Produced by Chris Pinfield, sp1nd and the Online Distributed
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Transcriber's Note:

Italics are indicated by _underscores_, and bold font by =equal signs=,
while small capitals have been converted to full capitals.

In the text a macron, denoting a long vowel, has been placed over the
first "e" of Tamati Waaka Nene, the prominent Maori chief. He was also
the recipient of a letter that was inserted into the book after it had
been printed. This has been shifted to the end of the Appendix. In the
letter "mu?u" has been transcribed as "mutu".

The text contains quotations from instructions to Captain Hobson in 1839.
After consulting alternative versions of these documents, the following
corrections have been made to clarify their sense:

-chapter I: "repair. By the nearness" changed to "repair. But the
 nearness";
-chapter III: "disappeared, or often as" changed to "disappeared, as
 often as".

Apparent typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in
hyphenation have been removed except where they reflect quotations
from other documents.




THE TREATY OF WAITANGI


[Illustration: THE COMMEMORATIVE MONUMENT.

"The symbol on which have been engraved the articles of the treaty, so
that eyes may look thereon from year to year."

_Frontispiece._]




 THE TREATY OF WAITANGI
 OR
 HOW NEW ZEALAND BECAME A BRITISH COLONY


 BY
 T. LINDSAY BUICK
 AUTHOR OF "OLD MARLBOROUGH," "OLD MANAWATU," "AN OLD NEW ZEALANDER"


 WELLINGTON N.Z.
 S. & W. MACKAY LAMBTON QUAY
 1914




 Dedication
 TO
 ROBERT M'NAB
 M.A., LL.B., F.R.G.S.

 TO WHOSE ENTERPRISE AND SELF-SACRIFICE WE OWE THE RECOVERY OF SO MUCH
 OF OUR FAST RECEDING HISTORY I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK




PREFACE


The arrival in New Zealand waters of the battleship given to the
Empire by this Dominion during a grave national crisis, marks a new
epoch in the life of our country, and an event so pregnant with the
spirit of Imperialism seems to the author to provide an appropriate
point at which to pause and retrospectively review the causes which
have made possible such an innovation in our naval policy--such a
milestone in our national history. The story of New Zealand's progress
since 1814 has been one of splendid emulation tempered by vicissitude.
There have been dark days, days of doubt, of devastation by war, but
never a period when our people lost heart or renounced their national
faith. No attempt has been here made to tell the whole of that story.
All that I have tried to do is to get back to the beginning of things,
to the birth of law and order, to the genesis of the day when we were
able to say to the Mother Land, "We will build you a Dreadnought, and
yet another if needs must." The Treaty of Waitangi has been frequently
derided and denounced, but it was in very truth the foundation of our
nationhood. When we consider what Britain would have lost in material
wealth, in loyalty, in strategetical advantage; when we reflect what
it would have cost to have conquered the country by force of arms,
then it is that we can see in clearer perspective the wisdom of Lord
Normanby's policy, the breadth of his statesmanship, and we are the
better able to appreciate the triumph in diplomacy which that treaty
represents.

Unfortunately the lapse of seventy-three years has robbed us of all
who were actively concerned in its consummation, and equally
unfortunately they have left few records behind them. There are
grey-headed men and aged women alive to-day who were children at the
time, but so far as I know there is only one with us now who was
actually present at the signing of the treaty. Old Rahira te Hua, the
daughter of one of the great Hongi's slaves, who has seen ninety-three
summers pass, still carries in her weakening memory some misty
recollections of that day fraught with such far-reaching consequences
to both races. The opportunity for obtaining personal testimony of
what happened is thus irretrievably gone. I have, therefore, had to
rely for my information almost entirely upon official documents,
supplemented by such fugitive memoranda as may have been left by the
few concerned, who happen to have placed their opinions or impressions
on record. The gathering together of this widely-scattered material,
the moulding of it into a connected narrative, has had its pleasurable
as well as its anxious moments, for the subject has not been without
its perplexities, ambiguities, and contradictions. All of these I have
sought to sift with justice and treat with perfect impartiality. Where
I have met with conflicting statements it has been my endeavour to so
present the position that the reader will be able to form his own
conclusions, and where I have expressed my personal opinions they have
only been such opinions as appeared to me to be justified by the facts
of the case. Whatever impression the reading of this narrative may
leave with those who peruse it, I for one cannot lay down my pen from
its writing without affirming that two things appear to me to be
established--that Britain has no reason to be ashamed of the manner in
which she obtained the sovereignty of New Zealand, and in the light of
subsequent events she has no reason to regret it. I have not attempted
to arraign or to defend the various, real or alleged, breaches of the
treaty committed by our Governors or Governments. That phase of the
subject is necessarily so controversial in character, that to do it
justice would require a volume of its own, the need for which has to
some extent been obviated by the publication in 1888 of his
_Aureretanga_, by Mr. G. W. Rusden, in which that vigorous writer
deals exhaustively with at least the Maori side of the case. The
Treaty of Waitangi, the first diplomatic arrangement of the kind
entered into between Britain and a savage race, was a wise, politic,
and humane measure, the justice of which has been vindicated with the
lapse of time. In the expressive language of a native address to Lord
Ranfurly, "This treaty has been rained upon by the rain, it has been
exposed to the blast of the storm, but the words are still clear, they
cannot be obliterated."

Let us hope that no attempt will ever be made to violate either its
letter or its spirit.

THE AUTHOR.

 "ENNISMORE,"
 BOULCOTT STREET, WELLINGTON,
 _April 30, 1913_.




NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT


During the compilation of this work I have necessarily been placed
under obligations to a number of gentlemen, whose services I now
desire to acknowledge.

I am especially indebted to Mr. Charles Wilson, Librarian to the New
Zealand Parliament, for the privilege of freely examining the rare
official papers I desired to consult. In like manner the courtesy of
Mr. A. Hamilton, Director of the Dominion Museum, must be acknowledged
in placing at my disposal the New Zealand books in the Carter
Collection, while the Hon. J. T. Paul, M.L.C., has been most helpful
in consulting for me authorities contained in the Hocken Collection at
Dunedin. To Mr. Robert M'Nab I am obliged for the extract from Captain
Lavaud's Despatch to the French Minister of Marine, now made public
for the first time, and to Te Heuheu Tukino, the present representative
of that family, for the narrative of his illustrious grandfather's
rejection of the treaty. Valuable assistance has also been lent by the
Hon. Dr. Pomare, M.P., by Messrs. H. M. Stowell, L. M. Grace, and
Elsdon Best, in solving Maori problems of a technical nature, and to
the Rev. T. G. Hammond I am indebted for favours of a more general
character. For permission to use the portrait of Tamati Waaka Nēne
I have to thank Mr. H. E. Partridge, of Auckland, and especially Mr.
A. M'Donald for his generous assistance in preparing the balance of
the illustrations.

The written authorities consulted will be found in the Appendix.




CONTENTS


 CHAPTER I
                                                                  PAGE

 IN THE BEGINNING                                                    1


 CHAPTER II

 SEEKING A WAY                                                      36


 CHAPTER III

 FINDING A WAY                                                      60


 CHAPTER IV

 THE MAORI MAGNA CHARTA                                             87


 CHAPTER V

 IN SEARCH OF SIGNATURES                                           135


 CHAPTER VI

 THE TREATY                                                        214

 APPENDIX                                                          297

 BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                      345




ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                             FACE PAGE

 The Commemorative Monument                             _Frontispiece_

 Town of Russell                                                    12

 James Busby                                                        26

 Lord Normanby                                                      48

 Captain Hobson, R.N.                                               64

 The Mission Church at Kororareka                                   70

 Mr. Busby's Residence                                              98

 The Waitangi Falls                                                108

 Tamati Waaka Nēne                                                 118

 Rev. Henry Williams, C.M.S.                                       154

 Major Bunbury, K.T.S.                                             172

 Horahora-Kakahu Island                                            198

 A Section of the Treaty Signatures                                238

 Captain Hobson's Signatures to the Treaty                         258

 Earl Derby                                                        282

 Map of the Bay of Islands                               _On page_ 347

 Map of Cloudy Bay                                            "    348




CHAPTER I

IN THE BEGINNING


"The Islands of New Zealand have long been resorted to by British
Subjects on account of the valuable articles of commerce which they
produce, and by reason of the peculiar advantages which they offer to
whale-ships requiring repair. But the nearness of these Islands to the
British settlements of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land has also
led to their being resorted to as an asylum for fugitive British
convicts, and such persons having associated with men left in New
Zealand by whale-ships and other vessels, have formed a Society which
indispensably requires the check of some contending authority. Her
Majesty's Government have therefore deemed it expedient to station at
New Zealand an officer, with the character and powers of a British
Consul, and I have the satisfaction to acquaint you that the Queen has
been graciously pleased to select you for that appointment." So wrote
Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary in Lord Melbourne's Cabinet, on
August 13, 1839, to Captain William Hobson, R.N., and this letter may
be taken as the first satisfactory evidence we have that the British
Government had at last decided to accept their long-evaded
responsibility in connection with New Zealand. Ever since the day when
Captain Cook took possession of the country in the name and for the
use of King George III., these islands had been allowed by succeeding
British Governments to remain a neglected geographical quantity, and
this very neglect had now robbed the nation of the title which Cook
had by his splendid enterprise secured for it.

The Law of Nations has well defined the principle that before a
country becomes entitled to claim sovereignty in any part of the globe
"by right of discovery" it is not sufficient that the mariners of that
country should sail forth and discover new lands; but there must be
some effective act immediately following, such as systematic
occupation, in order to bind other peoples to respect the discovering
nation's claim.

During the latter part of the century which had elapsed between the
time of Cook's proclamation to the world and the day when the
Melbourne Cabinet decided that Britain must assume in earnest her
responsibilities in the South Pacific there had not only been no
systematic occupation of New Zealand by Britain, but rather a
systematic renunciation of the nation's intention in that direction.
The Duke of Wellington had petulantly declared that England had
colonies enough, and Minister after Minister who had presided over the
Colonial Office had in deeds, if not in words, endorsed this policy of
anti-Imperialism. There were at this time none amongst the British
statesmen blessed with that broader grasp, that wider vision of an
Empire "extending over every sea, swaying many diverse races, and
combining many diverse forms of religion," which afterwards animated
the colonial policy of Lord John Russell.[1] The courage and capacity
which that planter of Imperial outposts declared were necessary to
build such an Empire--to effect such a wholesome blending of
peoples--were wanting, and there was even an imminent danger that in
this negatory attitude towards colonising other Powers would come to
regard Britain not as an equal, nor with the fear that an equal can
inspire, but as a timorous weakling, a nation destitute of enterprise,
the product of a waning courage and of a pusillanimous hand.

Thus it came about that when in 1839 the Ministry of Lord Melbourne
found themselves coerced by circumstances into recognising the need
for systematic colonisation, they discovered themselves destitute of
what most people believed they possessed--a title to sovereignty in
New Zealand "by right of discovery."

The spirit of the British nation had not, however, been as idle as the
British statesman, and inherent enterprise, combined with an inherent
love of adventure, had sown and matured the seed which continuous
Ministries had persistently declined to nourish. The elements which
had contributed to the irregular settlement of New Zealand were
faithfully recorded in Lord Palmerston's letter to Captain Hobson, and
a more unpropitious beginning for any colony could scarcely be
imagined. The number of British subjects who, up to 1839, had resorted
to New Zealand for the purposes of legitimate and respectable trade
were comparatively few, but it is estimated that even earlier than
this there were over five hundred escaped convicts living along the
sea coast in and around the Bay of Islands, the point at which
settlement had, up to that time, chiefly congregated. Of those
directly and indirectly concerned in the whaling industry there must
have been a considerable number, for it is officially recorded that in
the year 1836 no less than one hundred and fifty-one vessels had
visited the Bay of Islands alone, and the proportion was even larger
in the first half of the succeeding year.

The combination of whaler and convict was not one calculated to
strengthen the morality of the community, and so large a leaven of the
lawless class, together with the insatiable desire of the natives to
procure muskets, had the effect of creating a state of society which,
in the words of the Foreign Secretary, "indispensably required the
check of some contending authority." In the absence of any such
authority the more respectable settlers at the Bay of Islands had
organised themselves into a self-constituted Association, into whose
hands was committed the administration of a rude justice, which
recognised a liberal application of tar and feathers as meet
punishment for some of the offences against society. A steadying
influence had also been supplied by the appointment at intervals since
1814 of gentlemen empowered to act as Justices of the Peace, their
authority being derived from a Commission issued by the Governor of
New South Wales, and, if illegal, was on more than one occasion acted
upon with salutary effect.[2]

Although it has been a popular sport on the part of many writers to
throw darts of sarcasm at the labours of the Missionaries, they, too,
must be accounted a tremendous influence for good, not so much,
perhaps, in checking the licentiousness of the Europeans, as in
preventing the natives from becoming contaminated by it. Destructive
internecine wars had been waging "with fiendish determination" for
many years under the conquering leadership of Hongi, Te Wherowhero, Te
Waharoa and Te Rauparaha, by which whole districts had been
depopulated, and tribe after tribe practically annihilated. Still the
Maori people were a numerous, virile and warlike race, capable of
deeds of blackest barbarism, or equally adaptable to the softening
influences of Christianity and civilisation.

So far as the darker side of their history is concerned, we have it on
the irreproachable authority of the Rev. Samuel Marsden that the
tragedies in which the natives made war upon the Europeans were in
almost every instance merely acts of retaliation for earlier
outrages.[3] The killing of Marian du Fresne and the massacre on
board the _Boyd_ were unquestionably so; and the dread of the
natives which for several years after these events almost suspended
the sea trade with New Zealand was the natural fruit of that cruelty
which trusting Maori seamen had suffered at the hands of unscrupulous
captains, who had either inveigled them or forced them on board their
whalers. Dark as the history of New Zealand was during these Alsatian
days, there is no chapter quite so dark, or which redounds less to the
credit of the white race, than the story of the sea-going natives who
were taken away from these sunny shores,[4] and abandoned in foreign
countries, or driven at the end of the lash to tasks far beyond their
physical strength, resulting in the premature death of many, while the
poison of undying hatred entered into the souls of the survivors.

The position on shore was scarcely less disgraceful, for the natives
resident in the seaward _pas_ were cruelly ill-treated by the
crews of the European vessels who visited them; and it is stated in
the records of the Church Missionary Society that within the first two
or three years of the arrival of the Missionaries not less than one
thousand Maoris had been murdered by Europeans, the natives unhappily
not infrequently visiting upon the innocent who came within their
reach revenge for crimes perpetrated by the guilty who had evaded
their vengeance.

But apart from the commission of actual outrage there was debauchery
of several kinds, and always of a pronounced type. "They lead a most
reckless life, keeping grog shops, selling spirituous liquors to both
Europeans and natives, living with the native females in a most
discreditable way, so that the natives have told me to teach my own
countrymen first before I taught them. They have called us a nation of
drunkards from their seeing a majority of Europeans of that stamp in
New Zealand." Such was the testimony of an erstwhile Missionary, Mr.
John Flatt, when giving evidence before the House of Lords regarding
the northern portion of the colony; and not less unsatisfactory was
the position in the South Island, where the whalers were the
preponderating section of the white population.

At both Cloudy Bay and Queen Charlotte Sound there was, in 1837, a
considerable white settlement, each man being a law unto himself,
except in so far as he was under the dominion of the head man of the
station. This at least was the opinion formed by Captain Hobson when
visiting those parts in H.M.S. _Rattlesnake_. In describing the
result of his enquiries to Governor Bourke, he dismissed the
probability of these settlements being attacked by the natives,
because they were so confederated by their employment; but he
significantly added: "The only danger they have to apprehend is from
themselves, and that is in a great measure neutralised by the
contending influences of their own reckless and desperate character."

The Rev. Mr. Stack, then labouring in the north, in writing home to
the parent Society, complained bitterly of the unprincipled white men
who had escaped from the chain gangs at Sydney, and who had recently
shown themselves so desperate that two were seized and taken to Sydney
to be tried at the Assizes on a charge of attempted robbery and
murder.[5] Mr. Stack pleaded for the intervention of the British
Government, which he hoped would not leave the country at the mercy of
the escaped convicts, or the natives to the influence of a commerce
carried on with so many circumstances destructive to the moral health
of the people, that if unchecked, would effectually do the work of
depopulation. "We have no law or justice," wrote Mr. Stack, "no
punishment for crime but private revenge."

In the beginning of the year 1840 Kororareka, the settlement at the
Bay of Islands which had the greatest right to claim the dignity of a
township, contained about three hundred inhabitants of all ages,
exclusive of the numerous sailors, whose nightly revels constituted the
only interruption to the peace and harmony which generally prevailed.
These gentry resorted in great numbers to the native village at the
inner anchorage, where the principal chief carried on the lucrative
business of grog-selling, besides another of a still more discreditable
kind, for the convenience of his reckless customers--French, English,
and American. "Here," according to Dr. Jameson, "might be seen the
curious spectacle of a still savage chief enriching himself at the
expense of individuals who, although belonging to the most civilised
and powerful nations in the world, were reduced to a lower degree of
barbarism by the influence of their unbridled licentiousness."

Contact with such social degenerates was not calculated to inspire the
natives with a high ideal of European morality, nor with a conspicuous
example of rectitude; but where the influences destructive of decency
and order were less virulent the Missionaries had a more hopeful tale
to tell. "The door is opening before us in every direction, and the
people are pressing and entreating us to enter. Had we only more help,
where we have now a hundred natives under our care, we would soon have
a thousand." Such was the report of the Rev. Mr. Turner, one of the
Wesleyan Missionaries[6] at Hokianga, in urging his Society to send
more workers to this corner of the human vineyard. The attendance and
attention of the natives at Divine worship were regular and fixed,
while it is recorded that their responses to the reading of the Litany
were particularly devout.

The sincerity of many of these early converts was one of the most
remarkable features of the evangelising of the Maori; and the Rev. Dr.
Beecham, in giving evidence before the Lords' Committee in 1838,
quoted this eloquent passage from one of the letters of the Rev. Mr.
Hobbs to illustrate the warmth of Maori piety. "The beauty of the
Liturgy, as translated by our brethren at the Bay of Islands into the
Native tongue, is most exquisite, and to me hardly loses any of the
force of original composition, and, I have no doubt, has been made a
great blessing unto many by putting words of prayer into their mouths,
and thus teaching them to pray. Many times has my heart gloried within
me while repeating the 'Te Deum Laudamus,' and especially that part--

  _Tapu tapu tapu rawa E Ihowa te Atua o nga mano tuauriuri whaioio_,

that is--

  Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth,

and hear them respond--

  _E kiki ana te Rangi me te whenua i te kahanga o tou kororia_

  Heaven and Earth are full of the majesty of Thy Glory.

"I have been informed," continued Dr. Beecham, "by those who have
witnessed the celebration of public worship in the principal church at
Mangungu, that to hear 700 or 800 of the Christian natives correctly
and promptly utter the responses, and then sing the praises of the
True God, is highly affecting. Another feature of their character is
their strict observance of daily social prayer. At dawn of day all the
inhabitants of the villages assemble together in the chapel at the
sound of the bell, or some piece of metal used as a substitute, to
read the scriptures and to pray. The same order is observed in the
evening. When the evening approaches the whole of the population moves
to the house of God, and close the day with devotions. Their reverence
for the Sabbath is remarkable. Those who come from a distance to
attend Divine worship at Mangungu do not travel on the Sunday, but on
the Saturday, and return on the Monday. They refrain from all work on
the Lord's Day. So strict are their views on the sanctity of the
Sabbath they do not even prepare their food on that day. The arrival
of a vessel is always a matter of considerable excitement to the
natives of New Zealand, but if a vessel arrives on the Sunday no stir
is made."

It would be difficult to find any description quite so touching
concerning the religious observances of the _Pakehas_, whose
irreverence more than once roused the righteous indignation of the
Rev. Mr. Marsden.

Although the British authorities had as yet taken no decisive step
towards acquiring sovereignty in New Zealand, it cannot be said that
the state of society in the country had entirely escaped their notice.
Especially were the successive Governors of New South Wales vigilant
in keeping Ministers posted as to passing events. Many must have been
their anxious moments, for they being the nearest representatives of
the Crown were naturally most solicitous for the conduct and fate of
their countrymen. As far back as 1814 Governor Macquarie had declared
New Zealand to be a part of that colony, and it was thought that the
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court had also been extended to this
country. These proceedings were, however, almost a nullity, for had
they been formal and constitutional--which they were not--the
practical difficulties in the way of bringing offenders to justice
were so great that the attempt was only made in a few isolated and
extreme instances.

This state of official negation continued until the tidings of the
part played by Captain Stewart and his brig _Elizabeth_ in Te
Rauparaha's Akaroa raid reached Sydney. Then Governor Darling and his
successor, Sir Richard Bourke, realised that this game of glorified
bluff could not go on indefinitely. The strongest possible
representations were accordingly made to the Home authorities, and
these representations were followed by a pathetic petition from the
natives to King William IV., which was transmitted to Sir Richard
Bourke through Mr. Yate, one of the principal members of the Church
Missionary Society's staff then labouring in the colony.

The leading chiefs of the northern part of the Islands had long ere
this realised the ineffectiveness of their tribal system to cope with
the altered state of society. The Missionaries on their part watched
with anxiety the unhappy trend of affairs, knowing that if some more
enlightened course was not given to events, a serious collision would
in all probability arise between the two races, which could scarcely
terminate otherwise than in the extermination or expulsion of the one
or the other.

Being fully persuaded that to maintain the chiefs and their tribes as
an independent people was the most effective safeguard against foreign
aggression, they saw with deepest regret the intestine warfare which
was going on amongst the natives, thinning their ranks, and rendering
them every day less able to resist the pretensions of a foreign power.
Stung by a sense of failure, and excited by a rumour that the French
were at hand, the chiefs placed themselves under Missionary direction
and addressed themselves to the King in the following diplomatic
terms[7]:--


 TO KING WILLIAM, THE GRACIOUS CHIEF OF ENGLAND

 KING WILLIAM--We, the chiefs of New Zealand assembled at
 this place, called the Kerikeri, write to thee, for we hear that thou
 art the great Chief of the other side of the water, since the many
 ships which come to our land are from thee.

