Barnicoat Diary Tells Of Adventurous Forties.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18085, 19 February 1927, Page 20

Barnicoat Diary Tells Of Adventurous Forties.

WELLINGTON LIKE A DOOMED PLACE; NELSON DESERTED.

THE DIARY of Mr (afterwards the Ifon) W. .T. Barnicoat, of which the “ Star ” presents extracts, not before published, deals with troubles and dangers of settlement in New Zealand in the years 1842 to 1814, well before the. Otago and Canterbury settlements were founded. Specially interesting is his account of the Wairau massacre, of which he was a witness, the events which led to it, and alarms that followed it. He also writes on early Wellington in the vein of a secular Dean Inge, shows a warm appreciation of the Maori character, and sharply criticises the methods of the New Zealand Company. Canon Nevill, to whom we are indebted for the story, writes: “ The value of the journal is that it has never been in print before, and is an invaluable record of the days of the first founders of New Zealand, with all their difficulties and their opinions which are, now matters of history. I have to thank the University Council of Otago for their courtesy in allowing me to transcribe the diary, and Mrs MacDonald, the librarian of the Iloeken Library, for her courtesy as guardian of the M.S.”

No. VIII. . July 1. 1843—The American ship, the Robert Pulsford, left the harbour. She was the only large vessel in the port, and has been so for some time. The company, it seems, have ceased to send out emigrant vessels to Wellington. They have also ceased for some time to give employment to such of their emigrants as were unable to procure it elsewhere. By this means, among others, the town is becoming impoverished daily, as the sources of wealth are very limited; whereas the drainage of capital from the town is' constant and considerable. Wellington appears to be a doomed, place, notwithstanding the appearance of prosperity, which the rapidity of its rise might appear to indicate. Notwithstanding its numerous and excellent shops and neat, villa-like houses, the place is rotten to the core. There seems to be a general expectation of a great crash soon. On a first glance at the town anyone would ask with astonishment where in the world so many mouths were fed. There are numerous shops—one house in three throughout the town, probably —where are their customers? Here are large cottage populations—where are their employers? llow do they live? It is the greatest mystery in the world. There is doubtless great distress in the place. The place is now beginning to feel the fruits of the abominable system adopted by the New Zealand Company. First they sell land which they keep parties waiting for two or three years, during which time many have spent their all. Then they send out (under the most lying and extravagant promises) five times too many labourers for the demand, boasting all the time of the success of their colony, and the rapid inCrea,se of its population. Then, by the vilest system 6f lies and puffs, and by suppressing all unfavourable truths, they manage to dupe people into leaving England, who, when they arrive, find their land perhaps inaccessible and worthless. In short, the more we consider it, the more we shall be shocked at the cruel system of swindling they have pursued, involving the ruin of very many respectable parties. The bubble is only now bursting in England. July 2—Wellington is just as windy and disagreeable as we before found it. It has rained ever}- day since I have been here yet. To-day there was a review of the Volunteers. They met on the Thorndon flat, to the number of about 300, accompanied by a band of music and banners. They all bore arms and were divided into musketeers and riflemen. The latter wore a kind of uniform. A native who came from the pah where Rangihiata is now staying, and had come to-day to my lodgings, said that Rangihiata had -run a splinter in his foot, part of which could not be taken out. That the wound was very offensive, and going further and further up the leg, and that by and by it would kill him. It is said that, in walking on the cut line near the scene of action, he trod on a stump of manuka scrub cut short off, which entered the sole of his foot. July 3 —They are putting up a round mill for grinding corn at Wellington, j The land around the town is said, unless in sheltered situations, to be ren- ' dered worthless by almost constant high winds, which blight the crops before they have time to arrive at maturity. July 7- The Government and company together chartered the Pickwick to take the wounded men to Nelson. She also takes a police magistrate to act till Mr Thompson's successor is appointed. To-day we went on board. Crawford and Smith have recovered from their wounds very fast, and the man who was so long without food has entirely recovered. Gapper, the constable, whose hand was so much injured, goes to Nelson as well as the above, but it is still doubtful whether amputation will not be necessary. The man whose arm was amputated, and he who was shot through the breast, are still unable to leave Wellington. July 11 By morning we found ourselves near Stephen’s Island, and a bright breeze took us to Croisules (sic) bv night. July 12—Nelson. We went ashore, rejoiced to leave the small, stinking, suffocating little craft. Our first inquiries were respecting the. four missing men at the Wairo. Only one had been heard of. who is now in Nelson (Hannam). He was without any food but fern root for several days. He was obliged to eat it raw, as he was without means of lighting a fire. EXCITEMENT AT NELSON. Jul}- 13 - At Nelson parties have been preparing in case of an attack by the natives. The Church Hill is being surrounded by a nearthwork. Drills take place twice a day, but, it seems, are not well attended. Such was the excitement at first that the nightly watch gave the alarm of an attack on two separate occasions, and there was a muster of people in the middle of the night. July M Increasing dissatisfaction prevails in the town owing to the increasing gloominess which the Wairo affair has thrown on the prospect of the settlement. Several are about to return to England and .many to Sydney and other colonies. July 10 A meeting was held by the I landowners of Nelson to consider what steps could be taken in the present state of the colony towards remedying the mischief which must, ensue on the company’s ceasing to give employment. j u ly 22 A document was handed round the town for signature yesterday and to-dav, intended as a counter-de-monstration to some acts alleged to be issued in a. kind of proclamation at. Wellington and signed by M’Donough, iri relation to the Wa.irn affair. In this paper Mr M'Donough had said that the Natives evidently had not come to the Wairo with hostile intentions, and had not fired until five of their number had fallen: The object of the. Nelson document appears to be to falsify the statements made in that issued at Wei-

