Old New Zealand.

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 59

Old New Zealand.

DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY. HAT event in its career — save, perhaps, the celebration of the completion of its first decade, 1 when the progress made assured success — could be a more fitting epoch for rejoicing than the jubilee of a settlement ? Who more than the lion-hearted pilgrim fathers, and the brave and devoted women — wives, mothers and daughters — who accompanied them on their hazardous expedition, could be more worthy of veneration at the hands of those who, after fifty years, are reaping the benefits of the foresight, the toil, and the self-denial of these heroic colonists of half a century back ? The few surviving members of the hardy band of '48 have their reward in witnessing the immense strides made by the settlement at whose birth they were participants. But many were called away while it was still in its infancy, and to the work of these as well as to that of those still amongst us is due the hearty recognition of all privileged to take part in the rejoicings of the 23rd March, 1898. The time is a fitting one for a short history of Otago to be written. Within the space at our disposal it will not be possible to give more than an outline. Moreover, at this date, after the lapse of half a century, many of the residents most intimately connected with the laying of the foundation of the early settlement of Otago have faded well nigh into oblivion, for fifty years is more than the span of the average lifetime, and it is not given to many to retain a clear memory of the events of fifty years

ago. But very few of the incidents which entered into the every-day life of the early settlers have been placed on record, and the only sources of information are the treasure house of the minds of those who were active participators in the scenes and incidents connected with the early days of Otago. Before settlement was possible in Otago the way had to be prepared in New Zealand generally, peopled as it was by a savage and warlike race. The history of that race is lost in the dim mists of antiquity ; yet it is half revealed in the mythology of the Maori, in common with that of the Polynesian races. At any rate the ancestors of the Maoris appear to have been an adventurous band, who sailed far across the expanse of the Pacific, guided only by the stars (like the Phoenicians of old), till they discovered New Zealand. Whether they found a race of people in possession of the islands is not clear from their

legends, but if they did, the warlike bands who came to New Zealand made short work of them. The common origin of the races at present inhabiting many of the South Sea islands is evident in the similarity of their language, and it will be remembered by readers of Captain Cook's voyages that a Tahiti native he had with him could converse with the Maoris quite freely, the difference in language being very slight. The discovery of the greenstone gave the Maori a great advantage over his fellow-savages dwelling 011 coral islands. With infinite toil and patience, the warlike

Maori fashioned the obdurate green jade into weapons, which in his sinewy grasp became terrible engines of destruction to his foes. It is more than probable that as the fame of the new land became known — for these ancestors of the Maoris were as bold navigators as they were brave warriors — others were induced to visit the land of fioxmamu, as they called the greenstone. The legends of the Maori bear this out, and they even give the names of the canoes which bore them from their home in Hawaiki and the place of their landing. In a land of plenty such as the Maoris found New Zealand to be, the race would rapidly multiply till the North Island, at any rate, became fairly well peopled. Carrying with them to their new home their ancient superstitions and terrible laws oi vengeance, we need not marvel that when the tribes grew strong some infringement of Maori custom or insult to Maori dignity

led to war. The whole system of Maori inter-tribal war was the outcome of attempts to redress wrongs, real or imaginary, inflicted by the members of one tribe upon those of another ; for it was a cardinal principle of Maori law that an insult had 'to be wiped out, no matter what the consequences might be. In taking vengeance for his own wrongs a chief was certain to infringe the rights of some neighbouring friendly chief, who in turn had to take his utu from the new foe. The disgusting cannibalism of the Maoris was the outcome of their terrible canon of vengeance, for the bodies of the slain