 We are a people without possessions. We have nothing but timber,
 flax, pork and potatoes, we sell these things, however, to your
 people, and then we see the property of Europeans. It is only thy
 land which is liberal towards us. From thee also come the
 Missionaries who teach us to believe on Jehovah God, and on Jesus
 Christ His Son.

 We have heard that the tribe of Marian[8] is at hand coming to take
 away our land, therefore we pray thee to become our friend and
 guardian of these Islands, lest through the teazing of other tribes
 should come war to us, and lest strangers should come and take away
 our land. And if any of thy people should be troublesome or vicious
 towards us (for some persons are living here who have run away from
 ships), we pray thee to be angry with them that they may be obedient,
 lest the anger of the people of this land fall upon them.

 This letter is from us the chiefs of the natives of New Zealand:

  WARERAHI, chief of Paroa.
  REWA,         "    Waimate.
  PATUONE,      "    Hokianga.
  NĒNE,      "    Hokianga.
  KEKEAO,       "    Ahuahu.
  TITORE,       "    Kororareka.
  TAMARANGA,    "    Taiamai.
  RIPE,         "    Mapere.
  HARA,         "    Ohaeawai.
  ATUAHAERE,    "    Kaikohe.
  MOETARA,      "    Pakanae.
  MATANGI,      "    Waima.
  TAUNUI,       "    Utakura.

The accumulating reports of increasing disorder, the strenuous
recommendations of Governor Bourke, added to the touching appeal of
the chiefs, at length moved the Colonial Office to acquiesce in the
contention that some one should be sent to New Zealand directly
charged with the duty of representing the British Crown. In replying
to the Native petition, Lord Goderich,[9] who was then at the Colonial
Office, after expressing the gratification the petition had afforded
the King, accordingly intimated that it had been decided to appoint as
British Resident Mr. James Busby, whose duty it would be to
investigate all complaints which might be made to him. "It will also
be his endeavour," wrote his Lordship, "to prevent the arrival amongst
you of men who have been guilty of crimes in their own country, and
who may effect their escape from the place to which they have been
banished, as likewise to apprehend such persons of this description
who may be found at present at large. In return for the anxious desire
which will be manifested by the British Resident to afford his
protection to the inhabitants of New Zealand, against any acts of
outrage which may be attempted against them by British subjects, it is
confidently expected by His Majesty that on your part you will render
to the British Resident that assistance and support which are
calculated to promote the objects of his appointment, and to extend to
your country all the benefits which it is capable of receiving from
its friendship and alliance with Great Britain."

Mr. Busby, who had thus been chosen for the responsible task of
guarding both British and Native interests, was the son of a
successful civil engineer in Australia, but it is doubtful whether he
had passed through the administrative experience necessary to fit him
in all respects for his arduous post.[10] His position was rendered
still more difficult by reason of the fact that, much as Ministers
might have wished to do so, it had been found impossible to sweep away
the constitutional difficulties which faced them on every side. Indeed
so hampered was the situation by the circumstance that Britain had not
acquired, or claimed Sovereign rights in New Zealand, that when
Governor Bourke came to direct Mr. Busby upon the scope of his office,
he was compelled to lay greater stress upon the things he could not
do, than upon the powers he was at liberty to exercise.

[Illustration: RUSSELL.

Formerly Kororareka.]

Mr. Busby was instructed to leave Sydney by H.M.S. _Imogene_,
commanded by Captain Blackwood, and on arrival at the Bay of Islands
he was to present to the chiefs the King's reply to their petition,
"with as much formality as circumstances may permit." This instruction
Mr. Busby used his best endeavours to obey, for after a stormy passage
across the Tasman Sea he reached the Bay of Islands on Sunday, May 5,
1833. Here he at once made arrangements with the settlers and
Missionaries to invest his landing with an importance which was its
due; but continued storms made it impossible to perform any kind of
open-air ceremony with comfort and dignity until the 17th. On that
day, however, the weather had moderated, and at an early hour
preparations were afoot for the inevitable feast, a proclivity to
which both Maori and European appear equally addicted. At a later hour
Mr. Busby, accompanied by the first lieutenant of the _Imogene_,
landed under a salute of seven guns, and no sooner had he set foot on
shore than he was claimed by the old chief, Tohitapu, as his
_Pakeha_. A cordial greeting awaited the Resident by the
Missionaries, to whose village at Paihia, but a short distance off,
the party at once adjourned. Here three hoary-headed chiefs delivered
speeches of welcome, a _haka_ was danced, and still more speeches were
made in honour of a stranger whose coming was regarded as the event of
first importance since the landing of Samuel Marsden seventeen years
before. With these evidences of native hospitality at an end, the
formal proceedings were commenced in front of the little mission
chapel round which the people crowded in motley throng, shouting songs
of welcome, and discharging fitful volleys of musketry. By dint of
lively exertion order was at length restored, and standing at a table,
with Captain Blackwood on his right and Mr. Henry Williams, who
interpreted, on his left, Mr. Busby read the King's reply to the
people's Petition for protection. The reading of this document was
listened to with profound respect by the Europeans, who rose and
uncovered their heads, while the natives hung upon the words of Mr.
Williams as he explained the professions of the King's good-will, of
the sincerity of which Mr. Busby was a living evidence. Then followed
Mr. Busby's own address, which was listened to by the wondering crowd
with no less rapt attention:

 MY FRIENDS--You will perceive by the letter which I have
 been honoured with the commands of the King of Great Britain to
 deliver to you, that it is His Majesty's most anxious wish that the
 most friendly feeling should subsist between his subjects and
 yourselves, and how much he regrets that you should have cause to
 complain of the conduct of any of his subjects. To foster and
 maintain this friendly feeling, to prevent as much as possible the
 recurrence of those misunderstandings and quarrels which have
 unfortunately taken place, and to give a greater assurance of safety
 and just dealing both to his own subjects and the people of New
 Zealand in their commercial transactions with each other, these are
 the purposes for which His Majesty has sent me to reside amongst you,
 and I hope and trust that when any opportunities of doing a service
 to the people of this country shall arise I shall be able to prove to
 you how much it is my own desire to be the friend of those amongst
 whom I am come to reside. It is the custom of His Majesty the King of
 Great Britain to send one or more of his servants to reside as his
 representatives in all those countries in Europe and America with
 which he is on terms of friendship, and in sending one of his
 servants to reside amongst the chiefs of New Zealand, they ought to
 be sensible not only of the advantages which will result to the
 people of New Zealand by extending their commercial intercourse with
 the people of England, but of the honour the King of a great and
 powerful nation like Great Britain has done their country in adopting
 it into the number of those countries with which he is in friendship
 and alliance. I am, however, commanded to inform you that in every
 country to which His Majesty sends his servants to reside as his
 representatives, their persons and their families, and all that
 belongs to them are considered sacred. Their duty is the cultivation
 of peace and friendship and goodwill, and not only the King of Great
 Britain, but the whole civilised world would resent any violence
 which his representative might suffer in any of the countries to
 which they are sent to reside in his name. I have heard that the
 chiefs and people of New Zealand have proved the faithful friends of
 those who have come among them to do them good, and I therefore trust
 myself to their protection and friendship with confidence. All good
 Englishmen are desirous that the New Zealanders should be a rich and
 happy people, and it is my wish when I shall have erected my house
 that all the chiefs will come and visit me and be my friends. We will
 then consult together by what means they can make their country a
 flourishing country, and their people a rich and wise people like the
 people of Great Britain. At one time Great Britain differed but
 little from what New Zealand is now. The people had no large houses
 nor good clothing nor good food. They painted their bodies and
 clothed themselves with the skins of wild beasts; every chief went to
 war with his neighbour, and the people perished in the wars of their
 chiefs even as the people of New Zealand do now. But after God sent
 His Son into the world to teach mankind that all the tribes of the
 earth are brethren, and that they ought not to hate and destroy, but
 to love and do good to one another, and when the people of England
 learned His words of wisdom, they ceased to go to war against each
 other, and all the tribes became one people. The peaceful inhabitants
 of the country began to build large houses because there was no enemy
 to pull them down. They cultivated their land and had abundance of
 bread, because no hostile tribe entered into their fields to destroy
 the fruit of their labours. They increased the numbers of their
 cattle because no one came to drive them away. They also became
 industrious and rich, and had all good things they desired. Do you
 then, O chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, desire to become like the
 people of England? Listen first to the Word of God which He has put
 into the hearts of His servants the missionaries to come here and
 teach you. Learn that it is the will of God that you should all love
 each other as brethren, and when wars shall cease among you then
 shall your country flourish. Instead of the roots of the fern you
 shall eat bread, because the land shall be tilled without fear, and
 its fruits shall be eaten in peace. When there is an abundance of
 bread we shall labour to preserve flax and timber and provisions for
 the ships which come to trade, and the ships that come to trade will
 bring clothing and all other things which you desire. Thus you become
 rich, for there are no riches without labour, and men will not labour
 unless there is peace, that they may enjoy the fruits of their
 labour.

The Resident's address was received with an outburst of wild applause,
and soon the smoke of discharging muskets again hung heavy on the
morning air. But there was still other diversion for the natives, to
whom the proceedings had proved a great novelty. The mental feast
which was to provide them with food for discussion for many days was
now supplanted by a more material repast, at which fifty settlers were
entertained at Mr. Williams's house, while the Maoris were fed with a
sumptuousness that made memorable to them the coming and the
installation of the first British Resident.

As an adjunct to his slender authority, Mr. Busby had been informed by
Governor Bourke that Sir John Gore, the Vice-Admiral commanding the
Indian Squadron of the Navy, would be instructed to permit his ships
to call in at New Zealand ports as frequently as possible, and offer
him what support they could during these fitful visits. But upon
neither naval nor civil power was Mr. Busby to rely overmuch. He was
to depend for his authority rather upon his moral influence and his
co-operation with the Missionaries, to whom he went specially
accredited.

Mr. Busby has frequently been made the butt of the humorist, because
his bark was necessarily worse than his bite. The Maori cynic of his
day chuckled as he dubbed him "_He manuwa pu kore_" ("A
man-of-war without guns"), and many a playful jest has since been made
at his expense, all of which is both unfair and ungenerous to Mr.
Busby. The difficulty in the way of investing him with legal power was
thus tersely explained by Sir Richard Bourke during the course of his
initial instructions to the Resident:

 You are aware that you cannot be clothed with any legal power or
 jurisdiction, by virtue of which you might be enabled to arrest
 British subjects offending against British or Colonial law in New
 Zealand. It was proposed to supply this want of power and to provide
 further enforcement of the criminal law as it exists amongst
 ourselves, and further to adapt it to the new and peculiar exigencies
 of the country to which you are going, by means of a Colonial Act of
 Council grafted on a statute of the Imperial Parliament.
 Circumstances which I am not at present competent to explain have
 prevented the enactment of the Statute in question.[11] You can
 therefore rely but little on the force of law, and must lay the
 foundation of your measures upon the influence which you shall obtain
 over the Native Chiefs. Something, however, may be effected under the
 law as it stands at present. By the 9th Geo. IV., cap. 83, sec. A,
 the Supreme Courts of N. S. Wales and Van Dieman's Land have power to
 enquire of, hear and determine, all offences committed in N.Z. by the
 Master and crew of any British ship or vessel, or by any British
 subject living there, and persons convicted of such offences may be
 punished as if the offence has been committed in England.... If
 therefore you should at any time have the means of sending to this
 colony any one or more persons capable of lodging an information
 before the proper authorities here, of an offence committed in N.Z.
 you will, if you think the case of sufficient magnitude and
 importance, send a detailed report of the transaction to the Colonial
 Secretary by such persons who will be required to depose to the facts
 sufficient to support an information upon which a bench Warrant may
 be obtained from the Supreme Court for the apprehension of the
 offender, and transmitted to you for execution. You will perceive at
 once that this process, which is at best a prolix and inconvenient
 operation and may incur some considerable expense, will be totally
 useless unless you should have some well-founded expectation of
 securing the offender upon or after the arrival of the warrant, and
 of being able to effect his conveyance here for trial, and that you
 have provided the necessary evidence to ensure his conviction.

Shorn of everything which suggested practical power, except the name
of British Resident, Mr. Busby soon found himself in no very enviable
position. He was ignored by the whites and laughed at by the natives.
To add still further to his difficulties he was slow to recognise that
the Missionaries in the long years of their labour had naturally
acquired more influence with the natives than he could possibly have,
and he was reluctant to achieve his object by appearing to play a
subordinate part to them. He had been explicitly instructed to seek
their hearty co-operation, and take every advantage of the high
respect in which they were held by the natives. It was not long,
however, before he began to develop ideas of his own and to formulate
a policy which he could not enforce, because it was at variance with
that of the Missions.

He had also been accredited to the thirteen chiefs who had signed the
memorial to the King in the previous year, and had been advised to
seek their assistance in arresting those offenders whom he had power
to transmit to Sydney for trial. The number of such persons whom he
might have apprehended now totalled, we are assured, to several
hundreds; but the process was, as Sir Richard Bourke had suggested, so
obviously "prolix and inconvenient," that Mr. Busby exercised to the
full the measure of discretion given him by the Governor, and left
them severely alone.[12]

According to Captain Fitzroy, who visited the Bay of Islands during
the cruise of H.M.S. _Beagle_ in 1835, he preferred to fold his
hands and allow events to shape their own course. "He chose to tell
every one who went to him that he had no authority; that he was not
even allowed to act as a Magistrate, and that he could do nothing. The
consequence was that whenever anything did occur, those who were
aggrieved went to the Missionaries. Mr. Busby might have very
considerable power, because the Missionaries have such influence over
the whole body of natives they could support him. If Mr. Busby wanted
a person taken up he had only to express his wish to the Missionaries,
and the natives would have done it for them, but he was slow to act in
that way. He was sent there in a high character, and was accredited to
the Missionaries, and had he communicated with them freely and allowed
them to be cognisant of, if not the agents in all that took place,
while he remained as the head, and the understanding had been that
all that the Missionaries did was done in concert with Mr. Busby, and
all that eventuated was from him as the head, his influence would have
been far too great for any individuals in that part of the Islands to
resist. By dividing the two influences Mr. Busby lost his power of
preventing mischief. He remained on tolerably good terms with them,
but separated himself in an unnecessary degree from them, and thought
he might differ from them sometimes, even to taking a precisely
opposite course of conduct to that which they recommended. The
consequences were that while the natives retained their opinion of the
Missionaries, they found that the Resident was a nonentity, and that
he was there to look on and nothing more."

As illustrating the class of difference which sometimes arose between
the Resident and the Missionaries, and which must have appreciably
hampered the activities of both, Captain Fitzroy stated to the
Committee of the House of Lords that when he was at the Bay of Islands
in 1835 there was then a serious difference between the real and the
nominal head of the community, with respect to the stopping or
discouraging the sale of ardent spirits. The Missionaries wanted to
carry into effect a regulation similar to one established in the
Society Islands, namely, that no spirits should be imported into the
country. Mr. Busby would not be a party to such a rule, contending
that it was an unnecessary measure; while the Missionaries, on the
other hand, were unanimous in declaring it was one of the most useful
precautions they could take, but no amount of argument could induce
Mr. Busby to co-operate with them.[13]

Mr. Busby at all times expressed the most profound respect for the
Missionaries and veneration for their labours. He also cheerfully
acknowledged that if the British Government expected them to accord
their influence to its Representative they must be given a specified
share in the government of the country. But when it came to a point of
difference, he plainly let it be known that he considered himself
possessed of a sounder judgment than they. After detailing to Governor
Bourke a discussion in which he claimed to have got the better of the
Missionaries, he wrote: "I thought they would naturally conclude in
future that it was possible for the conclusions of a single mind, when
directed to one object, to be more correct than the collective
opinions of many persons whose minds are altogether engrossed with the
multitude of details which fill up the attention of men, occupied as
they are, leaving neither leisure nor capacity for more enlarged and
comprehensive views."

Mr. Busby might have said more in fewer words, but he could scarcely
have depreciated the mental powers of the Missionaries in a more
delightfully prolix sentence. Skilfully, however, as the sting was
sheathed within a cloud of words, the barb came through, with the not
unnatural result that he had to confess the Missionaries afterwards
neither respected his opinions nor appeared anxious to co-operate with
him in what he described as "the furtherance of matters connected with
the King's service in this country."

Though severely handicapped by his inability to coordinate his ideas
with those of the Missionaries, or to sink his individuality before
theirs, it does not follow that Mr. Busby was entirely idle. He lent
himself with considerable industry to the task of placing the
shipping of the country upon a basis more satisfactory than it had up
to that time been. At the date of his arrival there were a number of
New Zealand owned craft trading on our coasts, and several vessels
were building on the Hokianga River. Sailing as these vessels were
under no recognised register, and without the protection of the
British ensign, which they were prohibited from hoisting, they were
liable to seizure at any time by any enterprising pirate.[14] Equally
impossible was it for these owners to register their craft in New
Zealand, for there was as yet no acknowledged flag of the nation.

These facts were made the subject of representation by Mr. Busby to
the Governor of New South Wales, who accorded a hearty approval to his
suggestion that the commerce of the country warranted some protection
of this nature. Flags of three separate designs were accordingly
entrusted to Captain Lambert of H.M.S. _Alligator_, who brought
them from Sydney and submitted them to the chiefs for approval.

This event took place at Waitangi, on March 20, 1834, the natives
having been gathered from all the surrounding _pas_ into a large
marquee erected in front of the British Residency, and gaily decorated
with flags from the _Alligator_. Wisely or unwisely the
proceedings were not conducted upon the democratic basis of our
present-day politics; for upon some principle which has not been made
clear the tent was divided by a barrier into two areas, into one of
which only the _rangatiras_ were admitted, and to them the right
of selection was confined. No debate was permitted, but Mr. Busby read
to the chiefs a speech in which he dwelt upon the advantages to be
anticipated from the adoption of a national flag, and then invited
them to take a vote for the choice of design.

This mode of procedure created considerable dissatisfaction amongst
the plutocracy of the tribes, who resented the doubtful privilege of
being permitted to look on without the consequential right to
exercise their voice. The stifling of discussion also tended to breed
distrust in the minds of some of the chiefs, to whom the settlement of
so important a matter without a _korero_[15] was a suspicious
innovation. Two of the head men declined to record their votes,
believing that under a ceremony conducted in such a manner there must
be concealed some sinister motive. Despite these protests, the British
Resident and Captain Lambert had their way, and at the conclusion of
Mr. Busby's address, the flags were displayed and the electors invited
to vote. The great warrior chief Hongi, acting as poll-clerk, took
down in writing the preference of each chief. Twelve votes were
recorded for the most popular ensign, ten for the next in favour, and
six only for the third. It was then found that the choice of the
majority had fallen upon the flag with a white ground divided by St.
George's Cross, the upper quarter of which was again divided by St.
George's cross, a white star on a blue field appearing in each of the
smaller squares.[16]

The election over, the rejected flags were close furled, and the
selected ensign flung out to the breeze beside the Union Jack of Old
England.

In the name of the chiefs Mr. Busby declared the ensign to be the
national flag of New Zealand. As the symbol of the new-born nation was
run up upon the halyards, it was received with a salute of twenty-one
guns from the warship _Alligator_, and by cheers from her
officers and the goodly crowd of sailors, settlers, and Missionaries
who had assembled to participate in the ceremony.

As is usual with most such functions where Britons are concerned, the
event was celebrated by a feast. The Europeans were regaled at a cold
luncheon at Mr. Busby's house, while the Maoris had pork, potatoes,
and _kororirori_[17] served upon the lawn in front of the Residency,
which delicacies they devoured _sans_ knives _sans_ forks.

These proceedings subsequently received on behalf of the British
Government the entire approbation of Lord Aberdeen;[18] and the
countenance thus lent to what at the time was regarded as no more than
a protection to the commerce of the country was discovered to have a
most important bearing upon the question of Britain's sovereignty over
these islands.

Though Mr. Busby found himself destitute of legal power or military
force to make good his authority, and equally lacking in the tact
necessary to secure by policy what he could not achieve by any other
means, he was sincerely and even enthusiastically loyal to the main
principle underlying his office--the preservation of British
interests. Thus when the tidings came that Baron de Thierry intended
to set up his kingdom at Hokianga, he took immediate and, as far as
lay in his power, effective steps to defeat what he regarded as a
wanton piece of French aggression.

Baron de Thierry was not a Frenchman in the narrow sense of the term,
and his foreign associations were more imaginary than real. He was the
son of a French noble refugee who had fled his country and had resided
in England for many years. The Baron had been educated at Cambridge,
had acquired English sympathies, and had been an officer in the 23rd
Lancers, so that he was in sentiment if not by birth a subject of the
King. When Hongi, the great Nga-Puhi chief, visited Cambridge in
company with his compatriot Waikato and Mr. Kendall, to assist
Professor Lee in the compilation of the Maori vocabulary, the Baron
met the warrior chief, and became fired with the romance of the
Pacific. There was much that was quixotic in his scheme of becoming a
potentate amongst the savages of the South Seas, and it is possible it
was not altogether devoid of benevolence.[19] There is at least reason
to believe that Baron de Thierry had persuaded himself that he also
had a mission for the uplifting of the benighted, and that when he
arranged with Mr. Kendall to purchase him an area of land at Hokianga
whereon he proposed to set up his "kingdom," he did so more in the
spirit of philanthropy than of mercenary adventure. The area alleged
to be purchased by Mr. Kendall on behalf of the Baron was the
considerable one of 40,000 acres, and the price paid was the
inconsiderable one of 36 axes. The transaction was accompanied by the
usual misunderstanding as to the real nature of the deal, the Baron
declaring that the axes were payment in full, the natives contending
they were but a deposit, or at the best payment for a much smaller
area.

The chiefs treated his "sovereign rights and powers" with undisguised
derision. They disavowed his territorial claims because they were made
regardless of the fundamental principle underlying the Maori law of
property--that all the people who have an interest in the land must
consent to its sale. Subsequently the matter was compromised by Tamati
Waaka Nēne conceding him a small area,[20] to which he retired
destitute of retainers, and surrounded only by the members of his own
family.