lington, and 1< > prove that. the Natives came to the \Vairo with deadly design. In this assertion Nelsor people arc undoubtedly mistaken, as Ruaparo is known to possess a great number of firearms and ammunition to a large amount, quite sufficient to have armed his whole party at Wairo, whereas out of eighty or ninety men not about twenty or thirty bore arms. Besides, the whole tenor of their conduct from the beginning manifested their great desire for peace and a peaceable settlement of the land claim. The mere fact, too, of the Natives having brought a number of women and children with them shows the peaceable nature, of their intentions, as it is contrary to their custom to encumber themselves in this manner when going on a warlike expedition.

Their forbearance, however, was not as great as the Wellington magistrates have claimed it was. They fired immediately on being attacked, and, notwithstanding all that has been said about the first shot, I do not think that anyone can state with certainty to which side to attribute it. This much is certain, that our party were the first, to attack: but no one can say which was the first to fire. The paper now handing round for signature thus begins with . a misstatement and closes with a most precious bit of rant. It appears in the newspaper of to-day, in a slightly altered form, as a letter to the editor.

Sunday, July 23—On coming out of church there was a petition presented to people to sign, addressed to Lord Stanley, as Colonial Secretary, and praying for an efficient naval and military protection of New Zealand. July 24—A report reached Nelson today by one of the vessels that seven whites had been massacred by the Natives at Auckland without any provocation. The massacre was occasioned by the indignation the Natives felt on hearing of the whites’ attempting to take forcible possession of the Wairo. The report has no credence given to it. July 25—To-day brought news of the Natives having torn down a house belonging to a Mr Coburn in the Waukapawauka district. The reason given is the customary one of non-payment for land. It is feared that the recent success of the Wairo Natives and the incapacity of the whites only to act on the defensive has emboldened them to 1 violence they would not otherwise have committed. I saw Pekoyfrom Motuaka, to-day in town. He told me he was come to live in town. It is said that the reason is Rauparo's having sent for him to join his party in the other island, while Peko prefers placing himself under the protection of the white people. July 26—About fifty labouring men of Nelson have engaged the Sir John Franklin, now in this harbour, to take them to Australia £3 per head. Each will have his choice of going to Hobartown or Launceston, to both of which places the vessel is going. Honesty of the Maoris. I met Mary, the wife of Charley the Maori, on the beach. She told me that the potatoes were brought over, meaning about 30s worth which were promised bv Piggiwallo about six months ago in consideration of a bag of sugar we gave him. Piggiwallo, having been called off by his superior. Ruajaro, had transferred his debt to his friend Charlev, of which he had given repeated notice when I had seen him at various times at Wairo. This transaction is another instance of the! scrupulous honesty of the Christian portion of the New Zealanders. The potatoes were about 5s short of the market price of the debt. This was a mere mistake of Mary’s, who supposed the amount to be 255, but on being informed of the true amount promised the remainder on her next visit. July 28—Mr Fell and myself went to Motueka. I was very much pleased to see the progress of this portion of the settlement. Several cottagers, who are chiefly employed by the company at present, have taken and are cultivating bits of ground varying from one to five or six acres. Altogether the colony seems to be striking root healthily and vigorously in this quarter. July 31—The town is now divided into two parties, who may be called Maori-ites and anti-Maori-ites. The first maintain that the Natives in coming to the Wairo had no express intention of bloodshed or committing violence to persdn or property, but merely to uphold their claim to property in the land there, which but for the unfortunate and timely interference of the Nelson magistrates would have 'terminated bloodlesslv and peacefully. They further maintain the general right of the Natives, as men. to defend themselves against attacks as in this case, unprovoked, and regard the legal right which is the sole excuse of the white party as not affording a justification of their conduct. The second party say that the New Zealanders, being now British subjects, are. equally with white people amenable to British law, and they are unwilling to make any allowances for Native habits of acting and thinking. August 1 The Government brig appeared off the harbour this morning. The}- brought fifty or sixty military to Wellington, but none to this place. The Colonial Government, it is said, have left the Wairo massacre in the hands of the Home Government. When our boat was wrecked on the way to the Wairo we placed her in the hands of the natives to take care of Their conduct in this transaction illustrates the two prominent features of the Native character - their honesty and cupidity. Thomson, on returning from the YVairo, went to Waukapawauka and found the boat and all her appurtenances carefully preserved, except two of the oars, which the Natives said had been stolen by a. wh.itc man They readily gave her up, but chaffered about the price of their attentions to the boat, and when Thomson gave them a few shillings’ worth of sugar and flour, asked for 5s also, and he gave them a half crown. (A survey of the Nelson coast line,