and conquered were eaten with triumph and revelry to heap shame upon the defeated tribe. Maori internecine strife had no doubt altered the tribal boundaries many times before the advent of the first white settlers in New Zealand. Although both French and Spanish claimants have been put forward as the discoverers of New Zealand, without doubt the first navigator to sail along its coast was Abel Tasman, who sighted the land in 1642, in his ships the Heemskirk and the Zcehan. Crossing over from Tasmania, he sighted the Middle Is. and anchored in what is now called Golden Bay in Sept., 1642. The Maoris immediately put off in their war canoes, and shortly afterwards made an attack upon the Heemskirk, scaling the vessel's sides. They were eventually driven off, but not before they had killed one of the crew and carried off his body to perform the customary cannibal rites with it. That the Maori? shoujd have so boldly attacked Tasman 's ships in their war canoes shows how brave and warlike they were. In every attempt to land Tasman was met with similar hostility, so that he was constrained to depart without setting his foot on the soil of the 'and he named New Zealand. The real honour of discovering New Zealand and charting its coasts lies with our own intrepid navigator, Captain James Cook. Captain Cook, - ao was sent to the Pacific to observe the transit of Venus, in the Endeavour, a vessel of 370 tons, sighted New Zealand and anchored atTaurangaon Sunday, Bth Oct., 1769. He had some difficulty with the Maoris, but managed to communicate with them by the help of a Tahiti native. The Maoris were hostile and demonstrativ but, nevertheless, Cook pursued his voyage of discovery, landing at many places, and charting the coast as he proceeded. He coasted up the east side of

the North island and sailed right round by the west coast to Cook Strait, then south down the east coast of the Middle Island and up the west coast, finally taking leave of New Zealand at the poii which he named Cape Farewell. On a second visit New Zealand, Cook found that the natives had lear* T. to dread the guns, and their first salute on coming of to the ship in their canoes was, "We are afraid of the uns. " That a race like the Maoris should have been so easily subjugated as they have been is very remarkable, c pecially when from the first they showed a decided hostil yto the white race. After Cook's discovery, Captain Vancouver visited Dusky Bay, in 1791, but he did noi ?o to the North Island. In 1793 D'Entrecasteaux visited New Zealand, but the publication of Cook's narrative had given the Maori race such a bad eminence that he refrained from attempting to land. The next contact of the English

with the Maori was of such a character that the marvel is Europeans ever obtained a foothold in the land before subduing the savage race b3 7 force of arms. Governor Phillip, having founded the settlement at Sydney in January, 1788, sent a friend named King to found a similar penal settlement at Norfolk Island. It was thought desirable to cultivate and manufacture the New Zealand flax at the latter place, and for this purpose Maori instructors were required. King commissioned Vancouver's lieutenant (Hanson) to procure two suitable natives. Hanson decoyed two young chiefs on board andkidnapped them. The chiefs were sullen, and continued to sing mournful songs, but King soothed them by promising to return them to their homes, which he did in November, 1793Here an insult had been offered to Maori chiefs which was certain to brew mischief in time to come. Afterwards, when King became Governor of New South Wales (in 1800), he was visited by a chief, and that visit did much to raise the better class of white man in the estimation of the Maori. Further contact with the Europeans enabled him to d ; stinguish between the low class and the middle and respectable classes, and the intelligent Maori was not slow to profit by his experience. Meantime Maori warfare, with all its attendant horrors, was changing the balance of tribal power until the conquering and the conquered tribes were ruled by a few commanding chiefs when New Zealand became a British possession. The most renowned chiefs in 1840 were, without doubt, Te Rauparaha, at Kapiti ; Wirernu Kiugi Te Rangitake, at Wakanae; Te Whero Whero, in the Waikato; Rewi, among the Ngatimaniapoto ; Waka Nene and his brother Patuone, among the Ngapuhi ; Pauakareao, among the Rarawa ; and other chiefs of less power on the East and West Coasts. Inland, the giant chief Te Heu Heu was the undisputed leader of men, at Lake Taupo, among the Ngatituwharetoa. The Middle Tsland never seems to have been largely peopled. No distinct legend explains the fate of the tribe supposed to have landed in the canoe Takitumu. Maori traditions prove that migrations from various North Island tribes peopled different portions of the South Island at different times. The Ngatimamoe tribe came from Wanganui rather to slay and conquer than to discover new lands, and eventually became the chief tribe to the south of the 43rd parallel, while the Ngaitahu tribe became the dominant tribe north of that. But before these two tribes became the dominant tribes, there were many changes, due to internecine warfare and intermarriage

FIRST CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS.