The story of the Baron's landing in 1837, with much pomp and
circumstance, under a salute of twenty-one guns, his dispute regarding
Kendall's purchase, his final disappearance into obscurity, are,
however, of secondary importance to our purpose. What is of vital
interest is that the announcement in 1835 of his approaching advent
galvanised the British Resident and the native chiefs into a state of
anxious activity. Living as they were on the confines of civilisation,
their information concerning events outside their own little world was
necessarily of the scantiest. Their fears were thus often greater than
their knowledge of the facts, and so in this emergency they had no
difficulty in persuading themselves that an invasion by the French was
at hand.

As a counterblast, Mr. Busby counselled that the chiefs should
immediately crystallise the position taken up by Britain--that New
Zealand was not a British possession--by unequivocally declaring their
own independence. His policy was approved, and for the purpose of
giving effect to it, thirty-five chiefs assembled at Mr. Busby's house
at Waitangi, where in the presence of the resident Missionaries and
merchants they evolved the following declaration,[21] which brought
into existence the much-questioned and questionable authority known as
The Confederated Tribes of New Zealand.

It is not difficult to trace the Roman hand of the Resident throughout
the document, especially as the Maori had no word in their language to
express the idea of sovereignty; but it is only just to remark that in
a subsequent despatch Mr. Busby drew the attention of Governor Bourke
to the fact that the concluding paragraph, both in language and
sentiment, originated with the chiefs:


 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF NEW ZEALAND

 (1) We, the hereditary chiefs and head of the tribes of the Northern
 parts of New Zealand, being assembled at "Waitangi" in the Bay of
 Islands on this 28th day of October 1835, declare the independence of
 our country, which is hereby constituted and declared to be an
 independent state, under the designation of the United tribes of New
 Zealand.

 (2) All Sovereign powers and authority within the territories of the
 United tribes of New Zealand is hereby declared to reside entirely
 and exclusively in the hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes in
 their collective capacity, who also declare that they will not permit
 any legislative authority separate from themselves in their
 collective capacity to exist, nor any function of Government to be
 exercised within the said territories unless by persons appointed by
 them and acting under the authority of laws regularly enacted by them
 in Congress assembled.

 (3) The hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes agree to meet in
 Congress at Waitangi, in the autumn of each year, for the purpose of
 framing laws for the dispensation of justice, the preservation of
 peace and good order, and the regulation of trade, and they cordially
 invite the Southern tribes to lay aside their private animosities,
 and to consult the safety and welfare of our common country by
 joining the confederation of the United tribes.

 (4) They also agree to send a copy of this declaration to His Majesty
 the King of England, to thank him for his acknowledgment of their
 flag, and in return for the friendship and protection they have shown
 and are prepared to show to such of his subjects as have settled in
 their country, or resorted to its shores for the purpose of trade,
 they entreat that he will continue to be the parent of their infant
 State, and that he will become its protector from all attempts upon
 its independence.

 AGREED unanimously on this 28th day of October 1835 in the
 presence of His Britannic Majesty's Resident.

 _English Witnesses_:

  HENRY WILLIAMS, Missionary C.M.S.
  GEORGE CLARKE,      "        "
  JAMES C. CLENDON, Merchant.
  GILBERT MAIR,        "

 (Translated by the Missionaries and certified to by James Busby,
 British Resident.)


 NAMES OF CHIEFS SIGNING DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

 October 28, 1835.

  AWAROA.
  HARE HONGI.
  HEMI KEPA TUPE.
  WARE POAKA.
  WAIKATO.
  TITORE.
  MOKA.
  WHARERAHI.
  KEWA.
  WAI.
  REWETI ATUAHAERE.
  AWA.
  WIREMU TE TI TAUNUI.
  TE NANA.
  PI.
  KAUA.
  TAREHA.
  KAWITI.
  PUMUKA.
  KE KEAE.
  TE KAMARA.
  POMARE.
  WIWIA.
  TE TAO.
  MARUPO.
  KOPIU.
  WARAU.
  NGERE.
  MOETARA.
  HIAMOE.
  PUKUTUTU.
  TE PEKA.
  HONE WIREMU HEKE.
  PAERARA.
  ERERA PARE (te kai-tuhituhi).


 SUBSEQUENT SIGNATURES TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

  NĒNE (Tamati Waaka).
  HUHU.
  PATUONE.
  PARORE, June 25, 1837.
  TOWA.
  PANAKAREAO (Nopera).
  KIWI KIWI, Jan. 13, 1836.
  TIRARAU, Feb. 9, 1836.
  HAMUREA PITA, March 29, 1836.
  TAWHAI.
  MATE.
  KAHA, June 25, 1837.
  TE MORENGA, July 12, 1837.
  MAHIA.
  TAONUI, Jan. 16, 1838.
  PAPAHIA, Sept. 24, 1838.
  HAPUKU, Sept. 25, 1838.
  TE WHEROWHERO, July 22, 1839.[22]

[Illustration: JAMES BUSBY.]

A few days prior to this meeting at Waitangi and the proclamation of
their independence by the chiefs, Mr. Busby issued (on October 10,
1835) a stirring appeal to his scattered countrymen, in which he
announced that he had received from "a person who styles himself
Charles Baron de Thierry, Sovereign chief of New Zealand, and King of
Nukuheva, one of the Marquesas Islands, a formal declaration of his
intention to establish in his own person an independent sovereignty in
this country, which intention he states he has declared to their
Majesties the Kings of Great Britain and France, and to the President
of the United States, and that he is now waiting at Otaheite the
arrival of an armed ship from Panama to enable him to proceed to the
Bay of Islands with strength to maintain his assumed authority. His
intention is founded on an alleged invitation given to him in England
by Shunghee (Hongi) and other chiefs, none of whom as individuals had
any right to the sovereignty of the country, and consequently
possessed no authority to convey a right of sovereignty to another;
also upon an alleged purchase made for him in 1822 by a Mr. Kendall of
three districts on the Hokianga River from three chiefs who had only a
partial property in these districts, parts of which are now settled by
British subjects by virtue of purchase from the rightful proprietors.
The British Resident has also seen an elaborate exposition of his
views which this person has addressed to the Missionaries of the
C.M.S., in which he makes the most ample promises to all persons,
whether whites or natives, who will accept his invitation to live
under his Government, and in which he offers a stipulated salary to
each individual in order to induce him to act as his Magistrate. It is
also supposed he may have made similar communications to other persons
or classes of His Majesty's subjects, who are hereby invited to make
such communications, or any information on this subject they may
possess, known to the British Resident or to Lieutenant MacDonnell.
The British Resident has too much confidence in the loyalty and good
sense of his countrymen to think it necessary to caution them against
turning a favourable ear to such insidious promises. He firmly
believes that the paternal protection of the British Government which
has never failed any of His Majesty's subjects, however remote, will
not be withheld from them, should it be necessary to prevent their
lives, liberties, or property from being subjected to the caprice of
any adventurer who may choose to make this country, in which British
subjects have now by the most lawful means acquired so large a stake,
the theatre of his ambitious projects; nor in the British Resident's
opinion will His Majesty, after acknowledging the sovereignty of the
New Zealand chiefs in their collective capacity, by the recognition of
their flag, permit his humble and confiding allies to be deprived of
their independence upon such pretensions. But although the British
Resident is of opinion that such an attempt as is now announced must
ultimately fail, he nevertheless conceives that if such a person were
once allowed to obtain a footing in the country, he might acquire
such an influence over the simple-minded natives as would produce
effects which could not be too much deprecated, or too anxiously
provided against, and he has therefore considered it his duty to
request the British settlers of all classes to use all the influence
they possess with the natives of every rank in order to counteract the
efforts of any emissaries who may have arrived or may arrive amongst
them, and to inspire both chiefs and people with a spirit of the most
determined resistance to the landing of a person on their shores who
comes with the avowed intention of usurping a sovereignty over them.
The British Resident will take immediate steps for calling together
the native chiefs in order to inform them of this attempt upon their
independence, and to advise them of what is due to themselves and to
their country, and of the protection which British subjects are
entitled to at their hands, and he has no doubt that such a
manifestation will be exhibited of the characteristic spirit, courage,
and independence of the New Zealanders, as will stop at the outset
such an attempt upon their liberties, by demonstrating its utter
hopelessness."

It is somewhat difficult to say, in the absence of contemporary
newspapers, what impression was created in the public mind by the
Resident's proclamation or by the native Declaration of Independence,
but in due course the latter was, in accordance with the unanimous
desire of the chiefs, "laid at the feet of His Majesty," and in the
following year--so tardy was communication in those days--it was
courteously, but guardedly acknowledged by Lord Glenelg, who wrote to
Governor Bourke:

"With reference to the desire which the chiefs have expressed on this
occasion, to maintain a good understanding with His Majesty's
subjects, it will be proper that they be assured, in His Majesty's
name, that he will not fail to avail himself of every opportunity of
showing his goodwill, and of affording to those chiefs such support
and protection as may be consistent with a due regard to others, and
to the interests of His Majesty's subjects."

Left to its own devices, the native Confederation was faced with a
task that proved altogether too exacting for its resources, and it
cannot be claimed for the new authority that it remodelled the
Government or reclaimed the dissolute society by which it was
surrounded. Had it been possible to restrict the intercourse of the
natives to the Missionaries and the more respectable portion of the
settlers, they might, combined with the counsels of the Resident, have
been speedily induced to form an effective administration amongst
themselves, and that important stage once reached, they, with their
quick intelligence, might have easily acquired a working knowledge of
the higher principles of self-government. But thrust as they were in
the midst of a strangely confused community, any such limitation was
obviously impossible.

Even if it had been practicable, the irreconcilable differences which
had sprung up between the Resident and the Missionaries, of which the
natives were perfectly cognisant, necessarily detracted from the
beneficial influence which an official in Mr. Busby's position might,
and ought to have wielded.

The absence of the physical force which Mr. Busby pined for was
unmistakably against the due observance of the ordinary decencies of
life, for the people whom Captain Fitzroy had described as
"ragamuffins," and Captain Hobson had still more emphatically
condemned as "abandoned ruffians," were scarcely likely to be amenable
to anything more gentle than the grip of the handcuff or the probe of
the bayonet. It was therefore to but little purpose that the
Confederation should pass ordinances which, if not respected, could
not be enforced.

The difficulties of the Confederation accumulated with the increase of
trade and population, both of which were growing rapidly. In the year
1836 no fewer than 93 British, 54 American, and 3 French ships put in
at the Bay of Islands. The irregular settlement of white people at
various spots along the coast had increased in like manner, until in
the early part of 1838 a body of no less than 2000 British subjects
had taken up their permanent abode in New Zealand. The part these
people were playing in the scheme of civilisation was still small, if
we are to accept as accurate the verdict of Dr. G. R. Jameson, who in
his _Travels in New Zealand_ has taken the responsibility of saying
that from all he had seen and heard respecting the fixed traders, or
the casual visitors for trade, it could be affirmed in the most
positive terms that not one of them had ever attempted to teach a
native to read or write, or to communicate to his mind one ray of
Christian knowledge or of moral rectitude. With a few honourable
exceptions they had been in their intercourse with the natives guided
by one ruling impulse--the love of gain. Their predominant aim was
ever and always to obtain the greatest possible quantity of pigs,
potatoes, flax, maize, labour, or land in exchange for the smallest
possible amount of tobacco, ammunition, and piece-goods.[23]

It was not alone, however, by the criminal taint of a large section of
the population and this excessive hunger for trade that the seeds of
continued anarchy were sown. A new evil was at hand which threatened
to sap the independence of the Maori, and reduce them to a condition
of speedy and abject poverty. This was the land hunger which about
this time seized the white population of Australia. There the opinion
had gripped the public mind that under the Declaration of Independence
it would be possible to pursue in New Zealand the schemes of land
aggregation which Sir George Gipps had checked in New South Wales.
Under his new land regulations the price of land in that colony had
been raised from 3s. to 12s. per acre, and hearing that large areas
were to be obtained in New Zealand for less than the proverbial song,
the speculators swarmed over to the Bay of Islands, and in the year
1837 the land fever in all its phases of "sharking," "jobbing," and
legitimate purchase literally raged throughout the country. "What gold
was to the Spaniard in Mexico the land at this period became to the
English in these islands, and as the warlike aborigines most coveted
the acquisition of firearms, they divested themselves of their only
possessions in order to obtain those deadly instruments, which,
together with ardent spirits, were the most potent means for the
destruction of their race. Almost every captain of a ship arriving in
Sydney exhibited a piece of paper with a tattooed native head rudely
drawn upon it, which he described as the title-deed of an estate
bought for a few muskets, hatchets, or blankets."

Several years elapsed before it was possible to reduce these frenzied
bargains to tabulated form, but during the debate on New Zealand
affairs, which occupied the House of Commons for three days in 1845,
the representative for Westminster, the Hon. Captain Rous, R.N., put
forward the following startling figures as authentic. A Mr. Webster,
an American, he said, claimed to have purchased forty miles of
frontage on the west side of the river Piako;[24] a Mr. Painham
claimed nearly the whole of the north coast of the Northern Island.
Mr. Wentworth of New South Wales asserted his right to 20,100,000
acres in the Middle Island; Catlin & Co. to 7,000,000; Weller & Co. to
3,557,000; Jones & Co. to 1,930,000; Peacock & Co. to 1,450,000; Green
& Co. to 1,377,000; Guard & Co. to 1,200,000, and the New Zealand
Company to 20,000,000.

Yet another authority has stated that the whole of the South Island
was claimed by a Company consisting of four gentlemen, in consideration
of giving the chiefs a few hundred pounds in money and merchandise,
and a life annuity of £100.[25] Another individual, representing a
commercial firm in Sydney, claimed several hundred thousand acres,
including the township of Auckland, for which he paid as compensation
one keg of gunpowder. The island of Kapiti was claimed by five
different parties, each declaring they had purchased it, but each
naming a different price. Some alleged they had paid £100, others
goods to the value of £30, and so on, the only point of unanimity
being that they were each able to produce something that resembled the
signatures of Te Rauparaha or Te Rangihaeata.

In much the same way the district round Porirua was claimed by eight
separate parties, each contending that Te Rauparaha had sold to them,
and to them alone. Cooper, Holt & Rhodes of Sydney asserted they had
paid merchandise to the value of £150 for a tract of country between
the Otaki and Waikanae Rivers, running in an easterly direction forty
miles from the mouth of the river, thirty miles in another direction,
and ten miles along the coast. Mr. John Hughes, also of Sydney,
claimed in part all the lands of Porirua for a distance of thirty
miles, bounded by the sea on the one hand, and by the Tararua Range on
the other.

In the general censure which followed upon the disclosure of these
unseemly proceedings the Missionaries did not escape criticism, and
are still, at times, subject to severest strictures on this question,
as it affects public morals. Unjust as these strictures frequently are
the purchase from Hongi, in 1819, of 13,000 acres at Kirikiri for
forty-eight axes, by the Rev. Samuel Marsden,[26] was one amongst
other transactions which on the face of it seems to leave room for the
gravest enquiry as to its propriety.[27]

If the Confederation of chiefs had been helpless in the face of social
disorder, it was still more impotent to cope with the inroads of the
speculator. The greed for land on the part of the _Pakeha_, and the
hunger for muskets on that of the Maori, rendered futile all attempts
to control the traffic by an already effete administration. The need
for a wider application of authority and efficient Government at
length found voice in a petition which was submitted to the King by
the law-abiding settlers at Kororareka. The settlers, catechists, and
Missionaries to the number of one hundred and ninety-two, headed by
the Rev. Henry Williams, Chairman of the Church Mission, joined in the
plea for protection.

During the course of their representations they made it clear that the
attempt to evolve order out of chaos had utterly failed; that the
Confederation of Chiefs was impotent in the face of existing evils;
and, praying that His Majesty would graciously regard the peculiarity
of their position, asked that he would afford them such relief as to
him seemed most expedient.


 TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

 SIRE--May it please Your Majesty to allow your faithful and
 loyal subjects at present residing in New Zealand to approach the
 throne, and crave your condescending attention to their petition
 which is called forth by their peculiar situation.

 The present crisis of the threatened usurpation of power over New
 Zealand by Baron Charles de Thierry, the particulars of which have
 been forwarded to Your Majesty's Government by James Busby, Esquire,
 the British Resident, strongly urges us to make known our fears and
 apprehensions for ourselves and families, and the people amongst whom
 we dwell.

 Your humble Petitioners would advert to the serious evils and
 perplexing grievances which surround and await them arising for the
 most part, if not entirely from some of Your Majesty's subjects, who
 fearlessly commit all kinds of depredations upon other of Your
 Majesty's subjects who are peaceably disposed. British property in
 vessels, as well as on shore, is exposed without redress to every
 imaginable risk and plunder, which may be traced to the want of a
 power in the land to check and control evils, and preserve order
 amongst Your Majesty's subjects.

 Your Petitioners are aware that it is not the desire of Your Majesty
 to extend the colonies of Great Britain, but they would call Your
 Majesty's attention to the circumstance of several of Your Majesty's
 subjects having resided for more than twenty years past, since which
 their numbers have accumulated to more than five hundred, north of
 the River Thames alone, many of whom are heads of families. The
 frequent arrival of persons from England and the adjacent colonies is
 a fruitful source of further augmentation. Your Petitioners would
 therefore humbly call Your Majesty's attention to the fact that there
 is at present a considerable body of Your Majesty's subjects
 established in this Island, and that owing to the salubrity of the
 climate there is every reason to anticipate a rapidly rising colony
 of British subjects. Should this colony continue to advance, no doubt
 means would be devised whereby many of its internal expenses would be
 met as in other countries. There are numbers of land-holders, and the
 Kouri (Kauri) forests have become, for the most part, the private
 property of Your Majesty's subjects.

 Your humble Petitioners would also entreat Your Majesty's attention
 to the important circumstance that the Bay of Islands has long been
 the resort of ships employed in the South Sea fishery and the
 Merchant Service, and is in itself a most noble anchorage for all
 classes of vessels, and is further highly important in affording
 supplies and refreshment to shipping. There are also several other
 harbours and anchorage of material importance to the shipping
 interests in situations where British subjects have possessions and
 property to a large amount. The number of arrivals of vessels in the
 Bay of Islands during the last three years has been considerably on
 the increase. At one period thirty-six were at anchor, and in the
 course of six months ending June 1836 no less than one hundred and
 one vessels visited the Bay.

 Your Petitioners would further state that since the increase of the
 European population several evils have been growing upon them. The
 crews of vessels have frequently been descryed on shore, to the great
 detriment of trade, and numberless robberies have been committed on
 shipboard and on shore by a lawless band of Europeans, who have not
 even scrupled to use firearms to support them in their depredations.
 Your humble Petitioners seriously lament that when complaints have
 been made to the British Resident of these acts of outrage, he has
 expressed his deep regret that he has not yet been furnished with
 authority and power to act, not even the authority of a civil
 Magistrate to administer an affidavit.

 Your humble Petitioners express with much concern their conviction
 that unless Your Majesty's fostering care be extended towards them,
 they can only anticipate that both Your Majesty's subjects and also
 the aborigines of this land will be liable in an increased degree to
 murders, robberies, and every kind of evil.

 Your Petitioners would observe that it has been considered that the
 confederate tribes of New Zealand were competent to enact laws for
 the proper Government of this land, whereby protection would be
 afforded in all cases of necessity; but experience evidently shows
 that in the infant state of the country this cannot be accomplished
 or expected. It is acknowledged by the chiefs themselves to be
 impracticable. Your Petitioners therefore feel persuaded that
 considerable time must elapse before the chiefs of this land can be
 capable of exercising the duties of an independent Government.

 Your Petitioners would therefore pray that Your Majesty may
 graciously regard the peculiarity of their situation, and afford that
 relief which may appear most expedient to Your Majesty.

 Relying upon Your Majesty's wisdom and clemency we shall ever pray
 Almighty God to behold with favour and preserve our Gracious
 Sovereign.

[1] On one occasion when Lord John Russell was asked by a French
Diplomat how much of Australia Britain claimed, he promptly replied,
"The whole of it."

[2] As indicating the state into which society had fallen it may be
mentioned that one Master of a trading vessel who had no muskets to
sell, gave a chief a packet of corrosive sublimate wherewith to
destroy his enemies. To correct this condition of affairs a
proclamation was published in the New South Wales Government
_Gazette_ in 1814 appointing the Rev. Mr. Kendall and the chiefs,
Ruatara, Hongi and Korokoro, Magistrates at the Bay of Islands, for
the purpose of suppressing outrages. This authority was subsequently
revoked as being illegal.

[3] "The Rev. Mr. Kendall has received a commission to act as a
Magistrate, but it does not appear that he possesses the means of
rendering effective assistance to the natives against the oppressions
of the crews of European vessels, and of controlling in any degree the
intercourse that subsists between them."--Commissioner Bigge to Earl
Bathurst, 1823.

[4] This practice was prohibited by the Governor of New South Wales by
Proclamation, on November 9, 1814.

[5] Edward Doyle underwent the extreme penalty of the law at Sydney
for a burglary committed at the Bay of Islands on June 18, 1836, the
sentence being imposed under a statute of George IV.

[6] The Wesleyan mission in New Zealand originated in a visit made to
this country in the year 1819 by the Rev. Mr. Leigh, a missionary of
the Wesleyan Society then stationed in New South Wales. He made the
visit for the benefit of his health on the recommendation of the Rev.
Mr. Marsden.

[7] Petition sent to King William through Mr. Yate, per Colonial
Secretary of New South Wales, November 16, 1831.

[8] The French were called by the natives "the tribe of Marian" after
Captain Marian du Fresne, who met his untimely death at their hands in
1772. To show that these fears were not altogether unfounded, it may
be mentioned that the French ship _La Favourite_ anchored in the
Bay of Islands the day after the petition was signed.

[9] He afterwards became Earl of Ripon.

