ANNEXATION OF NEW ZEALAND

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 38

ANNEXATION OF NEW ZEALAND

*«. THE AKAROA INCIDENT. WERE THE FRENCH FORESTALLED? (Fkoji Qua. Own Corresfondext.) LONDON, November 27. It is to be feared that Mr S. C. Fan's account of the hoisting of the British flag at Akaroa in 1840 is scarcely more accurate than most of our history which we •endeavour to rescue by vha roce narrative decades after the events occurred. It is too common in discussing the alleged taking possession of the South Island at Akaroa in 1840 to overlook the fact that Captain Cook took formal possession in 1770 in Queen Charlotte Sound, and that act was never questioned until the reluctance of the British Government to assume the responsibility — a responsibility which had already been recognised by the Powers of Europe in the peace of 1814 — encouraged the French, who at that tuna showed much more activity in colonisation than the British, to promote an expedition for the settlement of Akaroa. There can be no doubt whatever that if England "had disregaided the repeated warnings of the Wakefield party against the designs of the French and had allowed the Cornte de Paris settlers, who were evidently under the impression thes* were going to a French colony, to instaJ themselves at Akaroa under the protection of their frigate L'Aube, the British sovereignty over the South Island would have been seriously challenged. It was in reality a " try on." The French Government knew perfectly well that Britain had proclaimed sovereignty over the South Island, but it was pardonably doubtful whether the British Government of the day was genuinely anxious to have the island, and it considered it quite worth while lending its protection to a French company which might possibly establish itself in peaceful possession. Fortunately for England, there were men in her service who would not allow her to be despoiled of her rights by the supineness of the Government. LieutenantGovernor Hobson did not merely rely upon Captain Cook's act. He ratified the British sovereignty by sending Maior Bunbury in the Herald to hoist the nag onoe more in Marlborough, and when the French expedition actually arrived in the Bay of Islands — which it would have carefully avoided if it had not understood the position — he sent off two magistrates to establish a British court of justice in Akaroa before the arrival of the French there. The Rev. Father Monfat's story shows that the French settlers themselves expected to land in a French colony, and felt some resentment against their Government for deceiving them. That the visit of the Britomart to Akaroa. in August, 1840, was not for the purpose •of hoisting the flag in token of sovereignty must be clear from a perusal of Captain Stanley's log, which is deposited in the Public Record Office in Chancery Lane. Captain Stanley is rather more graphic in his log narrative than most naval officers of his time, and there would be no underestimating the importance of such an event ftom the baldness of his official account. Here is the story, stripped of all the routine entries:— "ln courses; sunset up boats," and so on. The sloop-of-war Britomai-t, ' Captain Stanley, left Sydney on June 17, 1840, and came to anchor at Kororaroka on the afternoon o c July 2, H.M.S. Herald having worked into* the bay just ahead" of her. She lay in the bay for nine days, "cutting brooms," watering, etc., until on Saturday, July 11, "arrived the French *ihip-of-war L'Aube, and revenue cutter Ranger with the Governor. Saluted the French flag with 21 guns." Routine work went on as before, but on -the 22nd the company of the Britomart was employed making 1 preparations for sea. The log of the following- day, commencing at midnight on the 22nd, is interesting :—" 2 a.m. received on board per order of hi^ Excellency Lieut. -Governor Hobson. Mr Murphy, and Mr Robinson, magistrate: 8 loosed sails, short'd in cable : 11 weighed and made sail. Working out of Kororarc'ka Harbour; tacked occasionally.'" The vessel was bu;y all the afternoon j working out of tih? Bay of Islands, and at daylight on the 24th Cape Brett lay on, the lee bow. 10 or 12 miles distant. ! The pa33a«e to Akaroa was a thoroughly bad one, and the ship, which was evidently not too well found at the oubset, suffered considerably from the knocking about sho received. At midday on the 25th, the first day out, the vessel was off the Great Barrier. The following morning the foretopmast stay was found to be chafed through, and' in the afternoon the foretopsail waa split. On the 27th a lot of time was occupied in bonding new sails ; in the afternoon two , poris were stove in by the heavy r-ca. Capo Wareka (probably Whafo Kahika) was 218 miles distant at li-oon on the 28t'-i. On the 2Bth aud 30th there was a hea\y head swell, which made the 120 miles to Ea=>t Caps a great deal mora. However, ■ the wind veered round, and the Britomart rounded East Cape before midnight on the 31-st. In tho afternoon thcr? wa a 14 incho-3 of water in the hold, and thereafter j the pumps wers going almost continuously. On August 2 " Akoroa " as it was called, was 306 miles distant, and the pump 3 ; showed 17 and 18 inches throughout the ; afternoon. At 2 o'clock on the morning of the 3rd the Britomart shipped a sea which ' stove in the lee 1 quarter boat and washed ; away a porf. The ship was 12 mile* farther from liOr destination at ,noon on the 4fh , than on the previous day. Again, in the early morning of thf sth. a sea stove- in a j weather port. Land was Eeen on the port foow at 10 a.m. on the 6th (it was c ome- ' wlK>re near Fiat Point or Te Aw-aite. in i the North Island) ; and in the afternoon a sea split tha foretopmaa-t staysail. Next day the weather moderated, and sea water- i was pumped into tho empty tank«. Land i showod on the lee bow at 7in tho evening-, < and naxt morning (Bth) Cape Pailiser was i four or five leagues distant. On the morn- i insr of the 9th (Sunday 1 tlw» crew wa? mus- j t<?re>d and the articles of war w<?re read — \ a proceeding of quit.c a routine nature. •( There was land on the beam and a run { of 83 miles to Akaroa. Tin's is the narrative of the 10th: — "4 a.m., bore up for the land; 12.50, calm, with a heavy swell; out- ] sweeps and 'swept ship' (i.e., propelled her bj means of large oars). 1.30, a breezs , from the nor' ward ; in sw&eps, Irimm<-d and ?wept into the harbour. 4 30, short- i

