PIONEER PRINTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20320, 31 January 1928, Page 6

PIONEER PRINTER.

COLENSO’S FIRST BOOK. SUCCESSFUL MAKESHIFTS. In the lengthy list of writers on New Zealand subjects, -William Colenso occupies a unique position (say a writer in the Gisborne Times). For he worked the fiist printing press, in this young colony, and then turned author and wrote numerous books dealing with Native history. The first press in New Zealand was che property of the Church Missionary Sccietj, and was sent out to the station at Paihai. At that time Colenso was a young printer in England, and hearing that the society sought a missionary printer made inquiries, was introduced to the secretaries, and was engaged to go out to New Zealand as a missionary, leaving for Sydney in 1834. Owing to fear of the Maoris vessels ran only at infrequent intervals, and it was not until nine weeks after landing that the young man reached the Bay of Islands. * The work of getting the heavy printing press ashore was very difficult with the inadenuate discharging appliances of those days, but it was fianlly managed by lashing two Maori canoes together and making a’ platform on them, on which the press was deposited. MANY DEFICIENCIES. “ The boxes of type would have been opened on board,” writes Colenso, “ but as the little vessel was continually crowded with Maoris—all cf whom were very rough and wild—it was thought tbe type might be seized for making musket balls. On unpacking the goods I found many necessary articles to oe absolutely wanting—there were, no galleys (to put the type on), no cases (with separate compartments for each letter), no, leads, no rules, no composing sticks, no potash (to wash type), no composing stone (or table), no page cord, and, worst of all, no printing paper. Moreover, none of these things could be procured from England in less time than 18 months, whilst they might possibly have been got from Sydney in six or eight months. ’ Colenso, however, had a heart. He secured the assistance of a joiner in the bay, who made cases, galleys, inking tables, etc. The missionaries supplied odd pieces of paper from their private stores, and by February 17, 1835, five weeks , after landing, the proofs of the first book printed in New Zealand, the Epistles to the Ephesians, and he Bhilippians, in Maori, were pulled. Four days later, 25 copies were printed and stitched The missionaries’ wives supplied pieces of pink blotting paper, which, pasted on to a stronger paper, formed the covers, and thus the first book in New Zealand was published. THE FIRST COMPOSITORS. Thence onward the craft of Caxton advanced slowly but surely. The first three compositors in New Zealand were adult tattooed chiefs from Te Kawakawa, who were paid 3S a week, in addition to a ration of potatoes and shellfish. . In December, 1637, the first edition of the New Testament in-Maori, consisting of 365 pages, was completed. Colenso carried on his printing work for many years, in .the course of which he had many exciting experiences. DISCOVERY OF THE MOA. The literary work of the missionaryprinter opened with articles t.i the Tasmanian Journal, in which, in the Drst number he contributed an article dealing with ferns lately discovered in New Zealand. This was followed in 1845 by another article which caused quite a sensation in the scientific world, for it gave an account of the first discovery of moa bones in the East Cape district in 1838 by the writer and Bishop W. Williams. This paper, was illustrated and contained the first native history and legend of the moa, and the information later proved invaluable to Sir Richard Owen, when he reconstructed a skeleton of the huge bird from bones sent- to him by Mr Colenso and Bishop Williams. In this connection, one can hardly deal with Colenso’s,works without-centering uuo detail on the" discovery of the moa, mr it was through the instrumentality of William Colenso and .Bishop Williams that Sir Richard Owen made himself world-famous established his reputation in the eyes of his doubting scientific confreres. In 1839. writes James-Drummond, in dealing with the moa, a man from New Zealand walked into Ihe British Museum with a bone 6in long and 3in wide in his hand, and offered to sell it to the authorities for lOgns. He said he had just arrived from New Zealand, and the Maoris had given it to him and had told him it was the bone of a great bird. The Museum authorities, after examining it, were not impressed, and referred him to the Royal College of Surgeons. There he was referred to Sir Richard Owen, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, who, after examination, said it was merely a marrow bone “like the bones brought, to a table wrapped in a napkin.” The man was palpably disappointed. Sir Richard Owen, seeing this, said he would make further investigations next day. On the ; following day, therefore, he closely studied the bone and compared it with those of all other animals,' but was mystified. Under the microscope be saw obscure markings which recalled to his mind similar markings on the big bones of large birds. Keenly excited, he made a rhore minute examination and finally came to the conclusion that it was the shaft of a thighbone of a huge'bird unknown to. science. ’ “ FANTASTIC AND UNWAR. RANTED.” Sir Richard Owen; keenly interested, wrote a short paper on these lines which he read at a meeting of the Zoological Society in London. Scientists, however, wore not at ,all impressed, and it was considered his theories were fantastic and unwarranted. Some members of the society objected to the inclusion of the paper in the society’s Transactions, and it was omy when Sir Richard Owen staked his reputation on his paper, that it was admitted, together with one plate of illustrations,' but it was made clear to the writer that the entire responsibility for the statements he had made rested with him. For four years nothing more was heard in England'of the moa. But Sir Richard, Osven was no sluggard and he had hundreds of copies of his paper printed and sent out to New Zealand, with a request that inquiries should be made. A BASKET OF BONES. One of these circulars was received by Mr Coloneso, and during his tour of the North Island in 1841-42 he visited a mission station on the East Coast, and told Bishop Williams of the inquiries. Bishop Williams said he had a basketful of bones in the next room, which had been collected on the supposition that thev belonged to some strange animfel. There was no one who had any knowledge of their value, but the circular supplied a hint in this direction. Mr Colenso and Bishop Williams got the bones, and on the following day sent Maoris to gather large' quantities from (he sand. Several boxes were filled with bones and forwarded to Sir Richard Owen, and thus the structure of the moa was built up and Sir Richard Owen’s reputation as a scientist was upheld throughout . the world. If only for his work in this direction, Mr Colenso occupies a prominent niche in the country’s scroll of fame. In 1844, Mr Colenso published ,“An Excursion in the Northern Island of New Zealand in 1841-42,” in which he traveiled from the Bay of Islands to Hicks Bay bv sea, thence overland to Poverty Bay, Rotorua, and the Waikato. For many years he was a valued rontributor to scientific publications, including the Transactions of the New Zealand Philosophical Institute, and later retired to live in Napier, where his memory, in Colenso Hill, is commemorated to-day.