[10] Mr. Busby's father had been appointed in 1823 as a Mineral
Surveyor and Civil Engineer for the colony of New South Wales, by Earl
Bathurst, and Mr. Busby accompanied him as a settler, taking with him
capital to the extent of about £1000. At the time of his appointment
Mr. Busby was Collector of Internal Revenue and a Member of the Land
Board of New South Wales.

[11] The Bill was not passed, because it was found that Parliament was
legislating in a "foreign country," and this it has no power to do.

[12] Mr. Busby's difficulties in this connection were considerably
increased by the fact that when British subjects were accused they
frequently sheltered themselves under the American flag, saying, "We
are Americans, you have no right to interfere with us."--Captain
Fitzroy.

[13] "After ardent spirits were introduced in the neighbourhood of
Hokianga the Christian natives themselves became so sensible of the
evils resulting from the use of them, that under the influence of the
Missionaries the chiefs assembled and agreed to certain regulations,
the effect of which was to prohibit the introduction and sale of
ardent spirits. Those regulations received the sanction of the
Governor of New South Wales, and were for a time partially carried
into effect. Our Missionaries have transmitted a copy of the
resolutions adopted at a meeting of the natives at Hokianga for the
formation of a Temperance Society. Those resolutions were signed by
fifteen native chiefs. One chief who was present declined for a time,
but at length he agreed, and also signed them. Another chief remarked
that it would be desirable that wine and porter should also be
prohibited, for if they were allowed the English would say when the
rum casks came that they were wine and porter, and by that means
spirits would continue to be smuggled into the river. The later
accounts give us reason to fear that notwithstanding these regulations
spirits continued to be introduced there in defiance of the laws made
by the native chiefs."--Rev. Dr. Beecham before Committee of House of
Lords.

[14] The British Admiralty agreed to respect and protect the New
Zealand ships' registers after the National flag had been hoisted.

[15] _Korero_ = talk, debate, discussion.

[16] Dr. Marshall, surgeon of H.M.S. _Alligator_, mentions that
during his visit to the district he had become interested in a chief
named Hau, who, prior to the voting, asked the Doctor for his opinion,
on the designs. The Doctor favoured the one ultimately chosen, and Hau
"having discovered how my taste lay, paid me the compliment of
adopting it, and canvassed others for their votes also." This
influence in all probability decided the election. After cession of
sovereignty to the Queen in 1840 this flag was of course superseded by
the Union Jack as a National ensign. It was then adopted by the Shaw
Savill & Albion Shipping Company, and is now flown by them as their
house flag.

[17] _Kororirori_ was a mixture of flour and water, sweetened
with sugar, of which the natives had become very fond. While the feast
was in progress word came that Pomare had arrived at the Bay at the
head of a large armed party. Mr. Williams was sent to enquire why he
had brought arms to a peaceable gathering? He replied, "It is New
Zealand custom," and then added, "The _Rangatira_ from the
warships have their swords, and we ought not for shame to be without
our guns," an observation which left little room for an effective
rejoinder. Pomare, who was a great stickler for etiquette, was
offended because he thought he had not been properly invited, and took
this method of showing his displeasure. He was however soon placated
by the Missionary.

[18] _Vide_ his despatch of November 21, 1834.

[19] The Baron has been described as a crotchety enthusiast rather
than a knavish schemer.

[20] Nēne gave him 5000 acres, which was subsequently reduced by
quarrels and quibbles to 1000 acres.

[21] Sir George Gipps, Governor of New South Wales, in succession to
Sir Richard Bourke, in a despatch dated August 1840, speaks of the
Declaration, as entirely a measure of Mr. Busby's concoction, and
designates it "a silly as well as an unauthorised act--a paper pellet
fired off at the Baron de Thierry."

[22] The chiefs who signed this document were thoroughly representative
of the tribes residing between the North Cape and the latitude of the
River Thames.

[23] Dr. Jameson concludes his unalluring picture, by the statement:
"It is to the Missionary labour only that we can justly attribute the
abolition of infanticide, polygamy, and the atrocities of native
warfare which have disappeared before the dawn of Christianity."

[24] This claim is still the subject of negotiation between the
British and United States Governments.

[25] Probably the Wentworth Purchase.

[26] The deed confirming this transaction is now in the Hocken
Collection at Dunedin.

[27] "The Missionaries have been successful, but I think a greater
effect might be given to them if their minds were relieved from those
secular things which press upon them on behalf of their children. If
they could devote their lives to the service of Christianity instead
of trying to better the condition of their own children. At present
they are cultivating their land. To use the words of the Rev. Henry
Williams--They are just holding on for their children, seeing no other
prospect for them than the cultivation of those lands. They cannot
send them home to England, for that would be too expensive; New South
Wales would not be desirable for them, and this is their only
chance."--Evidence of Mr. John Flatt (formerly a catechist of the
C.M.S.) before a Parliamentary Committee.




CHAPTER II

SEEKING A WAY


The cry for better Government was thus becoming imperative, and the
demand was not a new one. Both the House of Lords and the House of
Commons had entered upon exhaustive enquiries into the subject. The
former had reported that the responsibility of extending the colonial
possessions of the Crown was one that rested solely with the
Government, while the latter had declared in spirited terms that
"however pressing the nation's need for a vigorous emigration policy,
and whatever action the Government might take to meet that need by
finding a soil to which its surplus population might retreat, the
House would tolerate no scheme which implied violence or fraud in
taking possession of such territory." The reference to "surplus
population" in the House of Commons' report introduces a new factor
into the problem. It indicates internal as well as external pressure;
it tells of clamour from the teeming cities, and a rural population
discontented with their lot. It suggests that the nation's mind had
moved faster than the politicians, and that already many of England's
artisans were seeking to escape to some new country where they might
live under freer conditions. The popular theory of the political
economists of those days was "over population," and the panacea for
the existing national poverty was emigration. In spite of the fact
that people are the most precious asset a country can ever have, both
doctrines found much favour with the different sections of the
community whose interest they seemed best to serve; the spirit of
colonisation had got into the air, and the question of finding new
fields for the energies of the "surplus" people became a practical
issue which no Government could afford to ignore. The necessity for
doing something appeared impossible of evasion. Poverty at home and
crime unchecked abroad clamoured for redress, but just what to do, or
how to do it, was not easy of decision.

Sir Richard Bourke had told the Government in plainest terms that
unless they were prepared to give the British Resident more power, and
permanently station a ship of war on the coast to support him, it
would be more in keeping with the dignity of the nation to withdraw
him altogether. To give him more power was an impossibility, unless
the Government was prepared to violate the express injunction of the
House of Commons and all the precedents by which they had acknowledged
the independence of the Maoris. It was therefore not practicable to
supply the existing deficiency by extending the jurisdiction of Mr.
Busby.

In their dilemma the Ministers turned for light and leading to the
comparatively few people then in England who had previous experience
of these far-away islands. Amongst these was Captain Hobson, who in
1837 had been sent over in H.M.S. _Rattlesnake_ pell-mell to
render what aid he could to British shipping and British interests
generally, on news reaching Sydney of serious hostilities between two
of the northern tribes.[28] Captain Hobson had on his return furnished
the Governor with a report upon the condition of affairs as he found
them at the settlements he had visited. He had also entered into the
discussion of a scheme for the future government of the country, in
which he favoured proceeding upon the plan of the Hudson Bay and East
India Companies by establishing trading factories in different parts
of the islands, and so fulfilling what he urged had become a solemn
duty to apply a remedy for a growing evil. "It has occurred to me," he
wrote, "that if factories were established at the Bay of Islands, at
Cloudy Bay, and Hokianga, and in other places as the occupation by
British subjects proceeds, a sufficient restraint could be
constitutionally imposed on the licentious whites, without exciting
the jealousy of the New Zealanders or of any other power. I will not
presume to enter too deeply into the details of such a measure, but
beg simply to suggest that sections of land be purchased, enclosed,
and placed within the influence of British jurisdiction as
dependencies of this (New South Wales) colony. The heads of factories
should be Magistrates, and the chief factor should, in addition, be
accredited to the united chiefs of New Zealand as a political agent
and consul. All communications with the British Government should take
place through the chief factor, with whom alone the local factors
should correspond. All British subjects should be required to register
themselves and their landed property at the factories. Two or more
respectable British residents nearest to each station should hold
Commissions of the Peace to assist the factors. Prisons should be
constructed within the factories and legally proclaimed in the colony.
A treaty should be concluded with the New Zealand chiefs for the
recognition of the factories and the protection of British subjects
and property. To meet the expenses which the establishment of a system
of factories upon the principle I have mentioned would necessarily
entail, funds might be obtained from a variety of sources, such as a
small fee on the registration of the purchase of land from the
natives, on the entry and clearance of British shipping, and a small
percentage on goods and produce imported and exported. The great
security which would result from this system would, it is conceived,
readily dispose the British subjects resident in New Zealand, to
conform to such an impost."

After acknowledging the primary need for Imperial legislation to give
effect to his suggested policy, he continues: "The benefit which may
be supposed to arise from the establishment of factories in New
Zealand is not confined to the mere legal protection they are supposed
to afford; but we may hope they will be the means of introducing
amongst the natives a system of civil Government which may hereafter
be adopted and enlarged upon. Nor is it to be overlooked that in times
of intestine war they will afford a safe retreat to our
fellow-countrymen, who will then become powerful by concentration."

In the estimation of Sir Richard Bourke, Captain Hobson's scheme
contained "suggestions of great value," and in transmitting it to the
Colonial Office he not only gave it his full endorsement, but
justified it because it was in his opinion "neither possible nor
desirable to put a stop to the growing intercourse between the English
colonies in these seas and New Zealand." He also raised his voice
against the neutral policy which was being pursued, for while
admitting the failure of the British Residency, he protested that "it
would be difficult for His Majesty's or this Government to act for any
length of time upon the stern principle of non-interference if the
lives and property of British subjects appeared to be in jeopardy. Any
plan, therefore, by which the intercourse may be sufficiently
regulated, and usurpation, real or apparent, avoided, is well worthy
of serious consideration."

Simultaneously with Captain Hobson's scheme, was sent a letter from
Mr. Busby, written while the _Rattlesnake_ was in New Zealand
waters. In this communication the Resident also endeavoured, for the
guidance of Ministers, to reduce to a system a scheme of government
based upon his several years' experience of the people and the
country. Governor Bourke evidently looked upon it with a less
favourable eye than he did upon the report of the naval officer, and
commended it merely as advancing "suggestions that were not without
value."

This letter must, however, be regarded by all historians as the more
valuable of the two, for in it will be found the germ of the treaty
which was afterwards adopted by both _Pakeha_ and Maori as the
basis upon which New Zealand was taken into the British Empire; upon
which her past progress has been built, and her future prosperity must
depend.

In the previous year (1836) Mr. Busby had made a somewhat similar
suggestion, founded upon the principle sanctioned by the Treaty of
Paris in the case of Great Britain and the Ionian Isles, and also
applied in various instances on Britain's Indian frontier. That
principle recognised "a protecting state administering in chief the
affairs of another State in trust for the inhabitants," and this
condition he claimed could be, with but slight modification, applied
to New Zealand both economically and efficiently. Mr. Busby was by no
means of the opinion, afterwards so contemptuously expressed by Sir
George Gipps, that the native Declaration of Independence was "a paper
pellet fired off at Baron de Thierry." On the contrary, he attached
considerable importance to it, proposing to make it the authority on
which the chiefs were entitled to enter into diplomatic relations with
Great Britain for the cession of their administrative rights.

"The chiefs who were parties to the articles of Confederation, and to
the Declaration of Independence," he wrote, "together with those who
subsequently adhered to it, include, with very few exceptions, the
whole of the chiefs of influence in the northern parts of the Islands,
and the adhesion of the remainder could at any time be procured.
Whatever acts approaching to acts of sovereignty or government have
been exercised in the country, have been exercised by these chiefs in
their individual capacity, as relates to their own people, and in
their collective capacity as relates to their negotiations with the
British Government, the only Government with which the chiefs or
people of New Zealand have had any relations of a diplomatic
character. The articles of Confederation having centralised the powers
of sovereignty both _de jure_ and _de facto_ by the several
chiefs, and having established and declared the basis of a
constitution of government founded upon the union of those powers, I
cannot, I think, greatly err in assuming that the congress of chiefs,
the depositing of the powers of the State, as declared by its
constitution, is competent to become a party to a treaty with a
foreign power, and to avail itself of foreign assistance in reducing
the country under its authority to order, and this principle being
once admitted all difficulty appears to me to vanish."

It did not, however, enter into the proposal of Mr. Busby that the
British Government should be both in theory and in fact the
administrative authority. He still contemplated the retention of the
federated chiefs as the nominal source of power, with himself as its
presiding genius. "In theory and ostensibly the government would be
that of the confederated chiefs, but in reality it must necessarily be
that of the protecting power. The chiefs would meet annually, or
oftener, and nominally enact the laws proposed to them, but in truth
the present race of chiefs could not be entrusted with any discretion
whatever in the adoption or rejection of any measure that might be
submitted to them."

He proposed to constitute the chiefs guardians of the peace and public
morals, and to pay them for their services. Schools were to be
established, and the Missionaries and catechists were, as far as their
duties would permit, to be appointed Justices of the Peace, whose
decisions were, if needs must, to be supported by a military force.
Even a periodical newspaper was provided for as a means of
"instructing the natives in those relative duties of the people and
their rulers, which are familiar to all ranks of the population under
established Government, but of which the New Zealanders have scarcely
yet formed an idea." Revenue was to be raised by an impost on shipping
and a duty upon spirits and tobacco. Indeed, so modest was his
contemplated civil establishment that he estimated an expenditure of
not more than £1000 per annum would be sufficient to maintain it in
adequate splendour. All existing land claims were to be settled by an
independent commission, and after that all titles were to be void
unless procured through the Government, whose special duty it would
be to see that ample reserves were retained for the natives.

Mr. Busby, in submitting these proposals, ventured to suggest that
they might be presumed to give an effective degree of protection to
the British subjects resident in New Zealand, without infringing on
the rights of the New Zealanders as an independent people and at the
same time "satisfy the reasonable scruples of a foreign Government."
This latter condition was one that in maturing their plans the British
Cabinet could not leave out of their consideration; for already both
France and America were factors to be counted upon in the South
Pacific, and might with almost equal justice claim a share in the
sovereignty of the country.

The Government were still wrestling with the perplexities of the
position when the New Zealand Association rose into being, and served
to still further complicate the issues. There was an opinion in
political circles, afterwards crystallised into a definite
recommendation by the House of Lords, that the colonisation of New
Zealand was the duty of the State, if it was Britain's duty at all,
but private enterprise had never been wholly disassociated from the
scheme.[29] As far back as 1825 a New Zealand Company, "acting with
the sanction and encouragement of the Government," had been formed
under Lord Durham, and had acquired an estate on the banks of the
Hokianga River. This settlement, under Captain Heard, had been of the
most fugitive character; but the land still remained more or less an
asset, and subsequently was acquired by the New Zealand Association,
founded in 1837 by the Hon. Francis Baring, M.P. for Sheffield, in
conjunction with other gentlemen prominent in English public life of
that day. This Association grew out of an enquiry made at the instance
of the House of Commons by a committee called the Committee on
Colonial Lands, but the real subject of the enquiry was colonisation.
One of the principal witnesses was Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who
gave some account of the then existing state of New Zealand, and spoke
of it as a country extremely eligible for the purpose of British
colonisation, provided some regular system should be adopted in place
of the lawless practices that were then rampant. In consequence of
that statement, a member of the committee spoke to him upon the
subject of colonising New Zealand. Subsequently other gentlemen were
admitted to their discussions, and as a result of their joint
deliberations they determined to form an Association for the purpose
of obtaining from Parliament (for Parliamentary aid was considered
essential) some regulation both for the colonisation and the
government of the Islands, to take the place of the irregular
practices that were then on foot.

There is little doubt that in its inception the Association had a
large measure of philanthropy underlying its principles, for it was
the outcome of the unsatisfactory social conditions existing in
England at that period. The scheme attracted to its aid men of wealth
and culture, and under the organising genius of Edward Gibbon
Wakefield it acquired an influence, both social and political, which
no government could safely regard with indifference.[30]

To secure New Zealand as a British possession; to find a profitable
investment for British capital; and to provide employment and
opportunity for England's idle labour were the nominal objects for
which the Association had been formed. To give these purposes
practical effect the Association had, under the guiding hand of
Wakefield, formulated definite theories upon the subject of
colonisation; and to the end that their ideals might be achieved they
sought the assistance of the Government and the sanction of
Parliament.

On a day in June 1837 they secured an interview with the Prime
Minister, Lord Melbourne, whom they found attended by Lord Howick, a
member of the Government, though not of the Colonial Office, and who
was present, so they were told, in the character of an adviser on the
subject, he having paid considerable attention to colonial problems.
The aims and purposes of the Association were laid before the
Ministers by Mr. Baring, chairman of the society, and the result of
the deputation was an assurance from the Premier that for himself he
saw no objection to the scheme of the Association, and that he
perceived in some of their purposes a laudable object, but that not
being familiarly conversant with such subjects he did not care to do
more than to express his general approbation, and to refer the
deputation for the discussion of all matters of detail to Lord Howick,
who was well informed on all such questions, and who possessed, in the
office which he held, as much leisure as would enable him to attend to
the subject. The committee was highly satisfied with their interview,
and communicated in various ways with Lord Howick upon the details of
their plan, amongst other things submitting to him a draft of the Bill
which they proposed to introduce into the House of Commons. Lord
Howick examined the Bill, and both in conversation and in writing
suggested various modifications, which though not universally approved
by the promoters, were adopted in their entirety rather than risk the
loss of that influence which they considered essential to the success
of their plan--the assistance of the Executive Government. The death
of the King, William IV., at this juncture, put a sudden termination
to their political proceedings; but the outlook for their negotiation
appeared so satisfactory that, pending the assembly of the new
Parliament, they published an invitation to all persons so disposed to
join the Association for the purpose of emigrating to New Zealand. The
publication of this resolution drew to their ranks a large body of
wealthy and influential people; and when Parliament met again in
December of the same year a very considerable number of persons had
expressed their intention of settling in the new colony. Accordingly
the committee, on December 13, again waited on Lord Melbourne with a
view to obtaining his final approval upon the measure which they
proposed to submit to the Commons. As at the previous interview, the
object of the Association in seeking this second conference was stated
by Mr. Baring, when Lord Melbourne, who appeared to have forgotten
what had passed on the former occasion, referred the deputation to
Lord Glenelg, who was present as Colonial Minister.

This gentleman at once adopted an attitude of hostility to the whole
proposal, his objections being primarily that the jealousy of foreign
powers might be excited by the extension of British colonies; that
England had colonies enough; that they were very expensive to govern
and to manage; and that they were not of sufficient value to make it
worth while to increase their number.[31] The rebuttal of these
unexpected objections involved a discussion of over an hour, during
which considerable feeling was displayed by some of the gentlemen
present, who saw in the attitude of the Minister a grim prospect of
their scheme being thwarted. Several of these had, during the interval
since the previous interview, disposed of their property and quitted
professions in which they were engaged, with a view to emigrating, and
they now felt very strongly the position in which they were placed by
the withdrawal of the Ministerial approval which they believed their
enterprise was to receive. One of these was described to Lord
Melbourne as having wound up his affairs with a view to emigrating,
and as being likely to suffer very seriously from now finding himself
unable to carry his plan into effect. Lord Melbourne, not knowing that
he was present, said that such an individual must be mad. The
gentleman immediately rose and, facing the Premier, said that he was
the madman. This created a distinctly dramatic situation, and the
conference was on the point of breaking up in excitement and disorder
when Lord Melbourne was reminded of his former sympathetic reception
of the Association's proposals, whereupon he held a further brief
consultation with the leaders of the deputation, and gave them to
understand that the matter would be again considered by the
Government, and that if they would wait upon Lord Glenelg in a week's
time they would get an answer more to their satisfaction. Pursuant to
that arrangement, the same body of persons waited on the Colonial
Secretary on that day week (Wednesday, December 20), when Lord Glenelg
informed them that the subject of the colonisation of New Zealand had
been reconsidered by the Cabinet, and that circumstances which had
occurred during the interval had induced Ministers to think that their
former view was not the correct one. What had happened to so influence
the Ministerial mind was the receipt of those important despatches
from Mr. Busby, the British Resident, and from Captain Hobson, in
which both these officers urged the need for a more vigorous policy on
the part of the Colonial Office in its relations with New Zealand. The
opinions of the Government, therefore, now approximated somewhat more
closely to those of the Association, but there was still some
hesitancy in proceeding by way of Act of Parliament. The Colonial
Department, Lord Glenelg said, had fully considered the matter, and
were satisfied that the measures desired might be carried into
complete effect without applying to Parliament at all; and that they
were consequently prepared, in the exercise of the power of the Crown
vested in the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, to give
to the Association a Charter of Incorporation, being a Charter of
government similar to those which were granted in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries to the companies which founded the thirteen
great colonies in America. Nine days after this interview the
Association received an official letter from Lord Glenelg, reiterating
his offer of a Charter, and calling upon the committee to form their
members into a Joint-Stock Company with a subscribed capital
sufficient to qualify them for the Charter he proposed to issue. This
proposition was wholly unacceptable to the Association for two vital
reasons. They had from the beginning declared that they intended to
take no private pecuniary interest in the undertaking, and yet in
spite of their care in this direction they had been very untruly
charged before the public with having no other object than that of
private pecuniary gain for themselves. Again some of their most
influential leaders were persons, such as distinguished clergymen of
the Established Church, holding preferment, who were almost
disqualified by that circumstance from becoming members of a
Joint-Stock Company, and, therefore, it was unanimously resolved that
the offer of the Colonial Secretary could not be accepted. But though
this avenue of procedure was closed there was still another open to
them, and it was determined to procure, if possible, the passage of a
Bill through Parliament, based upon the plan which they had originally
placed before the Government. Such a Bill was brought into the House
of Commons by Mr. Baring, but owing to the opposition of the
Ministers, including Lord Howick,[32] and the widespread impression
that the Association was nothing better than a land-sharking Company,
the measure was defeated by a large majority.