Although stories of cannibalism had given the Maori name a bad odour, still the more adventurous spirits amongst Englishmen were not deterred from visiting the islands. In 1792 a sealing party was left at Dusky Bay. The sealing party

remained for over a year, during that time securing a large number of sealskins ; but the natives did not molest them. There were very few Maoris in the

neighbourhood, and they sought rather to avoid the white men than to interfere with them. In 1794 a vessel of 170 tons sailed from Sydney to the Firth of Thames and loaded " two hundred fine trees for the use of the East India Company." While there the commander (Dell) fired upon the natives, because some axes were stolen, killing two Maori men and one women. Thus was begun that unlicensed traffic which afterwards made the earl) r contact of the white race with the Maoris a

disgrace to the European name. Shortly after this time whalers resorted to New Zealand, and the Maoris, with their wonted daring, soon joined the whaling crew as harpooners. Those who knew them best in that capacity speak in the highest terms of praise of their prowess. A story is told of one who, " when scorned for missing one whale, sprang on the body of the next that appeared, and having struck home, vanished in a whirlpool of blood and foam, emerging coolly with his hand on the gunwale, being hauled on board as the boat

was dragged into speed by the wounded whale." The incident is characteristic of the Maori, who was not inferior in hauteur to the Romans of old. The vikings

of the Pacific, as the race has been justly called, soon mingled freely amongst the crews of foreign ships. A few went to England. Ruatara, nephew of" the terrible Hongi, went to Eng-

land in 1809 to see the King. Needless to say, he was cruelly deceived by the captain who took him. He was eventually put on board a convict transport bound for Sydney. The chief returned filled with a desire for vengeance against those who had treated him so shamefully, but fortunately the same ship that carried the outraged chief carried Samuel Marsden, whose memory will ever be revered by the children of the Maoris as long as the race endures. Marsden befriended the chief, who was one of the most influential in the North Island, and one who could trace his unbroken descent from the chieftains who led the Maor i people from Hawaiki. For some months

Ruatara stayed with Marsden in Sydney, and his travels and contact with the white race taught him to distinguish between the white chiefs and the common people. He thus became the first missionary to his people, and his influence made it both possible and feasible for Marsden to establish a Christian Mission amongst a people given up to deeds of the foulest kind and steeped in the deepest superstition. Meantime Marsden had settled his determination to carry the Gospel to the Maori heathen, and w mid have sent a missionary along with Ruatara had it not been that news of the massacre of a ship's crew at Whangaroa in 1810 deterred him. The story of the massacre will bear repetition here, as showing the undying determination of the Maori of good birth to wipe out an insult. Thomson, master of the Boyd, had engaged some Maoris in Sydney to go to New Zealand for timber. One of them

was a chief named

Tara, but coniinonly called George. On the voyage Thomson had him tied to the gangway twice and flogged, telling him that he was no chief. The sullen victim replied, "When you arrive in my county you will find that I am a chief." He dissembled afterwards and persuaded Thomson to land at Whangaroa, his native place. There he showed his stripes to his friends, and as the back of a chief is a very sacred piece of property amongst the Maoris, vengeance was vowed. When the captain and his crew went ashore to select timber they were all murdered. To the ever^sting honour of the Maoris, rude savages as they were, be it said that they spared the life of a woman and two children when at dusk, dressed in the clothes of the dead sailors, they scaled the sides of the ship and slaughtered all the rest. The woman hadshown some kindness to the Maoris on the voyage, and the Maori neither forgets a kindness nor an injury. The woman, Mrs. Moseley, was afterwards rescued by an influential colonist of New South Wales, along with the

two children

Five whaling ships shortly afterwards met at the Bay of Islands, and believing that the chief Tipahe was an accomplice of Tara, attacked his village, and burned it and his growing

crops. The chief escaped, only to be killed by the Whangaroa men, for his endeavours to save the lives of the sailors who had taken shelter in the rigging of the Boyd. Soon afterwards three sailors were killed and eaten by Tipahe's countrymen, as utu ; and so the bloody work went on.

