MAORILAND MEMORIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 56, 14 July 1906, Page 7

MAORILAND MEMORIES.

M OLB-TIME INDUSTRY, NOW POR6OITEN,

Trade m "Baked Heads."

0t "Ot«B dHOAT,^

6ne of the last acts of the iaihented flick ard Seddon's life was to make a sort of reciprocity tru.ty with Mr. Thomas i Bent, the ♦eighty p t'.tician who ldoks after *J® "^ teroata of the neighboring colony of Vic-., toria. Tb. t. it was a trade treaty gdeS Witn-i out Baying, lat what its ternur were, and what department of trade it affected, MM not been and probably never mv be, as the death of one of the makefrhfii intervened. Before the settlement of Port fcntinp, and long before the bath of Mr. Sedddn, Sydney had a large «* P^JSJ trade with New Zealand, at a time wHeH neither colony was much troubled w^P?°tection or ffMtittfe; *?* When the/Customsduties collacted at gyfaftjf .*s» WsfW revenue piarjposes. Between ... .JL^h SYDNEY AND MAOfiai/ANB a most remunerative trade existed, 6n| - 0? toe chief f actors m the trado beiHg a $ff dbs native, bne; John Jones, wh^ fof Jkany years fiourished at the port noWJmowfi as Port CJhalmers. In return for ,oiL Sydney sent such stofeß as W«te n*f£ft:^{fc Wimlara, and such stores as .•mWf-JlMmj the wants- of the Maoris, *$!^Js*- 't 6 trade would without doubt «9W^«WW «»• heading of "curious" or "exb&Uyt&a&Tf. Sydney inerehahta of t6^da» A^|i^rceiy belfeve that m the fearly i>sb tf && **; turt there Was a large trade' dSfifi »ew Zealand m ''BAKIiiD KfeAl^S." I itaa item frequently figured ih the f^ st °™! retufni of fort Jacksoil, ftnfl Jto.-w« {fie list! Baked heads were rifetthj? ifipte ;.«* lesa than tattooed presets M mm he&dS, 53i6ir initidftatioh had loilg ce&M befdre the rival theories ef ft eeteadf and' p^otectidfi had cdine into cbloniSl t^litittf. At any rite, thefe Was no atteiAfttin .^dney to. blabe a prohibitive duty, upon the imgdttatioh 6f the heads. The trade* «s far M Sydney wad cdnCefned, Waß 6tte of indent or eommisaioh, the purchtoeß •being made thfdugh Sydney hbuses fweijoft to milseumS afld edilectorri m Euf 6pe/ The first dried Bead ever possessed ]by a European Was fiufch&aed by Joseph Hanks on J^nuaff 20, Ittd, while Natui-alist «ft thY Endeafsu?j dfftmes C)odk cdinfiian'der? It was that of- a yoUtb 14 or* IS years of ajge, KILLED BY A BLOW th&t had IraetUfed the sktiii, and thdugh v it§ Original bwner had evidently be"en but t e* iSently killed ,and the skin was quite sdf* } thS preserving pfdceg* had been SO Well ddne that there was nd disagreeable ddof, We SfS told- that the natives displayed great reluctance tb part ttith this lad's head* The dvetfflasteriag d§sirfe iof firearms for use M theii 1 tfibal wfttd dVeifdame thfeir scruples, and the head became the property of Sit Joseph Banks, m exchanfei perhaps, tot a iSouple of TowW muskets and a few ball (Cartridges. Joseph Banks' (he was ndt then Sir Joseph) iknxiety to obtaift p6BSession of the head, and the possession by the Maoris of a couple of mußke& Wtiuld appear" to have put a com-, mefdlal idea intd the heads of the natives. The dfeSife t6 possess nfg{trni§ for ttse m the4f tififeal Wats yeafa aftetwafd§ iflduced mifif ft battle^ aM mtieh slftfightef undertaken tfl provide heads fflf the Sydney mftfket, iiie tfadeM m Which city paid high prices' f6f feil-tattdfied s|)e^iffij§nS/ Up to . the year ISIS the Maori p6puktloii waa very Jarge; but ifm. 18^0, the introduetibn of firearms by the British traders from Sydney, and"' their ingenuity m fostering little raids and minor battles .brought the prices down considerably, and ' STOCKS OF "BAKED HEADS" became large. At first efforts Wefe directed '■ towards' procuring Shly Well tattooed Headfl) good specimens of native gentlemen, for chiefs then only Were decdrated on the faOA /This desire on the part of the British trader ?'ied to the committal of frauds m heads by the Maoris. As the natives bec&me eiperts^ m the use of firearms, the number of chiefs diminished, and. traders were anxious for feupplieS, the eflmmefciiii iflstihet \i& td the x epeeiai tatWbiag of low=bdrn fl&tives ' them in fact,- with' a ¥ifeW ; tet their beifag •Ttilled when ready for the market* Considerable trouble Was experienced With ■this) kind Of head, aB we are told that When Tan industrious chief had gone to great expanse m- having his "slaves" bo decorated, they ran away when JtJSff TO EtLL, and so greatly reduced his profits. A good many of the heads sold to the innocent Sydney traders were those, of White men, but these* a§ a ftile, Wefe ported Inferid^ as the W6?k: \¥as crude, aild frequently had to be added to after the head was removed. In explanation of the white man's head, it is said that between the years 1770 and 1809 over 100 Europeans were killed and eaten by the Maoris. ' '' ' ■ • p : ■.# . « r The first head brought te Sydney Of whioh there is any record reached the port m 1811, but it Was riot Obtained by hottest trade. It was stolen, and the boat's crew who stole it narrowly escaped with their lives. In coasequence of this danger there ;was fid trade m baked heads Up td the year &14. By 1820, however, the Sydney market appears to have been Well supplied, and pew aVenues fdr trade Were being constantly formed m Europe. New avenues were absolutely necessary, as the energy of the agents led to an over-supply. Competition sprang up, and cbmpetiiidn always reduced the Valtie, and nearly always the quality, df an article. The new* stocks coming forward, iniautsetl by thd .cbtnpetition, CONSISTED LARGELT? Otf "FAKfifi" HEADS, the tattooing being done afte* the owner's death. Advttnca purchases wefe also a source of much demoralisation m the trade, riVal traders arranging for the sale df good specimens befof fa they were ready, while still on the shoulders of the owners, When A dealer had advanced upon A particularly Choice specimen, the persons engaged m the trade would have an infariof one killed, and endeavor by "art' 1 post mortem to deceive the experts; Naturally such dishonest and Certainly reprehensible practices brought a flouflSning iiidtistry into discredit. * * * By the ye&r 1830 "Baked heads" became a regular article on the Sydney Customs returns', ahd there are records of their open gale m George-street, but the Maoris having ildW bartered heads fdr muskeia enough to tatlify present wants, were not anxious to continue the trade. Tile ftttuitg were uncertain; there was considerable personal risk In dbtaitilUg Supplies 1} the profits went largely to the' European vendof, hence the Maori tlfed of the trade. * * ' • , Ralph D&tling, Governor, feigned m Syd* ney lit April, l&l, and the "Baked-heads" business attracted his keen attention. Thrdugh him Came the OVerthfdW of the business, but a MURDEft OU TWO h*d to be perpetrated before bis attention Wits seriously Called to the traffic. The diffictiities Aeal^rs had with the Maori chiefs La the obtaining of heads was openly discussed m George-street. This was due to the natural aversion of the owners df welltattooed specimens to part with them prematurely. There is a somewhat humoronv ifk*ntb:ely^gruwonie*.4ter3s tfi]4-.i>4:«