The discussion which was provoked by this Bill was responsible for
concentrating public attention upon two points, namely, the objects
which animated the Association, and, secondly, the diversity of
opinion which existed on the subject of British sovereignty in New
Zealand. One of the most ardent advocates of the Association was the
Rev. Dr. Hinds, a clergyman of the Established Church, who had been
greatly impressed by the social stagnation in England, and who had
joined the committee in the hope of providing some outlet for the
country's allegedly "surplus" population. Dr. Hinds told the Committee
of the House of Lords in 1838[33] that he considered the colonisation
of New Zealand expedient because of the number of persons of various
classes in Great Britain who were anxious to settle themselves in a
colony in New Zealand; persons who from their character, station, and
other considerations, had a claim on the British Parliament to
facilitate that object. The feeling, he assured their Lordships, in
favour of such a colony was deep seated and sincere, supporting his
contention by quoting letters he had received from Scotland,[34]
where, he said, existing conditions were clamant for an immediate
remedy. That remedy, he contended, the colonisation of New Zealand
would supply. "There is," he said, "an abundance of capital and an
abundance of labour in Great Britain, and the abundance of capital the
capitalists can hardly employ so as to be sufficiently remunerative by
any investment in this country. At the same time there is a great mass
of the labouring population who can no longer obtain sufficient wages
to keep up what have become the necessaries of life to them. The
proposed colony would therefore be a measure of relief to both the
capitalists and labourers."

[Illustration: LORD NORMANBY.]

Dr. Hinds concluded his instructive picture of social England at that
date by urging the colonisation of New Zealand on the general ground
that settlement was already proceeding there along irregular lines,
and without any "combining principle." This fundamental requirement to
all well-ordered societies, he thought, was provided for in the plan
of the Association, and he proceeded to explain in very explicit terms
the two cardinal points of its constitution--its Government, and the
principles which would control its land transactions.

The executive authority of the Association was, he said, to be placed
in the hands of a Commission resident in England, which Commission was
to be merely a provisional body to last so long as might be thought
necessary to set the scheme on foot. It was proposed to delegate to
these Commissioners the power to make laws, the Crown to determine the
extent of the delegation, and many other important matters. A further
power of delegation was to be given to a Council in New Zealand, but
the responsibility for all that was done was to rest with the
Commission at home. "Whatever the powers are, it is only required that
they should be exercised for a period of twenty-one years, and the
Association would not at all object if it should seem desirable to
have the time shortened. At the end of that term the whole Government
of the colony would revert to the Crown."

In its land dealings, the element of profit was to be eliminated by
the fact that the whole of the money derived from the sale of land or
other sources must be spent in the interests of the colony, and no
member was to derive any advantage therefrom: "The money for which the
land will be sold by the Commissioners will be a price made up of
several sums. It will in the first place contain the sum paid for the
land itself, which I conceive will be a very small proportion. It will
contain then a sum which will be calculated as sufficient for bringing
out labourers to cultivate the land purchased; that will be the
largest amount. It is also proposed that there should be a further sum
added for the purpose of making roads, bridges, and public works, and
it is also proposed that one of the items should be a sum to be
expended in making provision for the natives, such as procuring them
medical assistance and some instruction in the arts. The price the
settlers will pay for the land will be only the price paid for it to
the natives, and the additions to that sum will be in fact the
purchase money paid for certain benefits which are considered
essential to the prosperity of the colony, more especially for a due
supply of labour."

The House of Lords' Committee reported against this scheme on the
broadly Imperial grounds that the extension of the colonial
possessions of the Crown was a question of public policy with which
the Government only should deal. The element of private enterprise
was, in their Lordships' opinion, eminently undesirable, holding with
Captain Fitzroy, whose personal experience they valued, that
"colonisation to be useful must be entirely under the control of the
Executive Government of the Mother Country."

At this point a new and vigorous opponent directed its energies
against the plans of the Association. The Church Missionary Society
had been watching its proceedings with a jealous eye, and from the
moment of the Association's inception had adopted an attitude of
hostility towards it. Rightly or wrongly the Society had conceived the
notion that the colonisation of the country must have a detrimental
effect upon its Missions, and that therefore a sacred duty devolved
upon the Committee to frustrate its consummation if it were at all
possible so to do.

Immediately following the publication of the Association's prospectus
the Society had communicated with its Missionaries in New Zealand,
calling their attention to the scheme, and urging them to furnish the
Committee with their views upon it, and so assist the parent body in
reaching a conclusion as to its merits. Without waiting for these
replies the Committee proceeded to deliberate upon the evidence then
available, and on June 6, 1837, formulated the following resolutions,
which they ever afterwards consistently made the basis of their
attitude towards the Association.

 That the New Zealand Association appears to the Committee highly
 objectionable on the principle that it proposes to engage the British
 Legislature to sanction the disposal of portion of a foreign country
 over which it has no claim to sovereignty or jurisdiction whatever.

 That the Association is further objectionable from its involving the
 colonisation of New Zealand by Europeans, such colonisation of
 countries inhabited by uncivilised tribes having been found by
 universal experience to lead to the infliction upon the aborigines of
 great wrongs and most severe injuries.

 That the Committee consider the execution of such a scheme as that
 contemplated by the Association especially to be deprecated in the
 present case, from its unavoidable tendency, in their judgment, to
 interrupt if not to defeat, those measures for the religious
 improvement and civilisation of the natives of New Zealand, which are
 now in favourable progress through the labours of the Missionaries.

 That for the reasons assigned in the preceding resolutions the
 Committee are of opinion that all suitable means should be employed
 to prevent the plan of the New Zealand Association from being carried
 into execution.

The Society again made declaration of its views in the following year,
embodying in its annual report (May 1, 1838) a plea for the humane
consideration of New Zealand's claims, and for their own disinterested
services to the country:

 Your Committee cannot close this report on the New Zealand Mission
 without adverting to the peculiar situation of that country as it is
 regarded by the public at large. What events may await this fair
 portion of the globe, whether England will regard with a sisterly eye
 so beautiful an Island, placed like herself in a commanding position,
 well harboured, well wooded, and fertile in resources; whether this
 country will stretch forth a friendly and vigorous arm, so that New
 Zealand may with her native population adorn the page of future
 history as an industrious, well-ordered, and Christian nation, it is
 not for the committee of the Church Missionary Society to
 anticipate--but this consolation they do possess. They know that the
 Society has for the past twenty years done good to the natives,
 hoping for nothing again, nothing save the delight of promoting the
 Glory of God and good-will among men. The Society has sent forth its
 heralds of peace and messengers of salvation, and has thus contracted
 such an obligation towards those whom it has sought to benefit that
 your Committee are constrained to lift up their voice on behalf of
 that Island, and to claim that no measures shall be adopted towards
 that interesting country which would involve any violation of the
 principles of justice on our part, or the rights and liberties of the
 natives of New Zealand.

The Society having once determined upon its attitude towards the
Association never turned back. Their Secretary, Mr. Dandeson Coates,
became a militant force whom they found it difficult to shake off, and
together with the enormous influence he was able to wield in religious
circles, constituted a power that might have made the Government pause
had they been predisposed to afford the Association the shelter of
their wing.

Harassed by the Church Missionary Society and repulsed by Parliament
the Association turned to the hope of resuming the negotiations with
the Government at the point at which they had broken with Lord
Glenelg. In the previous year the Colonial Secretary had, it will be
remembered, reluctantly professed sympathy with the objects of the
organisation up to the point that it fell short of being a Joint-Stock
Company. He had then informed Lord Durham[35] that colonisation having
gone on in New Zealand to some extent, the only question was between
allowing it to proceed along desultory lines, without law, and fatal
to the natives, or a colonisation organised and salutory. "Her
Majesty's Government are therefore," he said, "disposed to entertain
the proposal of establishing such a colony. They are willing to
consent to a Corporation by a Royal Charter, of various persons to
whom the settlement and government of the projected colony for some
short term of years would be confided. The Charter would be framed
with reference to the precedents of the colonies established in North
America by Great Britain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries."

The basis on which these Atlantic colonies had been established was
that of business concerns; for it was officially stated that the
Association's scheme was objected to because of the absence of an
actual subscribed capital, and the consequent want of protection to
those proceeding to the colony as emigrants. For the reasons already
given, the stipulation that the Association should convert itself into
a Joint-Stock Company was so contrary to the motives which had
inspired it that it was at first, and still was, hotly resented and
resisted by its principal and truly philanthropic promoters. Many of
these now withdrew from the ranks of the Association; but others,
rather than give up the hope of colonising the Islands, consented to
comply with the demand of the Minister, after Parliament had rejected
their Bill, as they wrongly assumed, for the insufficient reason of a
non-existent capital. The Association then, in 1838, became a Company,
shares were issued, capital subscribed, the reorganisation changing
its whole character from a quasi-benevolent to a strictly commercial
concern, whose business it was to buy land at a low price in New
Zealand, and sell it at a high price in England.[36]

In the meantime a change had taken place at the Colonial Office. Lord
Glenelg had fallen over his Canadian policy, and in the year following
its reconstruction, the Company, on the ground that they had now
complied with all that had been stipulated for, approached his
successor, Lord Normanby, "with a view of obtaining, through his
Lordship's intervention, a Royal Charter of Incorporation." Upon what
took place at this interview the widest divergence of opinion appears
to exist. The Company claimed that the Minister received them with the
greatest affability and encouragement, and that in consequence they
left the Colonial Office in high spirits at the very favourable
reception they had met with, and were perfectly satisfied in their own
minds that all opposition to their scheme had not only ceased, but
that they could proceed with the full concurrence of the Government.

Their feelings may, therefore, be easily imagined when, within
forty-eight hours of their meeting with the Minister, they received an
official letter from Lord Normanby, dated March 11, 1839, in which his
Lordship warmly repudiated the suggestion that the Government was in
any way bound to give effect to his predecessor's promise. He pointed
out that Lord Glenelg's offer had been distinctly rejected by those to
whom it was made; that they had since applied to Parliament for powers
which they had failed to procure from the Crown; and that the
personnel of the Company had so completely changed that by no process
of reasoning could it be argued that the promise of Ministerial
approval had been given to the same people as were now making the
application. He therefore claimed that he stood unfettered by any
pledge, and was free to discuss the question in the public interests,
and for the public as though the rejected offer of 1837 had not been
made.

In thus sternly refusing to countenance the proceedings of the
Company, the Minister may have been induced to adopt the course he
took by a reason altogether different from that which he gave, but one
which he found more difficult to diplomatically express. For directing
his attention to the change in the personnel of the promoters he was
indebted to his Departmental Secretary, Mr. Stephen, who had kept the
strictest watch upon the correspondence of the Company, and when the
request, now under review, was preferred, he wrote a Memorandum to his
Minister which may have profoundly influenced the mind of Lord
Normanby.

 "You can see," he said, "from looking over the list of the proposed
 Directors, that the leading members are now Roman Catholics. If this
 business is committed to them, New Zealand will infallibly become a
 Roman Catholic country. I am convinced that this would give the most
 severe offence to all the religious bodies which have established
 Missions there. I cannot withhold expressing my own opinion that the
 objection would be perfectly just and well founded. As long as we
 have the choice of establishing Popery or Protestantism in any part
 of the world I cannot understand how any one, not a Roman Catholic,
 would hesitate what that choice should be."[37]

How far the suggestion of Mr. Stephen weighed, or did not weigh, with
his chief can now only be a matter of merest speculation, for
unfortunately little in the way of record has been left to guide us.
It is possible that under the sway of the religious feeling which
existed in England at that time he did not altogether disregard it,
but it is more probable that the circumstance which weighed with him
most was the fact that since Lord Glenelg's day the Government had
received more serviceable advice as to their powers under the Law of
Nations, and that finding it was not within their right to issue a
Charter affecting New Zealand, they were then considering the
suggestions made by Mr. Busby and Captain Hobson, and were even at
that moment contemplating the steps which they afterwards took. Lord
Normanby would, under these circumstances, find it difficult and
inexpedient to refer in definite language to these immature plans, and
consequently the general terms in which he was compelled to speak may
have misled the members of the Company who waited on him to sue for a
Charter. In considering a petition from the Merchants, Bankers, and
Shipowners of the City of London respecting the colonisation of New
Zealand, an effort was made by a Committee of the House of Commons, in
1840, to discover exactly what was the attitude of the Ministerial
mind at this juncture. Mr. Gibbon Wakefield complained that the
Company had been scurvily treated by Lord Normanby, who had led them
to suppose that they had his sympathy and approval, and had then,
within a comparatively few hours, despatched the letter in which he
refused to be bound by the promise of his predecessor to issue a
Charter. In reply to this accusation, Mr. Labouchere, who was then
Under-Secretary at the Colonial Office, and might, therefore, be
expected to have some inside knowledge, took the view that the
Minister had been misunderstood, and asked whether the position was
not this: That Lord Normanby had stated to the Company that he
considered their objects very useful and laudable, and that he should
have been disposed to give them his most favourable consideration,
provided New Zealand were a British colony; that he intended to take
steps that he believed would probably lead to the constitution of New
Zealand, either wholly or in part as a British colony; but that till
those steps had been taken it would be utterly inconsistent with his
official duty, not only to give encouragement, as a Minister, to the
proceedings of the Company, but even to recognise them in any way
whatever?

To this Mr. Wakefield's answer was: "My impression has always been
that when Lord Normanby received those gentlemen he sincerely felt
what he said; that he was glad to see persons of so much influence,
and of such station in society, engaged in such a work; but that after
the interview he came into communication with the officers of his
Department, and received information of what had passed before, for he
was quite new in the office,[38] and that the letter written after the
interview, which was so much at variance with it, was written rather
by the office, I should say, than by Lord Normanby himself, for the
purpose of maintaining the consistency of the course which the
Government had pursued."

It was therefore clearly the opinion of Mr. Wakefield that Mr. Stephen
was a force to be reckoned with, and that whether he influenced it
from the religious or the secular point of view, the Departmental head
of the office was a powerful factor in moulding the policy which the
Minister afterwards followed. But be that as it may, it still remains
that from this date the Company and its colonising scheme received no
quarter from the Colonial Secretary nor from the Department while he
was at its head. Nothing daunted by official discouragement, the
Company went steadily on with their arrangements; and within the year
they had so far completed their plans that their pilot ship was ready
to sail, all that was requisite being the extension of a helping hand
to Colonel Wakefield, their pioneer representative, by Her Majesty's
officers in Australia, in the event of things going badly with him. To
this end, on April 29, Mr. William Hutt, who had now become chairman
of the Company, Lord Petre and Mr. Somes waited upon Lord Normanby,
preferring a request that letters might be given to the leader of
their expedition, soliciting the good offices of the Governors of New
South Wales and Van Dieman's land, should Colonel Wakefield require
their aid. Their request was accompanied by a copy of the Company's
instructions to Wakefield, all of which came as a violent surprise to
the Colonial Secretary, who immediately pronounced with unmistakable
emphasis, the Government's hostility to these unauthorised
proceedings. He protested that this was the first he had heard of the
Company's matured plans to proceed to New Zealand and there set up a
system of Government independent of the authority of the British
Crown, therefore it was impossible that he could do any act which
might be construed into a direct, or even indirect, sanction of such a
proceeding. He further made it plain that the Government could not
recognise the authority of any agents whom the Company might send out
to New Zealand, nor would they give future recognition to any
proprietary titles to land within that country, which the Company
might obtain by grant or purchase from the natives. Indeed, so far had
matters, he said, now been pushed, that he had no option but to
indicate that the time had arrived when Her Majesty must be advised by
her Ministers to adopt one of the last of Lord Glenelg's
recommendations, before he left the Colonial Office,[39] and take
measures without delay to obtain cession in sovereignty to the British
Crown of such parts of New Zealand as are, or might be, occupied by
British subjects, and that officers selected by the Queen, and not by
the Company, would be appointed to administer the executive Government
within such territory. "Under these circumstances," the Colonial
Secretary concluded, "I must decline to furnish the Company with the
introductory letters for which they apply."

This intimation was given to the Company in the dying days of April
1839, and by the 13th of June Lords Normanby and Palmerston had, after
consultation with the Law Officers of the Crown, agreed not only that
the moment was ripe for official action, but that the proper course to
take was to send to New Zealand an officer with Consular powers, whose
first duty would be to secure the cession in sovereignty from the
chiefs. The territory so ceded was then to be annexed to New South
Wales, the Consul to be raised to the rank of Lieut.-Governor, acting
under the Governor of the Mother colony, but invested with sufficient
authority to preserve law and order in the country. His salary of £500
per annum was at first to be a charge upon the revenues of New South
Wales, to be refunded so soon as the necessary arrangements could be
made for the collection of taxation in New Zealand.

On July 19 these proposals were confirmed by the Lords of the
Treasury, whereupon Lord Palmerston penned the letter to Captain
Hobson of which the opening paragraph of the previous chapter is a
brief extract.

In the meantime a clipper brig of 400 tons, named the _Tory_ had
been quietly fitted out by the Company for a dash to New Zealand. She
was armed with eight big guns, and as a precaution against a hostile
reception, small arms were provided for all the members of the crew, a
specially selected body of men. Under the command of Captain Chaffers,
who had been round the world with Fitzroy in the _Beagle_, she
left Plymouth Sound on May 12 (1839) and proving a smart sailer,
crossed the equator twenty-six days out, the high land of the South
Island being sighted in the vicinity of Cape Farewell on August 16.
This pioneer ship of the Company's fleet carried in her cabin their
official representative in the person of Colonel William Wakefield,
and in her hold a full complement of pots, pipes, and Jews' harps,
which that gentleman proposed to exchange as full value for the land
he hoped to acquire by barter from the natives.

The sailing of the _Tory_ was the New Zealand Company's challenge
to the Government, and in any estimate of its subsequent policy this
precipitate event must be accounted an important factor in endowing
the Colonial Office with a vital force which had hitherto been sadly
lacking.

[28] This war, it is said, arose through some one on board the
_Roslyn Castle_ carrying off a native woman of high rank to sea.
Her friends at Kawakawa accused the people of Kororareka of killing
and eating her in satisfaction of an old feud. This they denied, but a
war ensued, 1500 fighting men being engaged, the war continuing for
several months, eighty being killed.

[29] In 1821 Mr. Henry Goulburn, by direction of Earl Bathurst,
informed R. M. Sugden that his Lordship "did not feel he had any power
of approving any particular encouragement to the establishment of a
colony in New Zealand." In 1822 Earl Bathurst informed Thomas England
and Messrs. Taylor and Upton that no encouragement was given by the
Government to settlers to proceed to New Zealand. In the same year Mr.
John Thomson, A.M., Edinburgh, offered to found a colony of 50 sober
men, 100 Sepoys, and 100 convicts, as "the inhabitants of New Zealand
are just in that state of civilisation to be made useful." In November
1823 Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls, an ex-Indian officer, made a proposal
to Earl Bathurst to establish a colony of military pensioners. In the
following month Baron de Thierry's scheme was brought under the notice
of the Government. The year 1825 saw the first New Zealand Company
established. Colonel R. Torrens, who afterwards did such good work in
South Australia, applied in 1826 for the command of a military force
in New Zealand, and so enable him to "make preliminary arrangements
which would facilitate the future colonisation of these islands upon
sound economical principles."

[30] It was said that at one period of its existence the New Zealand
Association could command 42 votes in the House of Commons.

[31] Lord Glenelg did not on this occasion urge as an objection that
New Zealand was not a part of the British Empire.

[32] After the Association was formed into a Company Lord Howick
became one of its most ardent supporters.

[33] A select Committee of the House of Lords was set up in 1838 "to
enquire into the present state of the Islands of New Zealand and of
the expediency of regulating the settlement of British subjects
therein."

[34] "It was only within the last three months that I received a
letter from Paisley, stating that if a colony were formed in New
Zealand on the principles laid down in our publication in that
neighbourhood alone there were a hundred respectable persons--indeed I
am not sure the expression was not 'respectable families,' but I have
not the letter with me--who would emigrate immediately" (Dr. Hinds
before the House of Lords Committee). Mr. G. S. Evans, LL.D., in his
evidence stated there was an Association in the West of Scotland
consisting of 200 members, and another in the Carse of Gowrie
consisting of at least 100 persons, all anxious to emigrate to New
Zealand.

[35] _Vide_ his letter to Lord Durham, December 29, 1837.

[36] "I was the principal founder of the Company and the principal
Managing Director from the time of its formation till the summer of
1846, allowing for intervals of absence occasioned by illness and
other occupation at a distance from England. My incapacity changed the
whole character of the direction of the New Zealand Company's affairs,
which then fell into the hands of a few persons in whose minds sound
principles of colonisation and colonial government were as nothing
compared with pounds, shillings, and pence."--Evidence of E. G.
Wakefield before a New Zealand Parliamentary Committee on New Zealand
Company's debt--Sessions 1 and 2.

[37] For the text of the above Memorandum I am indebted to Mr. R.
M'Nab, who copied it from the original in the Record Office, London.
Mr. Stephen, who wrote the Memorandum, was, at the time, an officer of
the Church Missionary Society.

[38] Lord Normanby became Colonial Secretary on February 8, 1839.

[39] _Vide_ his letter to Lord Palmerston, December 12, 1838.




CHAPTER III

FINDING A WAY


The favour of Ministerial selection for the onerous task of bringing
New Zealand within the realms of Britain fell upon Captain Hobson,
because his record in the Navy had justified the opinion expressed of
him by Sir Richard Bourke, that he was an experienced and judicious
officer. Moreover, his visit to the country in the _Rattlesnake_
had given him a local knowledge of which few men of eminence and
character were at that time possessed. There is no reason to suppose
that the appointment was in any way a party one, and except that the
new Consul was the victim of indifferent health, it was probably the
best that could have been made at the time, its greatest justification
being the complete success which attended his mission up to the time
of his early decease.[40] Captain Hobson left England in the H.M.S.
_Druid_ commanded by Lord John Churchill. He went out fortified
for his task by a series of instructions which left little doubt that
if Ministers had been slow to move, they had at least endeavoured to
take a statesman-like view of the position when circumstances
compelled them to act, the breadth of which can be best understood
from the instructions themselves. After adverting to the social
conditions existing in New Zealand, with which Captain Hobson was
perfectly cognisant and which Lord Normanby assured him the Government
had watched with attention and solicitude, the Colonial Secretary
proceeded to explain the attitude which the Government had adopted in
regard to this branch of Imperial policy.