which is purely technical, and other matters of detail are here omitted.) The journal continues: Maori Fortifications. On our wav we met a canoe with a couple of Natives in it. While they were satisfying their curiosity regarding us three more appeared oil shore just by. The canoe pushed oft for them, and they were all of them presently in our boat asking: Where are you come from? Where are you going.' How long do you stay here? Where do you go next? When you return to Nelson? What have you got on board? Are the flour and blankets to sell, or is the flour to eat and the blankets to keep you warm? They seemed rather suspicious that our visit was in some way connected with pig-catching. \\ e promised to take one of their pigs. In the afteroon we went on the hills. On nearly all the headlands, and occasionally on other parts of the coast commanding an extensive view of the sea, we find pits of considerable size varying in length and breadth, but generally all 4ft or oft deep. They afford a shelter to the watchmen in war time, who may observe the approach of the enemy by sea. There is one on the headland between Tempo and Tata dug out of the rocks. September 0 We rowed across the bay to Toupo to-day. The pah is situated on a low, sandy isthmus which connects a steep and woody peninsula. It has the usual stockade round it. The Natives tell us that there was formerly a pah on the peninsula, but Rauparo destroyed it and killed all the inhabitants some time ago. This is one of the three inhabited villages in Toupo Bay. The other two are Narau and Taucapo. The first does not contain above twelve or fifteen inhabitants. The other is more numerously peopled. I Auatimo has also been inhabited, and | still possesses a few whares, store houses and some extensive plantations. September 7 We received an early visit from two women and three men, Natives from Tata over the hill. The older of the men has received the name of “ The Pilot ” from once having taken a vessel safely into Tata. Like the Natives generally, he seems proud of any name conferred by the whites, using it in preference t»> his Native one. The youngest was his son. the other a young man who has received a name from.the whites which he has metamorphosed into Karama, but which from his own imitation was probably originallv “ Scaramouch.” Like “ Plash Cove." " Bloody Jack ” and “ Monkey,” all Native names, it was probably given opprobriouslv. . Ehow told us that all the whites in Nelson had had a meeting, and were determined on returning to England. A boat, he said, had just arrived from Wellington with a letter from Colonel I Wakefield, and that, in consequence of the news it had brought in, were again under arms. Rauparo, he said, had been endeavouring to get Paramatta to join him, but Paramatta refused. Ehow further informed us that all the Natives had left Nelson for their own homes. The four women sat and chatted to themselves at one corner . of the fire, and I never saw a more I amusing instance of the superior volubility of the female tongue. The extreme rapidity of their conversation, without gap even of an instant’s duration, was perfectly surprising. Ehow said that: he knew very well that the whites and IM aor is would be fighting by and by. That as soon as the Queen was told that Captain Wakefield had been killed she would send soldiers to take Rauparo, which would I occasion fighting. Rauparo was quite j prepared and ready to fight, the whites . now, and so were all the Maoris, if (he white people wished But if the Eng- ! lish preferred peace the Natives did SU VV KK ?t. au y, r " ? h0,,kl "Mack the whites all the Maoris would co anr i ; take him. If the whites should attack Rauparo the Maoris would defend him j They asked whether we were all Chris'. tians and baptised. (To be continued.)