certain Joseph Sowe 1 , a Weil4cndwn dealer at Kapiii, who, m January, iß3i, refused to tJltiiW some Tattfjo natives to redeem the heads of two of their chiefs which Mr. fiowehistd procured m the cdurse of trade. The Taupo natives took the first available opportunity of killing Mr. itowe and two of fcj« friends. Two of the three heads were Arederved. and sold m the usual course of trade, but the third was too badly knocked #bout to be of any commercial value. Two fff the trading party were duly cooked and eaten, the third was buried, as having prdVed a coward he was unfit to eat. A fourth man named Power, Who had only been stunned m the beginning, Was saved, and afteWafds livfed* m aiflity with his captor^ Another trader, ONE Captain gEqrge jaok s while ih the Bay of Plefity with his schooner; bought & stock Of heads of slain Bay of Islands natives, and cafelessly emptied a sack full out upon the deck, at the Bay of Islands, while a ttuinbef of the natives Were present. As there Were many relatives oi, the deceased among them, Cap-' tain Jack had to leave Very hurriedly with the ichoonei'. Ho got away safely that tiine^ but when he todched the short again on His way to Sydney to dispose of his §took, he had> volley fired at hiim dagtain Jack's sohooher was named the Prince of Denmark, of 127 tons. Naturally with siich a name she should trade m skulls, though that of might not be included m the cargo* and yet, no ddubfc, the skuli of many a fellow of infinite jest was to be found airidnfst the number. The result of these murders* and cxi posurefi was that GWernd? Darling,; on ' April 16, 1831, ' proclaimed m the Sydney Gazette that the traffic! m a ßaked-heads" Wag illegal, and his fiieelleney required that stocks m hand should fee handed bver to him, by him to be returned td the relatives 1 of the deceased. Dtttling, ih making the proclamation, pointed out that the COnsequeHces of continuing the traffic m "baked-heads'' on the lines it had aSstiihed, Would be ■ SCANDAL AND MJUDICE against Bfltisli tfadefs m * country Where it had became highly important that the merchants and traders should cultivate feelings of friendship* and good-will. the vigorous action df ddVernSr Darling, fend jt must be admitted Ralph Darling tvas vigorous, and his customs officers complfefcely killed the trade. If we could insjtect the books of some of the Sydney merchants who flourished m Governor Darling's time, arid before, we might find many entries dr indents of "baked-heads," but I think m the customs entries they Would be entered as "curiosities'," Anyhow the trade m "baked-neads" is one that New Zealand may thank Governor Darling for having Squelched.