 We have not been insensible to the importance of New Zealand to the
 interests of Great Britain in Australia, nor unaware of the great
 natural resources by which that country is distinguished, or that its
 geographical position must in seasons, either of peace or war, enable
 it in the hands of civilised men to exercise a paramount influence in
 that quarter of the globe. There is probably no part of the earth in
 which colonisation could be effected with a greater or surer prospect
 of national advantage.

 On the other hand, the Ministers of the Crown have been restrained by
 still higher motives from engaging in such an enterprise. They have
 deferred to the advice of the Committee of the House of Commons in
 the year 1836 to enquire into the state of the Aborigines residing in
 the vicinity of our colonial settlements, and have concurred with
 that Committee in thinking that the increase in national wealth and
 power, promised by the acquisition of New Zealand, would be a most
 inadequate compensation for the injury which must be inflicted on
 this kingdom itself by embarking in a measure essentially unjust, and
 but too certainly fraught with calamity to a numerous and inoffensive
 people whose title to the soil and to the sovereignty of New Zealand
 is undisputable and has been solemnly recognised by the British
 Government. We retain these opinions in unimpaired force, and though
 circumstances entirely beyond our control have at length compelled us
 to alter our course, I do not scruple to avow that we depart from it
 with extreme reluctance.

 The necessity for the interposition of the Government has, however,
 become too evident to admit of any further inaction. The reports
 which have reached this office within the last few months establish
 the facts that about the commencement of 1838 a body of not less than
 two thousand British subjects had become permanent inhabitants of New
 Zealand, that amongst them were many persons of bad and doubtful
 character,--convicts who had fled from our penal settlements, or
 seamen who had deserted their ships,--and that these people,
 unrestrained by any law and amenable to no tribunals, were
 alternately the authors and victims of every species of crime and
 outrage. It further appears that extensive cessions of land have been
 obtained from the natives, and that several hundred persons have
 recently sailed from this country to occupy and cultivate these
 lands. The spirit of adventure having been effectually roused it can
 be no longer doubted that an extensive settlement of British subjects
 will be rapidly established in New Zealand, and that unless protected
 and restrained by necessary loans and institutions they will repeat
 unchecked in that quarter of the Globe the same process of war and
 spoliation under which uncivilised tribes have almost invariably
 disappeared, as often as they have been brought into the immediate
 vicinity of emigrants from the nations of Christendom. To mitigate,
 and if possible to avert these disasters, and to rescue the emigrants
 themselves from the evils of a lawless state of society, it has been
 resolved to adopt the most effective measures for establishing
 amongst them a settled form of Government. To accomplish this design
 is the principal object of your mission.

 I have already stated that we acknowledge New Zealand as a sovereign
 and independent state so far at least as it is possible to make that
 acknowledgment in favour of a people composed of numerous dispersed
 and petty tribes, who possess few political relations to each other,
 and are incompetent to act or even deliberate in concert. But the
 admission of their rights, though inevitably qualified by this
 consideration, is binding on the faith of the British Crown. The
 Queen, in common with Her Majesty's predecessor, disclaims for herself
 and her subjects every pretension to seize on the Islands of New
 Zealand, or to govern them as a part of the Dominions of Great Britain
 unless the free intelligent consent of the natives, expressed
 according to their established usages, shall be first obtained.
 Believing, however, that their own welfare would, under the
 circumstances I have mentioned, be best promoted by the surrender to
 Her Majesty of a right now so precarious, and little more than
 nominal, and persuaded that the benefits of British protection and of
 laws administered by British judges would far more than compensate for
 the sacrifice by the natives of a national independence which they are
 no longer able to maintain, Her Majesty's Government have resolved to
 authorise you to treat with the aborigines of New Zealand for the
 recognition of Her Majesty's sovereign authority over the whole or any
 part of those Islands which they may be willing to place under Her
 Majesty's dominion. I am not unaware of the difficulties by which such
 a treaty may be encountered. The motives by which it is recommended
 are, of course, open to suspicion. The natives may probably regard
 with distrust a proposal which may carry on the face of it the
 appearance of humiliation on their side, and of a formidable
 encroachment on ours: and their ignorance even of the technical
 terms in which that proposal must be conveyed, may enhance their
 aversion to an arrangement of which they may be unable to comprehend
 the exact meaning, or the probable results. These are, however,
 impediments to be gradually overcome by the exercise on your part of
 mildness, justice, and perfect sincerity in your intercourse with
 them. You will, I trust, find powerful auxiliaries amongst the
 Missionaries who have won and deserved their confidence; and amongst
 the older British residents who have studied their character and
 acquired their language. It is almost superfluous to say that, in
 selecting you for the discharge of this duty, I have been guided by a
 firm reliance on your uprightness and plain dealing. You will
 therefore frankly and unreservedly explain to the natives or their
 chiefs the reasons which should urge them to acquiesce in the
 proposals you will make to them. Especially you will point out to
 them the dangers to which they may be exposed by the residence
 amongst them of settlers amenable to no laws or tribunals of their
 own and the impossibility of Her Majesty extending to them any
 effectual protection unless the Queen be acknowledged as the
 Sovereign of their country, or at least of those districts within, or
 adjacent to which Her Majesty's subjects may acquire lands or
 habitations. If it should be necessary to propitiate their consent by
 presents, or other pecuniary arrangements, you will be authorised to
 advance at once to a certain extent in meeting such demands, and
 beyond those limits you will refer them for the decision of Her
 Majesty's Government.

 It is not, however, to the mere recognition of the sovereign authority
 of the Queen that your endeavours are to be confined, or your
 negotiations directed. It is further necessary that the chiefs should
 be induced, if possible, to contract with you, as representing Her
 Majesty, that henceforward no lands shall be ceded, either
 gratuitously or otherwise, except to the Crown of Great Britain.
 Contemplating the future growth and extension of a British colony in
 New Zealand, it is an object of the first importance that the
 alienation of the unsettled lands within its limits should be
 conducted from its commencement upon that system of sale of which
 experience has proved the wisdom, and the disregard of which has been
 so fatal to the prosperity of other British Settlements. With a view
 to those interests it is obviously the same thing whether large tracts
 of land be acquired by the mere gift of the Government or by purchases
 effected on nominal considerations from the aborigines. On either
 supposition the land revenue must be wasted, the introduction of
 emigrants delayed or prevented, and the country parcelled out amongst
 large land-owners whose possession must long remain an unprofitable,
 or rather a pernicious waste. Indeed, in a comparison of the two
 methods of acquiring land gratuitously, that of grants from the
 Crown, mischievous as it is, would be the less inconvenient, as such
 grants must be made with at least some kind of system, with some
 degree of responsibility, subject to some conditions, and recorded
 for general information. But in the case of purchases from the
 natives even these securities against abuse must be omitted, and none
 could be substituted for them. You will, therefore, immediately on
 your arrival announce, by a proclamation[41] addressed to all the
 Queen's subjects in New Zealand that Her Majesty will not acknowledge
 as valid any title to land which either has been, or shall hereafter
 be acquired in that country which is either not derived from or
 confirmed by a grant to be made in Her Majesty's name and on her
 behalf. You will, however, at the same time take care to dispel any
 apprehensions which may be created in the minds of the settlers that
 it is intended to dispossess the owners of any property which has
 been acquired on equitable conditions, and which is not upon a scale
 which must be prejudicial to the latent interests of the community.
 Extensive acquisitions of such lands have undoubtedly been already
 obtained, and it is probable before your arrival a great addition
 will have been made to them. The embarrassments occasioned by such
 claims will demand your earliest and most careful attention.

 I shall in the sequel explain the relation in which the proposed
 colony will stand to the Government of New South Wales. From that
 relation I propose to derive the resources necessary for encountering
 the difficulty I have mentioned. The Governor of that country will,
 with the advice of the Legislative Council, be instructed to appoint
 a Legislative Commission to investigate and ascertain what are the
 lands held by British subjects under grants from the natives; how far
 such grants were lawfully acquired and ought to be respected; and
 what may have been the price or other valuable consideration given
 for them. The Commissioners will make their report to the Governor,
 and it will then be decided by him how far the claimants, or any of
 them, may be entitled to confirmatory grants from the Crown, and on
 what conditions such confirmations ought to be made.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN HOBSON, R.N.]

 The propriety of immediately subjecting to a small annual tax all
 uncleared lands within the British settlements in New Zealand will
 also engage the attention of the Governor and Council of New South
 Wales. The forfeiture of all lands in respect of which the tax shall
 remain for a certain period in arrear would probably before long
 restore to the demesne of the Crown so much of the waste land as may
 be held unprofitably to themselves, and the public, by the actual
 claimants. Having by these measures obviated the dangers of the
 acquisition of large tracts of country by mere land-jobbers, it will
 be your duty to obtain by fair and equal contracts with the natives
 the cession to the Crown of such waste lands as may be progressively
 required for the occupation of settlers resorting to New Zealand. All
 such contracts should be made by yourself, through the intervention
 of an officer expressly appointed to watch over the interests of the
 aborigines as their protector. The resales of the first purchases
 that may be made will provide the funds necessary for future
 acquisitions; and beyond the original investment of a comparatively
 small sum of money no other resource would be necessary for this
 purpose. I thus assume that the price to be paid to the natives by
 the local Government will bear an exceedingly small proportion to the
 price for which the same lands will be resold by the Government to
 the settlers, nor is there any real injustice in this inequality. To
 the natives or their chiefs much of the land in the country is of no
 actual use, and in their hands it possesses scarcely any exchangeable
 value. Much of it must long remain useless, even in the hands of the
 British Government also, but its value in exchange will be first
 created, and then progressively increased by the introduction of
 capital and of settlers from this country. In the benefits from that
 increase the natives themselves will gradually participate.

 All dealings with the natives for their lands must be conducted on
 the same principles of sincerity, justice, and good faith as must
 govern your transactions with them for the recognition of Her
 Majesty's sovereignty in the Islands. Nor is this all: they must not
 be permitted to enter into any contracts in which they might be
 ignorant and unintentional authors of injuries to themselves. You
 will not, for example, purchase from them any territory, the
 retention of which by them would be essential or highly conducive to
 their own comfort, safety, or subsistence. The acquisition of land by
 the Crown for the future settlement of British subjects must be
 confined to such districts as the natives can alienate without
 distress or serious inconvenience to themselves. To secure the
 observance of this rule will be one of the first duties of their
 Official Protector.

 There are yet other duties owing to the aborigines of New Zealand
 which may be all comprised in the comprehensive expression of
 promoting their civilisation, understanding by that term whatever
 relates to the religious, intellectual, and social advancement of
 mankind. For their religious instruction liberal provision has
 already been made by the zeal of the Missionaries, and of the
 Missionary Societies in this Kingdom, and it will be at once the most
 important and the most grateful of your duties to this ignorant race
 of men to afford the utmost encouragement, support, and protection to
 their Christian teachers. I acknowledge also the obligation of
 rendering to the Missions such pecuniary aid as the local Government
 may be able to afford, and as their increased labours may reasonably
 entitle them to expect. The establishment of schools for the
 education of the aborigines in the elements of literature will be
 another object of your solicitude, and until they can be brought
 within the pale of civilised life, and trained to the adoption of its
 habits, they must be carefully defended in the observance of their
 own customs, so far as these are compatible with the universal maxims
 of humanity and morals. But the savage practices of human sacrifice
 and cannibalism must be promptly and decisively interdicted; such
 atrocities, under whatever plea of religion they may take place, are
 not to be tolerated in any part of the dominions of the British
 Crown.

 It remains to be considered in what manner provision is to be made
 for carrying these instructions into effect as for the establishment
 and exercise of your authority over Her Majesty's subjects who may
 settle in New Zealand, or who are already there. Numerous projects
 for the establishment of a constitution for the proposed colony have
 at different times been suggested to myself and to my immediate
 predecessor in office, and during the last session of Parliament, a
 Bill for the same purpose was introduced into the House of Commons at
 the instance of some persons immediately connected with the
 emigrations then contemplated. The same object was carefully examined
 by a Committee of the House of Lords. But the common result of all
 enquiries, both in this office and in either House of Parliament, was
 to show the impracticability of the schemes proposed for adoption,
 and the extreme difficulty of establishing at New Zealand any
 institutions, legislative, judicial, or fiscal without some more
 effective control than could be found amongst the settlers themselves
 in the infancy of their settlement. It has therefore been resolved to
 place whatever territories may be acquired in the sovereignty by the
 Queen in New Zealand in the relation of a dependency to the
 Government of New South Wales. I am of course fully aware of the
 objections which may be reasonably urged against this measure; but
 after the most ample investigation I am convinced that for the
 present there is no other practicable course which would not be
 opposed by difficulties still more considerable, although I trust
 that the time is not distant when it may be proper to establish in
 New Zealand itself a local legislative authority.

 In New South Wales there is a Colonial Government possessing
 comparatively long experience, sustained by a large revenue, and
 constituted in such a manner as is best adapted to enable the
 legislative and executive authorities to act with promptitude and
 decision. It presents the opportunity of bringing the internal
 economy of the proposed new colony under the constant revision of a
 power sufficiently near to obtain early and accurate intelligence,
 and sufficiently remote to be removed from the influence of the
 passions and prejudices by which the first colonists must in the
 commencement of their enterprise be agitated. It is impossible to
 confide to an indiscriminate body of persons who have voluntarily
 settled themselves in the immediate vicinity of the numerous
 population of New Zealand those large and irresponsible powers which
 belong to the representative system of Colonial Government. Nor is
 that system adapted to a colony struggling with the first
 difficulties of their new situation. Whatever may be the ultimate
 form of government to which the British settlers in New Zealand are
 to be subject, it is essential to their own welfare, not less than
 that of the aborigines, that they should at first be placed under a
 rule which is at once effective and to a considerable degree
 external. The proposed connection with New South Wales will not,
 however, involve the extension to New Zealand of the character of a
 penal settlement. Every motive concurs in forbidding this, and it is
 to be understood as a fundamental principle of the new colony that no
 convict is ever to be sent thither to undergo his punishment.

 The accompanying correspondence with the Law Officers will explain to
 you the grounds of law on which it is to be concluded that by the
 annexation of New Zealand to New South Wales the powers vested by
 Parliament in the Governor and Legislative Council of the older
 settlement might be exercised over the inhabitants of the new colony.
 The accompanying Commission under the Great Seal will give effect to
 this arrangement, and the warrant which I enclose under Her Majesty's
 sign manual will constitute you Lieut.-Governor of that part of the
 New South Wales colony which has thus been extended over the New
 Zealand Islands. These instructions you will deliver to Sir George
 Gipps, who on your proceeding to New Zealand will place them in your
 hands to be published there. You will then return it to him to be
 deposited amongst the archives of the New South Wales Government.

 In the event of your death or absence the officer administering the
 Government of New South Wales will, provisionally, and until Her
 Majesty's pleasure can be known, appoint a Lieut.-Governor in your
 place, by an instrument under the public seal of his Government.

 It is not for the present proposed to appoint any subordinate
 officers for your assistance. That such appointments will be
 indispensable is not, indeed, to be doubted. But I am unwilling at
 first to advance beyond the strict limits of the necessity which
 alone induces the Ministers of the Crown to interfere at all on this
 subject. You will confer with Sir George Gipps as to the number and
 nature of the official appointments which would be made at the
 commencement of the undertaking and as to the proper rate of their
 emoluments. These must be fixed with the most anxious regard for
 frugality in the expenditure of public resources. The selection of
 the individuals by whom such offices are to be borne must be made by
 yourself from the colonists either of New South Wales or New Zealand,
 but upon the full and distinct understanding that their tenure of
 office, and even the existence of the offices which they are to hold
 must be provisional and dependent upon the future pleasure of the
 Crown. Amongst the offices thus to be created, the most evidently
 indispensable are those of a Judge, a Public Prosecutor, a Protector
 of the Aborigines, a Colonial Secretary, a Surveyor-General of Lands,
 and a Superintendent of Police. Of these, the Judge alone will
 require the enactment of a law to create and define his functions.
 The Act now pending in Parliament, for the revival, with amendments,
 of the New South Wales Act will, if passed into law, enable the
 Governor and Legislative Council to make all necessary provision for
 the establishment in New Zealand of a Court of Justice and a judicial
 system separate from and independent of the existing Supreme Court.
 The other functionaries I have mentioned can be appointed by the
 Governor in the unaided exercise of the delegated prerogative of the
 Crown. Whatever laws may be required for the Government of the new
 colony will be enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council. It
 will be his duty to bring under their notice such recommendations as
 you may see cause to convey to him on subjects of this nature. The
 absolute necessity of the revenue being raised to defray the expenses
 of the Government of the proposed settlement in New Zealand has not,
 of course, escaped my careful attention. Having consulted the Lords
 of the Treasury on this subject I have arranged with their Lordships
 that until the sources of such revenue shall have been set in action,
 you should be authorised to draw on the Government of New South Wales
 for your unavoidable expenditure. Separate accounts, however, will be
 kept of the public revenue of New Zealand and of the application of
 it and whatever debt may be contracted to New South Wales, must be
 replaced by the earliest possible opportunity. Duties of impost on
 tobacco, spirits, wine, and sugar will probably supersede the
 necessity of any other taxation, and such duties except on spirits
 will probably be of a very moderate amount.

 The system at present established in New South Wales regarding land
 will be applied to all the waste lands which may be kept by the Crown
 in New Zealand.

 Separate accounts must be kept of the Land revenue, subject to the
 necessary reductions for the expense of surveys and management, and
 for the improvement by roads and otherwise the unsold territory, and
 subject to any deductions which may be required to meet the
 indispensable exigencies of the local Government. The surplus of this
 revenue will be applicable, as in New South Wales, to the charge of
 removing emigrants from this kingdom to the new colony.

 The system established in New South Wales to provide for the
 religious instruction of the inhabitants has so fully justified the
 policy by which it was dictated that I could suggest no better means
 of providing for this all-important object in New Zealand. It is,
 however, gratifying to know that the spiritual wants of the settlers
 will, in the commencement of the undertaking, be readily and amply
 provided for by the Missionaries of the Established Church of England
 and of other Christian communions, who have been so long settled in
 those Islands. It will not be difficult to secure for the European
 inhabitants some portion of that time and attention which the
 Missionaries have hitherto devoted exclusively to the aborigines.

 I enclose, for your information and guidance, copies of a
 correspondence between this department and the Treasury, referring
 you to Sir George Gipps for additional instructions as may enable you
 to give full effect to the view of Her Majesty's Government on the
 subject of finance. You will observe that the general principle is
 that of maintaining in the proposed colony a system of revenue,
 expenditure, and account entirely separate from that of New South
 Wales, though corresponding with it as far as that correspondence can
 be maintained.

After briefly describing the rules to be observed by Captain Hobson in
conducting his correspondence with his immediate superior, Governor
Gipps, and the Colonial Office, Lord Normanby concluded his
instructions as follows:

 I have thus attempted to touch on all the topics on which it seems to
 me necessary to address you on your departure from this country. Many
 questions have been unavoidably passed over in silence, and others
 have been adverted to in a brief and cursory manner, because I am
 fully impressed with the conviction that in such an undertaking as
 that in which you are about to engage much must be left to your own
 discretion, and many questions must occur which no foresight could
 anticipate or properly resolve beforehand. Reposing the utmost
 confidence in your judgment, experience, and zeal for Her Majesty's
 service, and aware how powerful a coadjutor and how able a guide you
 will have in Sir George Gipps, I willingly leave for consultation
 between you many subjects on which I feel my own incompetency, at
 this distance from the scene of action, to form an opinion.[42]

The publication of this document brought down upon the head of the
Minister a storm of criticism from the committee of the New Zealand
Company, who attacked with especial bitterness that portion of the
instructions wherein Lord Normanby made it especially clear that
Britain claimed no right of sovereignty in or over New Zealand. In the
previous year, when the Company was promoting its Bill in the House of
Commons, and when the organisation was less mercenary in its nature,
the promoters had taken a modified view of this question of
sovereignty, and were prepared to concede something to the natives
which, as a Company, they were now eager to deny.

[Illustration: THE MISSION CHURCH AT KORORAREKA.

Where Captain Hobson read his Proclamations.]

