned the old Busby home when the monument was built did not want it on their property because so many people would have trespassed in order to see it, and the Government of the day had not the wide vision to buy the old place as a national possession. Now, all aboard, and we will visit some more of those old-time spots where history was made nearly 100 years ago!"