In 1813 Governor Macquarie proclaimed that breach of the tapu or ill usage of the natives at New Zealand, Tahiti, or other islands caused danger of retaliation, and extorted a bond for ,£'l,ooo that every vessel clearing from the territory of New South Wales should undertake to behave well to the natives. Marsden meanwhile was not inactive. He made very strong representations to the missionary societies in England concerning the desperate condition into which the Maoris were plunged by shameful contact with the scum of civilisation. Consequent upon Marsden 's representations two lay missionaries, Hall and Kendall, sailed in the Active, a small trading vessel. The missionaries had a message for Ruatara. The chief had previously given wheat, but the Maoris could not make flour with it. Marsden sent them a hand mill, and the Maoris watched the operation of grinding Ruatara's hitherto useless wheat into flour. Bread was made, the doubters were convinced, and the grinding mill thus became the harbinger of civilisation and Christianity. When the Active returned to Sydney in October, 1814, the great warrior chief Hongi and his nephew Ruatara were passengers to Sydney, along with other chiefs. All were the guests of Marsden. In November, 1814, Marsden sailed for the Bay of Islands in the Active, having, in addition to another missionary, Mr. King, eight Maoris and two Tahiti natives. He also took three horses, and a bull and two cows, as a present from the Governor. Marsden 's good name had gone before him, and the Maoris received him kindly. But there were supreme difficulties to be overcome at the outset. The massacre of the crew of the Boyd had left behind it a trail of blood, which had spread far over the laud of the Maori. Marsden boldly went over to the people of Whangaroa, who were at feud with Hongi. He was hospitably received, and remained all night as the guest of the chief. Next morning the Active arrived with Ruatara and Hongi on board. Marsden invited the Whangaroa chief on board, but doubted if he would go after the Boyd affair. But the chief and his companions showed no signs of fear, and went on board. Marsden introduced the missionaries and told the natives that Mr. Rendall was to build houses, Mr. Hall to teach the children, Mr. King to,

make fishing lines, etc., while Mr. Hanson was to command the Active, which would secure supplies as required. Then came the crucial part of the meeting. Marsden urged the contending tribes to be reconciled. To his glad surprise the chiefs Ruatara, Hougi, and Koro Koro shook hands with the chiefs of Whangaroa, and saluted each other as a token of reconciliation by joining their noses together. The chiefs promised for the future to protect the missionaries and European traders. And it must be said for Hongi that in the midst of all the terrible carnage he inflicted upon his own countrymen, he never molested the missionaries. It is true that the latter were too often the witnesses of horrible cannibal orgies, when the terrible Hongi was carrying death and destruction amongst the tribes of the North Island, but he never violated his promise to protect the missionaries. The Maoris at once set about preparing for the initiation of Christian worship in the land. On the Saturday Ruatara caused an enclosure of half an acre of land to be made, in which a pulpit and fixed seats for the Europeans were set up. On the following Sunday morning, 25th December, 1814, the English flag was hoisted, and preparations made for the service. The leading chiefs were there dressed in the regimentals which Governor Macquarie had given them, and were followed by a large concourse of people. Ruatara acted as interpreter, and " was as proud as Marsden was gratified at this formal reception of his countrymen into the Christian fold." Thus was Christianity introduced amongst the Maoris, and the way made pain for the rule of the British in after years, for the missionaries were the pioneers of civilisation, and taught the savages that the leaders of the white men were honourable in their dealings.