This earlier attitude was admirably expressed by the Rev. Dr. Hinds,
who in discussing the matter before the Committee of the House of
Lords, boldly stated that he believed civilised people had a right--an
inherent right--over countries that have not been subject to
civilisation, whether those countries were uninhabited or partially
inhabited by savages who were never likely themselves to cultivate the
country. "Here," he said, "is a country considered to be populous for
a savage country. According to an estimate made by a respectable
Missionary of the C.M.S. the inhabitants of the Northern Island amount
to about 105,000. This Northern Island is probably about the size of
England, and this its population of 105,000 stated to be decreasing in
number without the least chance of their becoming cultivators or
sovereigns of the soil. I hold it not to be an infringement of any
natural rights to claim the sovereignty of the Island, and this is a
claim which until lately would never have been questioned. There has
been often a question as to the mode in which sovereign rights over
savage countries should be distributed among civilised people, but it
has been a question between one civilised country and another.
Formerly the Pope used to claim the disposal of sovereignty.
Subsequently it has been more conveniently settled by allowing the
priority of claim to the first discoverers--a course as convenient
probably as can be advised. Within the last few years, however, the
justice of this claim has been questioned, and it has been asserted
that savage as well as civilised men have sovereign rights. I do
not, myself, think they have; but it has been the wish of the
Association not to offend any scruples, and therefore they have
carefully in this Bill waived the question, and allowed the claim to a
sovereign right of some kind to exist in those savages. I say a
sovereign right of some kind, because it is clear in the instance just
mentioned, the giving the flag to the Bay of Islands, that the very
assumption on the part of Great Britain of a right to give that flag
supposes the New Zealanders not to be altogether a sovereign power.
Many probably who may be willing to cede to them the right of
sovereignty as far as concerns themselves would not go to such lengths
as to say that Great Britain should not cede the sovereignty as
regards any right which may be put in by other nations; and I do not
know on what principle we should draw a distinction, and say how much
or how little of this right of sovereignty we should claim. The French
have been attracted by the flax: suppose they were to say 'If you
relinquish your rights of sovereignty we will put in our claim, we
stand next,' or the Dutch may say so. I do not know which visited the
country first, but I cannot see on what principle we could interfere
with the French or Dutch unless we contend that we had some disposal
over the sovereignty of the Islands. The question, however, has been
waived in the Bill; we suppose the New Zealanders and not Great
Britain to be in possession of the right of sovereignty, and we
propose accordingly that a purchase should be made of the sovereignty
as well as the fee simple of the land. We have some precedents for
this. I do not know whether it is of consequence to bring forward
precedents, but even at a late period a purchase of this kind has been
made; Sir Stafford Canning took possession in 1815 of Singapore; it
was at that time in possession of the Malays, the subjects of the
Sultan of Jahore. In 1825 he found, I think, some inconvenience
arising from the Sultan's claims, and the English bought the Domain of
the Sultan for a sum of money, and so clear was the understanding
about it, that the Sultan made some reservations; some exceptional
laws, as they are called in this Bill, were made. There was a clause
that the Sultan's slaves should not be emancipated, and certain lands
were reserved and became entailed property and inalienable. When Penn
purchased Pennsylvania he no doubt understood he purchased the
sovereignty as well as the fee simple of the land, for I can conceive
no one mad enough to found a colony in the midst of barbarians without
securing the colonists against their interference as sovereigns.
Vattel certainly speaks of Penn's treaty as if he understood him to
have purchased the sovereign rights as well as the fee simple. These
are precedents which may not be considered as carrying any great
authority. The question has not been very much discussed; it has been
taken for granted, and I think with reason, that the savage is in a
state of pupilage, and must be treated as we treat children. The only
principle which it is important to maintain is this: If you go into a
country at all inhabited by savages and take possession of their land
and become sovereigns of it, you infringe their rights if you do not
consider their benefit as well as your own. If you were treating with
a child you would not infringe the rights of that child simply by
acting and deciding for him, but you would infringe his rights if you
acted and decided for your benefit and not his. So with respect to
savages; they are compared with civilised men, like children. They are
of themselves incapable of acquiring the arts and habits of civilised
life; unless some interference that amongst civilised men would be
considered unjust, takes place, they never can, by themselves, rise to
that higher condition. The injustice to be deprecated is that of
seeking our own benefit solely and not theirs; and with respect to the
New Zealanders our purchase of the sovereignty of their country ought
not to be represented as being the same kind of bargain as if the
French, for instance, were bargained with to cede the sovereignty over
any portion of their territory. When the French ceded their sovereign
rights over Martinique, Guadaloupe, and the Mauritius, they strictly
ceded all their sovereign rights; but in the present instance what is
meant by the cession of sovereignty amounts to this--that we purchase
the right to participate in the sovereignty with them; we do not wish
to exclude them, but pay them a price to partake in the sovereignty
with them. Of course, in the first instance, the civilised man will be
the only sovereign, but that is because he only will be fit and
capable of exercising sovereign rights. As the savage advances in
civilisation he will come in for his share; and I see no reason, as
soon as the New Zealander is capable of it, against his being Chief
Justice, Governor, or Bishop, or holding any other office. It is not
therefore that we take the sovereignty from him; we purchase the right
of participating with him in the sovereignty, and by so doing we
enable him to become Sovereign of the country, which he is not at
present."

In the meantime the Government had unmistakably demonstrated their
intention not to recognise the Company, and with all hope of political
patronage gone the Company saw no reason why they should spare the
Government. There was now in their opinion no possible room to doubt
that the sovereignty over New Zealand rested in Great Britain, and
that the Colonial Department was betraying a national trust in
conceding any rights to the natives, thereby opening the door to
foreign intervention. They first showered their protests against this
supposed surrender of a national asset upon the Colonial Office, but
when they discovered themselves ignored in this direction they turned
with renewed complaint to the Foreign Minister. "We are assured," they
wrote to him, on November 7, 1839, "that this question of the
sovereignty of New Zealand engages the attention of various commercial
bodies and a large portion of the public press in France; that the
sovereignty in England is denied; that the French Government is urged
either to join in that denial, by protesting against the colonisation
of the Islands by England, or to claim an equal right with England to
plant settlements there. We are not without fear that some such
protest or claim should be admitted by your Lordship's Department, as
it appears to have been admitted by the Colonial Department. It
appears that the agitation of this question in France has been
produced by the publication of a Minute of the British Treasury made
at the instance of the Colonial Department (July 19), and also of an
extract of certain instructions recently given by that Department to
Captain Hobson,--two documents by which the Crown of England seems to
repudiate the sovereignty of New Zealand. The apparent repudiation
consists of an acknowledgment of sovereignty in the native chiefs from
whom Captain Hobson is instructed to procure, if possible, a cession
to Her Majesty. It is this acknowledgment, according to all our
information, which has given occasion to the pretensions now urged in
France.[43] That which England, it is contended, instructs her officer
to procure, if possible, she admits she does not possess, and she
thereby admits the right of France either to obtain sovereign
jurisdiction in New Zealand, by the means which Captain Hobson is
instructed to employ, or if France should prefer that course, to
sustain the independent sovereignty of the natives. The argument
appears conclusive. It becomes very important, therefore, if it is of
great importance to England, to prevent the establishment of a French
power in the midst of the English colonies of Australasia that your
Lordship should be made aware of the acts of the British Crown which
lead to a conclusion directly at variance from that which may be drawn
from the said minute and instructions."

The Company's nominal[44] advocate on this occasion was their
Deputy-Governor, Mr. Somes, who apparently possessed a faculty for
stating strongly a weak case; and in the course of this letter to Lord
Palmerston he taxed his ability to show that the right of sovereignty
in New Zealand had vested in Britain since the discovery of the
Islands by Captain Cook; that it had been confirmed by numerous
diplomatic acts in all the years since then, and could not now be
abandoned on the mere whim of a Minister.

During the course of his trenchant review of the position Mr. Somes
declared that the sovereignty of England in New Zealand had been over
and over again asserted and exercised. Whether it could be
subsequently abandoned by such documents as the Treasury Minute and
instructions was a question in constitutional and international law on
which his Lordship was of course far more competent to judge than they
could pretend to be. But that there was recently a British sovereignty
either to maintain or to abandon the Company had no sort of doubt. He
pointed out that in the year 1769, Captain Cook, acting under a
commission from the Crown of England, took possession of the Islands
of New Zealand, in the name of His Majesty, George III. This act was
performed in the most formal manner, and was published to the world.
"We are not aware," he wrote, "that it was ever questioned by any
foreign power. It constituted sovereignty by possession. The Law of
Nations, we believe, recognises no other mode of assuming dominion in
a country, of which the inhabitants are so barbarous as to be ignorant
of the meaning of the word sovereignty, and therefore incapable of
ceding sovereign rights. This was the case with the New Zealanders,
from whom it would have been impossible for Captain Cook to have
obtained, except in mockery of truth, a British sovereignty by
cession. Sovereignty by possession is that which the British Crown
maintains in a large portion of its foreign dependencies. In this
year, 1787, a Royal Commission was granted to Captain Philip
appointing him in pursuance of the British sovereignty in
possession, which had previously been established by Captain Cook,
"Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the territory of
New South Wales and its dependencies." This territory was described in
the commission as "Extending from Cape York, latitude 11° 37´ south,
to the South Cape, latitude 43° 30´ south, and inland to the westward
as far as 135° east longitude, comprehending all the Islands adjacent
in the Pacific Ocean, within the latitudes of the above-named capes."
This is the Act by which the Crown first assumed the Government of
New South Wales and the other barbarous lands of which Captain Cook
had taken possession in the name of the King. The Islands of New
Zealand are as clearly within the prescribed limits as Norfolk Island,
Van Dieman's Land, or even New South Wales itself. On November 9,
1814, the Governor and Captain-General of New South Wales and its
dependencies, acting on the representation of the Crown, by public
proclamation, declared New Zealand to be a Dependency of his
Government, and by regular commission of _dedimus potestatem_
appointed Justices of the Peace to act there. Some of the Magistrates
so appointed were aboriginal natives of the country. It is plain that
they were treated as British subjects. In 1819 again Governor
Macquarrie appointed an English Magistrate in New Zealand. This
Justice of the Peace exercised the authority so bestowed on him by
apprehending offenders and sending them for trial to the seat of
Government. In 1823 a British Act of Parliament (4 George IV. cap. 96)
extended the jurisdiction of the Courts of New South Wales to New
Zealand by name, and also to other places in the Southern Pacific not
within the latitudes previously mentioned. Under this authority
several persons, we understand, have been tried in New South Wales for
offences committed in New Zealand, and we have been informed that
property in New Zealand, as well real as personal, has been made the
subject of the Bankruptcy law of New South Wales. The authority of the
British Crown was frequently enforced by means of ships of war, and
although it cannot be asserted that regular government was ever
established in New Zealand, far more than was essential to creating
British dependency seems to have been performed. The Islands thus
continued in a state of dependency until the year 1831, when a series
of proceedings commenced by which the sovereignty of Britain may
perhaps have been forfeited. An officer was appointed to reside at the
Bay of Islands. He presented to certain native chiefs, as from the
Crown of England, what was termed "a national flag." This might have
been considered a transfer to these chiefs of the British
sovereignty, if the Resident had not been 'accredited' to certain
officers of the Church Missionary Society, then settled at the Bay of
Islands. By the latter act the sovereignty of the Islands would almost
seem to have been transferred to these Missionaries. But in October
1835 this diplomatic agent assembled certain native chiefs residing in
the Northern part of the North Island, called them a "Confederation,"
and sanctioned a declaration of Native Independence, to which their
names were appended. This last act appears, by all accounts, to have
been a mere mockery of its ostensible purport. The tribes of New
Zealand are so entirely distinct, so utterly destitute of nationality,
as to have no name for the whole country which they inhabit. A
national name was invented for this occasion--the words _Na Terrene_
which express the native pronunciation of the English words "New
Zealand." The only parties besides to the so-called Declaration of
Independence were the chiefs of a few tribes then inhabiting a small
part of one of the Islands. These even, inasmuch as their language
contains no words to express nationality, sovereignty, or
independence, must have been unconscious instruments of the Resident,
or of the Missionaries, to whom that officer was accredited, as if
they (the Missionaries) had been the sovereigns of New Zealand. If
indeed the sovereignty was delegated to the Missionaries they could,
being British subjects, have held it as trustees for the Crown. If the
sovereignty of the natives was then acknowledged it extended only to a
small part of one Island inhabited by the parties to the Declaration.
And in either case this mockery of an independent sovereign
nationality has been set at naught by the power in whose name it took
place, inasmuch as the jurisdiction of British law, and the armed
authority of British warships have been exercised since in the same
way as before the Bay of Islands' Declaration of Independence.

"I beg leave," continued Mr. Somes, "to assure your Lordship in the
name of my colleagues that we intrude on you with the greatest
reluctance. But we have felt that it was incumbent on us especially
during the recess of Parliament to convey to your Lordship the
information that we have received as to the state of feeling in France
on this subject, so that if unhappily the British sovereignty of New
Zealand were lost it should be through no fault of ours. We fear that
the measures recently adopted by the Colonial Department may, unless
promptly remedied, lead to very disastrous results. We are deeply
concerned for the fate of a large and most respectable body of our
countrymen, who have emigrated under our auspices. Connected as
several of us are with the commercial and shipping interests of the
country, and knowing therefore how much importance they attach to the
British possession of New Zealand, as they have frequently stated in
memorials to the Treasury and Board of Trade, we have felt that it was
a duty to express to your Lordship the apprehensions which we
entertain. We have been told that a French frigate recently sailed for
the South Seas with sealed orders, and some of the French newspapers
report, with expressions of satisfaction, that the Government of the
United States of America has appointed a Consul in New Zealand, to be
accredited to 'the Confederation of chiefs,' and has sent him to his
destination in a man-of-war, which is to remain under his orders.
These statements may be untrue, or only premature, but in either case
Captain Hobson's instructions which attach two conditions, either or
both of which may be unattainable, to the exercise of any authority by
him in New Zealand, namely possession of the land by British subjects,
and cession by the natives of the sovereignty over such land, are
calculated to invite foreign pretensions which otherwise would never
have been imagined."

This protest was taken most philosophically by Lord Palmerston, who
merely passed it on to Lord John Russell, who had now succeeded Lord
Normanby at the Colonial Office. Lord John treated it even more
philosophically, for it was not for several months (March 11, 1840)
that he deigned to reply, and then only after he had been reminded of
the omission by the Foreign Office. In the meantime all need of
further argument had been obviated by the success of Captain Hobson's
mission, and so the Colonial Secretary wasted no words in rhetoric,
but forwarded to his colleague a memorandum couched in concise
official terms, setting out in sequence the events which in the light
of International law would be used as evidence against any claim to
British sovereignty, and which contained all the information it
appeared necessary to afford in answer to the communication from Mr.
Somes.

It is easy to understand the indignation of the Company on learning of
the Minister's repudiation of British sovereignty in New Zealand,
because it sapped the very foundations of their scheme, seeing that it
was illegal for British subjects to establish colonies outside the
limits of the Empire without the sanction of the Crown. They had
always presupposed the existence of a British sovereignty over New
Zealand and upon that supposition all their calculations had been
built. Now the basis of their building had gone, they adroitly
pretended that what grieved them was not so much their loss as that
the repudiation of British authority was a national calamity, and that
what was the neglect of Britain became the opportunity of France.

The position taken up by the Government was, however, perfectly sound,
and was the only logical one they could occupy. Whether previous
Governments had acted wisely and well in declining to embrace the
opportunity to colonise which Cook's discovery had opened to them, may
be a debatable question, but the fact at this date was that the golden
opportunity had passed, and that by subsequent diplomatic acts,
deliberately taken, the independence of the Maori people had been
clearly and emphatically acknowledged. "The answers," wrote Lord John
Russell to Lord Palmerston, "which would be made by foreign nations to
such a claim as that put forward by Mr. Somes are two. First that the
British Statute Book has, in the present century, in three distinct
enactments, declared that New Zealand is not a part of the British
Dominions, and secondly that King William IV. made the most public,
solemn, and authentic declaration which it was possible to make that
New Zealand was a substantive and independent state. The resolution by
the King, Lords, and Commons of Great Britain of the fact that New
Zealand is not a part of the British Dominions will be found in the
Statutes 57 George III. cap. 53, 4 George IV. cap. 96, sec. 3, and
9 George IV. cap. 83, sec. 4."

The Act of 57 George III. cap. 53 is entitled "An Act for the more
effectual punishment of murders and manslaughters committed in places
not within His Majesty's dominions." It sets forth--"Whereas grievous
murders and manslaughters have been committed at the settlement of the
Bay of Honduras in South America, etc.," "and the like offences have
also been committed in the South Pacific Ocean, as well on the high
seas as on land, in the Islands of New Zealand and Otaheite, and in
other Islands, countries, and places not within His Majesty's
dominions, by the Masters and crews of British ships, and other
persons who have for the most part deserted from or left their ships,
and have continued to live and reside amongst the inhabitants of those
Islands, etc.," and the Act then provides for the punishment of
offences so committed "in the said Islands of New Zealand and
Otaheite, or within any other Islands, countries, or places, not
within His Majesty's dominions, nor subject to any other European
State or power," etc.

The Statute 4 George IV. cap. 96, sec. 3 enacts that the Supreme
Courts in the colonies of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land may
try offences "committed in the islands of New Zealand, Otaheite, or
any other Island, country, or place, situate in the Indian or Pacific
Oceans, and not subject to His Majesty or to any European State," if
such offences were committed by British subjects.

The Statute 9 George IV. cap. 83, sec. 4 repeats that enactment in the
same words, adding only that the punishment of the offence shall be
the same as if the crime had been committed in England.

The recognition by King William IV. of New Zealand as a substantive
and independent state is shown in the following narrative:

"On November 16 a letter to King William IV. from thirteen of the
chiefs of New Zealand was transmitted to Lord Goderich, praying the
protection of the British Crown against the neighbouring tribes and
against British subjects residing in the Islands. On June 14, 1832,
Lord Ripon despatched Mr. Busby as British Resident, partly to protect
British Commerce, and partly to repress the outrages of British
subjects on the natives. His Lordship sent with Mr. Busby a letter to
the chiefs, in which the King was made to address them as an
independent people. Their support was requested for Mr. Busby, and
they were reminded of the benefits which they would derive from 'the
friendship and alliance with Great Britain.'

"In the month of June 1832 a Bill was brought into the House of
Commons for the prevention of crimes committed by His Majesty's
subjects 'in New Zealand, and in other Islands in the Pacific not
being within His Majesty's dominions.' The Bill was rejected because
Parliament could not lawfully legislate for a foreign country.

"On April 13, 1833, the Governor of New South Wales, in obedience to
Lord Ripon's (formerly Lord Goderich) orders, addressed instructions
to Mr. Busby, in which New Zealand was expressly mentioned as a
foreign country, and Mr. Busby himself as being accredited to the
chiefs. That document throughout assumes the independence of New
Zealand.

"On April 29, 1834, General Bourke transmitted to Lord Stanley a
proposal from Mr. Busby for establishing a national flag for the
tribes of New Zealand, 'in their collective capacity,' and advised
that ships built in the Island and registered by the chiefs should
have their registers respected in their intercourse with British
possessions. Sir R. Bourke reported that he had sent three patterns of
flags, one of which had been selected by the chiefs; that the chiefs
had accordingly assembled with the commanders of the British and three
American ships, to witness the inauguration of the flag, at which the
officers of H.M.S. _Alligator_ were also present. The flag had been
declared to be 'the national flag' of New Zealand, and being hoisted,
was saluted with twenty-one guns by the _Alligator_, a British
ship-of-war.

"On November 21, 1834, a despatch was addressed to Sir Richard Bourke
by Lord Aberdeen, approving of all these proceedings in the name of
the King, and sending a copy of a letter from the Admiralty, stating
that they had instructed their officers to give effect to the New
Zealand Registers, and to acknowledge and respect the national flag of
New Zealand.

"If these solemn Acts[45] of Parliament, and of the King of Great
Britain, are not enough to show that the pretension made on behalf of
Her Majesty by this Company is unfounded, it might still further be
repelled by a minute narrative of all the relations between New
Zealand and the adjacent British colonies. It is presumed, however,
that after the preceding statement it would be superfluous to
accumulate arguments of that nature and the rather because they could
not be intelligibly stated without entering into long and tedious
details."

While this discussion was proceeding in England, Captain Hobson was
happily on his way to Sydney, with his instructions rendered still
more explicit[46] by further explanation from Lord Normanby, thus
eliminating, as far as human forethought could provide, the
possibility of misunderstanding as to the extent of his authority, or
to the sincerity of the broad humanitarian principles which were to
govern his conduct towards the natives.

Reaching Sydney late in December 1839[47] he immediately reported
himself to Sir George Gipps, who entered into the spirit of the
enterprise with his characteristic enthusiasm for the service of the
Empire. During their official negotiations the final arrangements were
completed agreeably to the intentions of the Colonial Secretary.
Captain Hobson was placed in the possession of the Proclamation under
the Great Seal, by which the Government of New South Wales was
extended to any territory which might be acquired as the result of
Hobson's mission "in those Islands commonly called New Zealand."
Simultaneously he was presented with his own Commission as
Lieutenant-Governor of any such territory, and with the proclamations
he was to issue in New Zealand, as circumstances rendered necessary or
advisable. He was also placed in possession of further instructions
from Sir George Gipps, who laid special stress upon the financial
relations existing between the two colonies. "My responsibility for
the due expenditure of the public money of this colony," he said, "is
one of which I cannot divest myself, and where responsibility is there
also must be control. The extent to which establishments are to be
erected in New Zealand, the salaries to be paid to public officers,
and the expenditure of public money on public works, must for the
present be fixed by myself on estimates and reports or proposals to be
forwarded by you." Close enquiry was also made into the legal question
which Captain Hobson had raised with Lord Normanby when seeking fuller
information regarding his powers of administration. Hobson desired the
power to appoint and suspend Magistrates; to pardon offences and remit
sentences, and to exercise original control, which the insular position
of New Zealand seemed to demand, but which was seldom conferred upon
those holding the subordinate office of Lieutenant-Governor. To this
request Lord Normanby had replied that all the powers necessary for
the proper conduct of his office would be conferred upon him by acts
of the Governor and Legislature of New South Wales. Hobson was
unconvinced, but deferentially refrained from pitting his lay opinion
against that which he naturally assumed was based upon the wider
knowledge possessed by the Department. Sir George Gipps had no such
reservations, and at once declared his inability to delegate to
another powers which had only been delegated to him.

In communicating his final instructions to the Lieutenant-Governor,
Gipps wrote: "With respect to certain powers or prerogations of the
Crown, with which Governors of colonies are usually entrusted, it is
necessary for me to point out to you that though I am myself
authorised by Her Majesty to exercise them in her name, and on her
behalf, I have no power to delegate the exercise of them to another.
From this, which is an inherent maxim in law, it will, I believe
follow:

"(1) That you will not have power to pardon offences, or to remit
sentences pronounced on offenders in due course of law, though you may
stay the execution of the law.

"(2) That you will not be authorised to suspend officers holding
appointments direct from Her Majesty, though you may recommend to me
the suspension of them. With respect to persons holding appointments
from me you will have the power of suspension, and over such as hold
appointments from yourself a power of dismissal unless they may have
been previously recommended by you for confirmation in the service, in
which case your power will extend only to suspension.

"(3) You will not have power of appointing Magistrates, though of
course you will recommend to me such persons as you may think fit to
be appointed.

"(4) In the event of the enrolment of a militia, the same will hold
good respecting the appointment of officers."

A staff of officials for the due conduct of the civil business of the
country was also appointed,[48] even to a small force of policemen,
and with an almost prophetic punctiliousness for detail, a Commission
was prepared for his successor in the event of Hobson's death, so that
there might be no break in the continuity of official control.

