New Zealand’s Timber

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 887, 3 February 1930, Page 8

New Zealand’s Timber

EARLY TRADING HISTORY Written for THE SUN by A. BEASLEY, B.A. WIIEX Captain Cook landed in New Zealand in 1761) and circumnavigated the country, he was particularly impressed with the remarkable forest growth. So interested was he in the apparent excellence o£ New Zealand timber that he reported favourably up its suitability for naval purposes.

Prior to the War of American Independence, which occupied the attention of the British nation from 1776 to 1753, supplies of timber for the Navy, particularly for the production of masts and spars, were secured. In the main, from the Baltic regions and from Virginia. With the outbreak of hostilities in America in 1776, the latter source of supply was no longer available, so that the Admiralty was compelled to consider seriously the possibility of alternate supplies of such vital importance to naval supremacy. Thus, in 1783, the year of the close of the American War, appeared a report to the British Government by J. M. Mattra, as follows: “It may be seen by Captain Cook’s voyage that New Zealand is covered with timber of size and every quality that indicates long duration: it grows close to the water’s edge and may be easily obtained. Would it not be worth while for such ships as may be dispatched to New South Wales to take in some of this timber on their return for the use of thp King’s yards? As the two countries are within a fortnight’s run of each other, and as we might be of the utmost service to the New Zealanders, I think it highly probable that this plan might become eminently useful to us as a naval Power, especially as we might thus secure masts large enough for a firstrate ship, and planks superior to any which Europe possesses.” Thus it will be seen that as early as the year of the close of the American War, and even before the first settlement was established in Australia (in 1788), attention had been seriously directed toward New Zealand timber. That this was not merely a passing phase will he seen from the fact that Lord Sydney in a report in 1785 urged the practicability of using New Zealand timbers in connection with the fleets in India, and suggested that the distance between the two countries, being little more than that separating England from Virginia, could hardly be considered an obstacle to the adoption of his idea. FIRST EXPORT OF NEW ZEALAND TIMBER The desire for security iu the matter of supplies of naval timber, since Virginia was now part of a foreign State, was so strong that in 1794 the ship Fancy loaded a cargo of kauri spars for the Admiralty. So satisfactory did these prove that other vessels, such as sealers and whalers, were able to supplement their earnings by securing suitable logs and spars when about to return to the Mother Country. It may not be generally known that it was on this account that the ill-fated ship Boyd put into Whangaroa in 1809. The captain had secured a valuable cargo of

sealskins, but having still considerable space, decided to load spars for the Cape of Good Hope. The story of the massacre of the crew and the burning of the vessel by the Maoris Is too well known to require further mention' here, but it is probable that, but for the quest for naval timber, this tragedy of 1809 would not have occurred. Throughout the early years of last century the trade in timber continued, not merely as supplementary to sealing and whaling, but as a definitely established commercial undertaking. The new city of Sydney was fast developing and building timber was in keen demand. Since hand sawing was the only means of production of boards, and Australia produces hardwoods rather than softwoods, a keen demand grew up for the more easily worked timber from across the Tasman Sea. TRADE WITH AUSTRALIA In 1819 it was recorded that a vessel, the Active, arrived at Sydney from New Zealand with over 5,000 feet of planks and three tons of salt pork—the latter item, no doubt, being due to the presentation of pigs to the Maoris by Captain Cook half a century before. The reference to planks goes to show that production of sawn timber had commenced in this country over 20 years before the proclamation of British sovereignty. Not only was sawn timber exported thus early, but at about the same date shipbuilding yards were definitely established on the Hokianga River, building vessels for trade with Australia and the Pacific Islands. VIEWS OF REV. SAMUEL MARSDEN New Zealand’s pioneer missionary, Rev. Samuel Marsden, who preached the first sermon in this country on the Christmas Day immediately preceding the Battle of Waterloo, was fully alive to the suitability of New Zealand timber from a naval point of view. In his letters he advocated the wider exploitation of this timber, but shared with many others a reluctance to establish a colony. On the other hand, one Robert Sugden strongly recommended the establishment of a colony in. New Zealand on account of the possibilities of timber supply and shipbuilding and as a means (if supplying fresh food to traders and whalers, but his advocacy of this scheme was not supported by those in authority. In spite of official apathy in regard to colonisation, however, the timber industry continued to develop, but the insecurity of life and property prior to the Treaty of Waitangi acted as a serious drawback to full development of the potentialities of the forests of the new country.