ened sail, and came to with S.B. in 6| 1 fathoms ; fvrrled sails, etc." j At daylight on the 11th the boats were . out and the ship was made snug. There i is no reference to any incident outside the j ordinary routine of the ship, though anything in the nature of taking- possession would inevitably have appeared in the log. On the 12th the boats were sent out to survey and cut wood, and they were so employed for the next few days, completing on Friday, 14th. On the following day, Saturday, August 15: — "5 p.m.: Sent boats to assist towing the French ship-of-war l'Aube. 8 : Aii.chored do." Sunday was marked by the usual Divine service. On Monday, 17th — " — p.m.: Arrived the French ship (merchant) Count de Paris, with emigrants. Sent the cutter with a party to haul the seine." There is nothing but routine entries until the 22nd, when the company was employed making preparations for sea. The Britomart ran down the harbour on the 26tn and came to near the entrance, when she spoke of the British merchant ship, Speculator (just arrived). Sails were loosed on the 27th, and further preparations wade for sea. At 8 a.m., Captain Stanley " Discharged Mr C. B. Robinson, police magistrate,'* and at 9 made sail down the harbour, coming to at the anchorage. Putting to sea the following day, the Britomart spoke the schooner Success Sydney), from Port Cooper, and another sail. On the 29th she shaped her course for Pigeon Bay, where she came to and sent a boat to survey and get water. On the 30th sailed ior Port Cooper and anchored there. On the Ist September the Britomart waa again under sail, and a cable was passed to the merchant ship Africaine, but in getting under way in the squally wind the hawser parted and the Britomart touched bottom. She made a good passage to Cape Palliser, which wais in eight at daylight on the 2nd, and in the afternoon the steep was working up to Port Nicholson, where she anchored at 5 p.m. Next da.v ehe had a bad "him© in working up the harbour, and she came to again. Again on the 4th she bad more trouble. When the sloop cast anchor she fouled the chain of the Coromandel (a merchant ship which had brought some immi grants for the company, and after which. Coromandel street in Wellington is narmeid). Am officer was sent to request the merchantman to shift her berth, but she refused to do so until the harbourmaster wemfc on board. A party of men was sent to help the Coironrandcl hoist her anchor, but as there was no chance of the vessels clearing away they were lashed together amd chafed alongside each other throughout the gale. On the 6th September the ships unmoored and got clear, and on th© 16th, the Britomart Mailed from Wellington for the north. When she reached Kororareka on the 23rd ehe found H.M. sjoop FatouTite there, and from there received the Admiralty circular deited Maroh 30, 1839, directing tobacco to be issued at ls."> Receiving two volunteers from H.M. late ship Buffalo, the Britomart sailed on the 11th October for Waitesnata, where «be anchored on tho afternoon of the 12th. The boaits were surveying from the 14th to the 20th, and on the 26th the Britomart and Favoudte i-eturned together <to Kororareka. Captain Stanley sailed for Sydney on November 4. Such is the story of the only cruise of the Britomart in New Zealand waters.