EARLY NEW ZEALAND HISTORY.

Otago Daily Times, Volume 13696, Issue 13696, 12 September 1906, Page 2

EARLY NEW ZEALAND HISTORY.

, PARTICULARS: OF A/RUSSIAN I ■ "EXPEDITION/ ! LIFE AT MACQUARIE-ISLANDS. (Fxou Our Own CoKxisroNDiiir.) , 'WELLINGTON, September 11. | During My M'Nah's recent visit to Engla'nd. ho secured in a second-hand bookshop 43 Volumes of «. work printed dn Russian giving tho details of- he work oftho great Kusijlar., navigator Bellinghauscn. One of these volumes contained somo. important references to'-'the early history of New-Zealand,, and in.order to secure this information for the hook ho is pubiishiug Mr M'Nab had to purchase the whole 43 volumes. The Bellipghausen expedition was filled oat by Czir, Alexander I, and tho Czar himself visited tho. two' shins. rl«s Wo-to'f T.id the Mirnyj. before they sailed from Krouetadt to England, on route to tho ■Southern Seas This oxpeiliti'iii was ordered by tho Czar on the 25th March, 1819. The •portion of iho book that.-will interest New Zcalanders is the details given of tho experiences of tho navigators in those early dayo on tho coast .of New Zealand, and of their visit to Macquario Island,. Tho voyage thre-.igh Co.ik Strait is described in somo detail, and tho meeting with the Maoris'on board tho vessels, and also at Ship's Cove, whero Captain Cook had landed years before, is particularly interesting.' At first tho Natives at Ship's Cove, were extremely shy and timid, but afterwards, when they saw tho Russians were friendly, they came in a great crowd to seo them..' "Soon,-, also,", adds the writer, "tho chiefs of tho tribe and some women came up, a"d we must sav that these women by their appearance and behaviour have left a very good impression on us." Some idea of what tho Russians thought of the colony may bo gathered from the following extract —:" Wo extended our visits ashore till Juno 1, during which wo were'more and more impressed that the country was distinguished by a eplondtd climate, which resembled that of the Southern Crimea, and offered the inhabitants' in fact, the best conditions of life by its products." The parties that left the ship '' did not meet ono Now Zealander in the interior." Thero is one curious remark about the Natives of Queen Charlotte SlDund. the Russians finding that they knew especially how to handle a bow,' "after the'fashion of tho Tocherkesscn with extraordinary accuracy.'' The expedition sailed from Port .lackson for Macquario Island, clii covered 10-years previously, on Sunday, 31st October,' lf2o. '-The chapter' dealing with this visit contains the first printed account of sea olophaliU and penguins at Macquario Island-, tint Mr M'Nab knows of At this island the voyasers foil in with somo Sydney men, who bad been, sent out for tho train oil of the 'sea elephant*.' Some had been on the island fo> *ix, and others for nine, month*-. Apparently in those days prohibition' was not appreciated by sailors, fo:- tho' chronicler writes:—"l gavo orders' that they should be regaled with biscuits and butler, and also with grog, of wV.ich drink, highly esteemed by Mi'ein, they hail het'u deprived for months. They gtew more loquacious in consequence, and offered, their services even more heartily." • Oi7 the shoro were largo numbers of huge seal elephants, and stitches covered with three different species of penguin. : Whilt oil' the. island a severe earth-quake-shock-was felt, both .shins imagining that tbev had touched ground; but tney were in deep water. A great -number of vessels had'already visited tho island for the shin of iho "sea. bears" and the fat of tho sea ■ elephants, and ovon at that early date iho hsad trader had been on the island for six vean. Tho ".scar teais," at this time, owiiig to Hie demand for. the'ir skins in ■ England, -had been practically oxtor'minated. Tlic-re were wild dogs and cats on the island. : The details of the expedition are extremely- interesting, but 1 must not further piiticinato tho appearance of Mr M'Nab's book.