With these preliminaries settled, Governor Gipps, on January 14,
issued three proclamations: (1) extending the boundaries of New South
Wales to New Zealand; (2) proclaiming Captain Hobson Lieutenant-Governor
of those Islands, and "calling upon all British subjects to the aiding
and assisting of the said William Hobson in the exercise of his said
duty"; (3) to put an end to the speculation in New Zealand lands then
being openly carried on in Sydney.

The _Herald_, a frigate of twenty guns, commanded by Captain
Nias, lay in Spring Cove, waiting to convey the Queen's representative
and his party to New Zealand.[49] At six o'clock on the evening of
Saturday the 18th the staff appointed to accompany the Consul joined
the vessel, and at a somewhat later hour Captain Hobson himself went
on board. Under the influence of a fine N.E. wind, a full moon shining
down upon the harbour, the _Herald_ left Port Jackson and headed
for the Bay of Islands. Fine weather was experienced in the Tasman Sea
and on Sunday the 26th, while a gentle breeze filled the sails and
soft zephyrs whispered through the cordage, Captain Nias conducted
Divine service on the gun deck, which was attended by the whole ship's
company, and "a more beautiful and impressive scene I never
witnessed," is the description of the ceremony given by Mr. Felton
Mathew, who was coming with Hobson as the Surveyor-General to the new
colony. At daylight on the following morning the Three Kings were
sighted, and shortly after the mainland came into view. Two days were
spent in beating up the coast, and again at daylight on the 29th, the
_Herald_ entered the Bay of Islands, drifting with the tide, there
being not a breath of wind. All the morning was spent in this tedious
process, and it was not till eleven o'clock that the anchor was cast
in front of the little town of Kororareka.[50] Across the Bay the
Union Jack was flying in front of Mr. Busby's residence, but what most
attracted the attention and excited the interest of those on board was
the French tricolour floating from a staff upon the hill-side above
the township. "What this may indicate," wrote Mr. Mathew in his diary,
"we have yet to learn--whether it is merely a French Missionary
establishment or whether a French frigate is at anchor in the Bay and
has anticipated us, we shall soon discover."

[40] Captain Hobson had acquired some distinction in the Navy by the
capture of a band of pirates in the Mediterranean, the personal
bravery displayed by him on that occasion being decidedly meritorious.
He was afterwards engaged with the sloop-of-war _Rattlesnake_,
and first attracted political notice by his report to the Government
on the state of Society in New Zealand. Major Bunbury, who had
considerable personal knowledge of him, describes him as an officer
who wrote a good despatch, was fluent of speech, and was not without
abilities, but had not the necessary grasp of thought to seize the
main point of a question--to separate the grain from the chaff. He was
very jealous of his authority and obstinate, particularly as disease
made encroachment on his frame and intellect. He was of social habits
and had the faculty of making private friends and also of creating
public enemies. Mrs. Hobson is described as "an interesting person."

[41] This Proclamation was not enclosed amongst the official
correspondence delivered to Captain Hobson upon his leaving England,
and the deficiency was supplied by one drafted by Sir George Gipps and
his Executive.

[42] _Vide_ his instructions to Captain Hobson, August 14, 1839.

[43] The _Journal de Havre_ was particularly active in discussing
New Zealand at this time.

[44] It is suggested that the real advocate was Edward Gibbon
Wakefield.

[45] These Acts were quoted as evidences of Britain's repudiation of
sovereignty in New Zealand, by M. Guizot, the French Foreign Minister,
during the debate on the sovereignty question in the Chamber of
Deputies on May 29, 1844.

[46] After perusing the original draft of his instructions, Captain
Hobson referred several matters therein back to the Minister for
further explanation, and on August 15, 1839, Lord Normanby replied in
a memorandum which amplified his intentions, but in no way changed
their spirit.

[47] On arrival at Sydney Captain Hobson was waited on by a deputation
of New Zealand landowners, who requested to know his views regarding
their lands. With his answers to their questions the deputation was in
general satisfied, as he encouraged them to occupy their lands and
proceed with their improvements. Subsequently an address of Welcome
was presented to him at Government House, and he appeared highly
flattered by the compliment paid him.

[48] "Captain Hobson is accompanied by several officers, selected for
their known incompetency by Sir George Gipps. What assistance he is to
expect from these persons I do not know, but they are evidently sent
to New Zealand because Sir George Gipps has no use for their services
here, and was consequently anxious to get rid of them." Dr. Martin's
_New Zealand Letters_.

[49] The ship _Westminster_ was also engaged to convey stores to
New Zealand so soon as word should be received of the success of
Captain Hobson's mission. The _Westminster_ reached the Bay of
Islands on March 17, 1840, bringing with her Mr. and Mrs. Burrows and
Mr. and Mrs. Matthew for the C.M.S. Mission.

[50] I am indebted to Mr. H. M. Stowell (Hare Hongi) for the following
note on the origin and meaning of _Kororareka_; the ancient name
of the town of Russell.

_Kororareka_ has several original native names:

1. _O-kiato_: _kiato_ means confined, of circumscribed area;
and this describes its situation exactly.

2. _Wai-taha-rua_: This means, two-sided water, or, the double
waterside. This also describes its situation for it has a fine
frontage to the Bay itself, and an arm of the Bay runs up to its
back-door (so to speak).

3. _Kororareka_: _Korora-reka_, means Sweet-penguin. This
has remained its favourite name, and it originated in the following
incident: An old high chief lay here dying. He expressed a wish to
taste a little of the penguin bird before dying. Now this bird is a
rarity in those waters. So many young men of the tribe went off in
their canoes and scoured the headlands, isles, and islets for miles
around the Bay. At length two young men were fortunate enough to
discover a penguin, a real _Korora_, or blue penguin, which they
managed to capture. They hastened back with their catch, and the bird
was feathered and cleaned and boiled in the ancient manner of boiling.
This was to place the bird in a deep wooden bowl, cover it well with
water, and keep that water boiling by dropping red-hot stones in it
from an oven by its side.

The bird being cooked in this way was served up to the old chief, but
being unable to chew or to eat any portion he begged for a little of
the water (soup) in which it had been boiled. This was brought to him,
and having been assisted to a partially seated position he drank some
of the "soup," after which he sank back on his pillow, murmured:
"_Ka reka te Korora_" and immediately expired. Now, _Ka reka te
Korora_, means: How _sweet_ is the Penguin.




CHAPTER IV

THE MAORI MAGNA CHARTA


So soon as the _Herald_ was come to anchor she was boarded by Mr.
Busby and three of the resident Missionaries, from whom Captain Hobson
learned that his apprehensions regarding French occupancy were
groundless, the tricolour on the hill indicating no more than the
whereabouts of Bishop Pompallier's church. One of the visitors who had
come thus early to pay his respects to the new Governor was Mr.
Colenso, with whom Captain Hobson entered into an arrangement for the
printing, at the press of the Church Missionary Society, of circular
letters inviting the chiefs to meet him at Mr. Busby's residence at
Waitangi on the following Wednesday, for the purpose of discussing the
proposals of the British Government; and to all the British residents
requesting their presence at the Mission church at Kororareka on the
following day, there to hear Her Majesty's Commission under the Great
Seal, extending the limits of the colony of New South Wales, and also
Her Majesty's Commission under the Royal signet and Sign manual,
appointing Captain Hobson as Lieutenant-Governor over such part of
that colony as might be acquired in Sovereignty in New Zealand. These
invitations were in circulation on the following morning, messengers
being despatched to inform the chiefs, while the European residents
perused the notice issued to them with marked interest and mixed
feelings. During the afternoon Captain Hobson, accompanied by Captain
Nias and his officers, landed on the Kororareka beach, and walking to
the church there read his Letters Patent in the presence of the
assembled people, forty of whom so far signified their approval of the
proceedings as to subscribe their names to the document. The
proclamations framed by Sir George Gipps and his Executive were also
read, the first announcing that Her Majesty's authority had been
asserted over British subjects in New Zealand; the second, which was
by no means so popular, acquainting the public of the fact that Her
Majesty did not deem it expedient to acknowledge as valid any titles
to land in New Zealand which were not derived from, or confirmed by, a
grant from the Crown.

These ceremonies concluded, the intervening days were spent in
completing arrangements for the fateful gathering on the 5th, not the
least arduous duty being the drafting of the treaty, upon the
acceptance or rejection of which everything would depend. The
exigencies of the position demanded that the greatest care should be
exercised in framing the terms of the document,[51] because while it
was desired that the proposal of the Crown should be stated with the
utmost frankness, the least looseness of expression might imperil the
whole project by raising ungrounded alarm in the minds of the natives.

To guard against this it was necessary that those concerned in the
preparation of the treaty should have not only a full knowledge of the
Crown's intentions, but also an intimate acquaintance with the
subtleties of the native character. This latter qualification neither
Captain Hobson nor the members of his staff possessed even in a remote
degree. To add to their difficulties, Captain Hobson began now to
experience the first symptoms of that illness which in less than three
years proved fatal to him. He became indisposed, and was unable to
leave the _Herald_. In the seclusion of his cabin, however, he devoted
himself to an effort to reduce to concrete terms the obligations in
which the Crown was prepared to involve itself, and the reciprocating
advantages it would require from the natives. In this he achieved but
meagre success, and conscious of failure he despatched his chief
clerk, Mr. George Cooper, to Mr. Busby, giving him his rough notes
together with a request that the erstwhile Resident might favour him
with his opinion as to their suitability as the basis of the treaty.

Mr. Busby had no hesitation in saying that he regarded them as quite
unsuitable, but offered to prepare the draft treaty for Captain
Hobson's consideration, if such a service would be acceptable. To this
Mr. Cooper replied that nothing would afford His Excellency greater
pleasure, as he recognised that Mr. Busby's seven years of official
training and native experience had furnished him with many
qualifications for the task. The result was entirely satisfactory. The
draft prepared by Mr. Busby was adopted by Captain Hobson without
alteration beyond the transposition of certain paragraphs, which did
not in any degree affect the spirit or the sense of what has long been
regarded as the Maori Magna Charta.

A pleasant interlude was afforded by the presentation to Captain
Hobson of an Address of Welcome by forty-five of the settlers, in
which they expressed their gratification at his safe arrival, and at
the early prospect of the establishment of British law and authority
in the Islands, which had long been the desire nearest to their
hearts. They expressed equal gratification at the appointment of a
gentleman as Lieutenant-Governor so distinguished for courage,
firmness, justice, and humanity as Captain Hobson, presaging as it did
a bright era of prosperity for the colony. They expressed their
readiness to await with patience the unfolding of a scheme of
government in which the best interests of all were involved, and
promised not only to continue the service of loyal subjects of the
Queen, but to aid with their best exertions her representative in
establishing order, law, and security for life and property in what
they were pleased to designate "this improving and important colony."

As was becoming of him, Captain Hobson replied in most gracious
terms, which seemed to indicate the existence of a useful harmony
between the new Governor and the more decently-disposed settlers.

Not so the speculative element, who were deeply chagrined at the
unexpected turn affairs had taken. To these law-breakers the arrival
of Hobson meant the complete suspension of their future operations,
and what was equally distasteful, a revision of their past
transactions. Their hope, therefore, lay in preventing the
consummation of the official plan, and before the Lieutenant-Governor
had been at the Bay twelve hours, the lawless and the land-grabber
were busy poisoning the native mind against the Governor's proposal,
telling them with many dark insinuations and bitter taunts, that now
they were to be made _taurekareka_--the "slaves" of the Queen.

These mischievous suggestions naturally had a disquieting influence
upon the minds of many of the chiefs, who had not as yet gathered the
full purport of the impending change, and whose haughty spirit
rebelled against the prospect of any loss in tribal dignity.
Fortunately they were able to appeal with confidence to the
Missionaries, and to the credit of that body it must be said that they
were as loyal to their country as they had already proved themselves
faithful to their church. Mr. Henry Williams, the head of the Church
Missionary Society's group of Missionaries, than whom no man wielded
greater influence with the natives at this period, was not at the Bay
of Islands when the _Herald_ arrived. He had just returned to the
Waimate Mission station from the Manawatu, whither he had gone with
Tamihana Te Rauparaha, and Matene te Whiwhi, to install the Rev.
Octavius Hadfield in his West Coast charge. The hurried decision of
the Home Government to forestall the New Zealand Company had been as
unknown to him as it was to the other residents of New Zealand, and
the first intimation he had that the change he so much desired was
near fruition, was a letter from the Bishop of Australia informing him
of Captain Hobson's arrival in Sydney, and the rumoured report of his
mission. Bishop Broughton earnestly advised the Missionary to assist
Captain Hobson to the end that success might crown his efforts.[52]

Closely following upon this came a letter, dated January 30, 1840,
from Captain Hobson, inviting Mr. Williams to meet him at his earliest
convenience, and although it was late at night when the messenger
arrived, he made immediate preparations to comply with the request.
Leaving home early in the morning the energetic Missionary boarded the
_Herald_ that afternoon, and congratulated the newly-arrived
Governor upon his coming, which indeed was a pleasant surprise. He
assured him of the hearty support of the Missionaries in the purpose
of establishing Her Majesty's authority in the Islands, and of his own
personal aid to any extent that it might be of service to him.

Of this offer Captain Hobson availed himself a few days later, when at
4 P.M. on February 4 he brought to him the draft of the
treaty which had been prepared for submission to the chiefs at
Waitangi on the morrow, and asked that he might be good enough to
translate it into the native language. In this Mr. Williams had the
assistance of his son Edward, who was then regarded as the scholar
_par excellence_ in the Nga-Puhi dialect, the purest of all the
dialects of the Maori tongue.

The task of translation was necessarily a difficult one, it being
essential that there should be a complete avoidance of all expressions
of the English for which there was no equivalent in Maori, and yet
permitting no alterations which would destroy the original spirit and
tenor of the treaty. Upon its completion the work was revised by Mr.
Busby, who suggested the elimination of the word _huihuinga_ used
by the translators, and the substitution of _whakaminenga_ to
more adequately express the idea of the Maori Confederation of Chiefs.
With this exception the translation was adopted, and the excellence
of its rendering may be judged from the fact that though it has been
many times tried by the most accomplished of Maori scholars, the
translation has never been shaken, and stands to-day a perfect native
reflex of the European mind, conveying in all probability a clearer
view to the Maori of what the treaty meant than the English version
has done to the average _Pakeha_.

The scene chosen for the conference with the chiefs was the lawn in
front of Mr. Busby's house,[53] which stands upon a gently sloping
promontory directly opposite the old town of Kororareka. A large and
commodious building, with its French casements, cedar doors, and
old-fashioned fittings, it looks out across the Bay from the seclusion
of its plantation of imported trees. Down between the house and the
sea beach there runs a grassy slope, at the termination of which rises
a grove of the beautiful _Pohutukawa_, which had just shed their
blaze of Christmas bloom when Captain Hobson arrived.

To the right flow the tidal waters of the Waitangi River, whose falls
four miles beyond its mouth have given their name to the district.[54]
Upon the flat which fringes the river bank, the Maoris camped amongst
the cabbage palms, and the smoke of their fires might have been seen
curling upwards until it was lost in the mists of the morning air.
Still farther to the right, and across the river, under the
forest-clad hill, nestled the little Mission station of Paihia, where
Mr. Colenso was industriously producing copies of the New Testament
from his primitive printing-press. Away to the left, in Oihi Bay,
stands the cross marking the spot where the first Christian sermon was
preached to the Maoris by Samuel Marsden, on Christmas Day of 1814,
and between these two points where they had first received the spoken
and the written Word, the natives were now asked to decide a question
that very largely involved their political salvation.

The morning of the auspicious day (Wednesday, February 5) broke with
nature's approving smile upon it. The sun shining brightly in the
Heavens lit up the blue waters of the Bay, the slopes of the brown
hills, the shadows of the sombre forest in which the birds sang even
more blithely than was their wont. Many of the natives had arrived
during the previous day, and the face of the harbour was still alive
with canoes speeding from all directions to the place of meeting,
their crews keeping time with their paddles to the chant of the
excited _Kai tuki_[55] as he stood upon the centre thwart, urging
by word, song, and gesture, a more vigorous bending of broad backs and
straining of tawny arms in the hope of outstripping his opponents in
the race to Waitangi.

On shore a large marquee had been erected upon the grassy lawn in
front of Mr. Busby's residence, towards which the bunting of the
_Herald_ had been liberally applied, the Union Jack waving gaily
over the whole scene until the official proceedings were begun, when
it was lowered as an indication that sovereignty had not yet been
ceded to the Queen. The ships in the harbour had likewise marked the
occasion by displaying all their bright flags and in the brilliant
sunlight the scene was one of picturesque animation, not the least
interesting feature being the blue-shirted settlers--British and
American[56]--promenading on the lawn. As a counterpoise to these
there were the groups of natives squatting on the ground, each tribe
discussing with ample gesticulation and volubility the treaty from
their own immediate point of view. "Beyond the grounds," writes Dr.
Bright, "refreshment was vended to the Europeans and many a cork
(adopting a poetic phrase) escaped its glassy confines, to let out,
not a lake, but Dunbar's foaming stout, or Hodge's paler streams. Nor
were more patrician fluids wanting; nor yet ardent cognac; nor the
clear burning fluid of St. Giles' dames; nor the spirit of storms,
rum, which sailors gulp, ingulphing a torrid zone within no temperate
one--all waters of fire to the sober Maori, and which they might be
taught are waters that the Devil navigates to reach the island of the
soul. Nor was there wanting solid aliment--pork, salt and fresh, in
various forms of hams, cold roast, pork pies, and baskets of bread and
biscuit all to be transmuted into money. Troops of natives came from
all directions to the _korero_ with the _rangatira nui_, or great
gentleman from England. You might inspect a group of brown skins and
then a group of white skins, and with but little puzzling discern the
same stage-stock of feelings common to both. The Europeans were very
numerous but the natives were more so, many who came from a distance
carrying guns. What, thought I, if these savages refuse to accede to
the treaty, is to hinder them from driving us into the sea, or into
their ovens? What greater proof of their sovereignty than their
willingness to yield it up to us?"

At 9 o'clock the Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by Captain Nias,
landed at Waitangi, and they were shortly afterwards followed by the
officers of the ship, Lieutenant Shortland and the members of the
civil staff, and by the Missionaries who were resident in and about
the Bay of Islands.

During this time Captain Hobson, Mr. Busby, and Mr. Henry Williams,
were engaged in a final discussion upon the treaty and its
translation. At 10.30 Bishop Pompallier, the newly-appointed Roman
Catholic Bishop of Oceania, dressed in full canonicals[57] and
accompanied by one of his priests[58] arrived from Kororareka, and
without displaying any hesitation, walked straight to Mr. Busby's
house, and entered the room in which the Lieutenant-Governor and his
associates were in close conference. The Bishop's manner was so full
of confident assurance that the two constables[59] standing on guard
at the door were so completely taken by surprise that they failed to
challenge the cleric's right to enter. The incident was equally
startling in its dramatic suddenness to all the astonished onlookers,
and it made a considerable impression upon the natives. In their eyes
the pomp and circumstance implied by the ecclesiastical dress meant
much, while the air of superior authority with which the proceeding
had been carried out conveyed the suggestion to them that this man
must indeed be a _rangatira_.[60]

A buzz of comment arose, the natives whispering amongst themselves,
"_Ko ia anote tino rangatira! Ko Pikopo[61] anake te hoa mo te
Kawana._" "This surely is the chief gentleman. The Bishop only is
the companion for the Governor."

The importance of these comments were not lost upon the Church
Missionaries, who were deferentially standing outside, and a hurried
conference resulted in their deciding to be on equal terms with the
Bishop. They accordingly moved towards the house, and had just reached
the verandah when an announcement was made that the Lieutenant-Governor
intended to hold a levee in order that all who had not already been
introduced to him, and desired to have that privilege, might do so by
entering at one door and passing out at another. While the
introductions were proceeding Bishop Pompallier remained in the room,
and as the Missionaries were unable to take their position with him
owing to the crush in the narrow passage, they made a virtue of
necessity and coldly declined to participate in the ceremony.

The levee over, and it was not a lengthy proceeding, Captain Nias and
Mr. Busby, preceded by the representatives of the police, came out of
the house followed by the Lieutenant-Governor, and in this order the
procession was moving towards the tent when the Bishop and his
associate stepped briskly forward and took their positions immediately
behind Captain Hobson, thus giving the Protestant Missionaries no
option but to follow in his wake. "Brethren," said Mr. Colenso, "this
won't do. We must never consent to this position."

"No," replied the Rev. Richard Taylor, "I will never consent to follow
Rome," and so saying he and his brethren quietly withdrew from the
procession and made their way unofficially towards the marquee.

A raised platform had been erected at the end of the marquee, and on
this the Lieutenant-Governor and Captain Nias took their seats. Bishop
Pompallier and his priest were shown to chairs on the left, and Mr.
Henry Williams was directed to a chair on the Governor's right. The
other missionaries, Messrs. King, Kemp, Baker, Clarke, and Colenso[62]
were modestly standing behind this group when Lieutenant Shortland,
who was acting as Secretary to the Governor and as Master of
Ceremonies, plucked Mr. Colenso by the sleeve of his coat and said,
"Go over to that end and support your cloth," an intimation which,
according to Mr. Colenso, they lost no time in attending to, ranging
themselves as best they could behind Mr. Williams.

Meanwhile the crowd had been accumulating, and were rapidly finding
positions of vantage within the tent. "The scene," says an
eye-witness,[63] "was very interesting and impressive. In the centre
of the narrow raised platform were the Governor and Captain of the
man-of-war in full uniform, on the Governor's left were Mr. Busby and
the Roman Catholic Bishop in canonicals, his massive gold chain and
crucifix glistening on his dark purple-coloured habit. On the right of
His Excellency were the members of the Church of England Mission, in
plain black dresses. The different officers of the _Herald_
together with His Excellency's suite stationed themselves as best they
could--some here and there on the platform, and some immediately
before it. In front of the platform, in the foreground, were the
principal native chiefs of several tribes, some clothed with dog-skin
mats made of alternate longitudinal stripes of black and white hair.
Others were habited in splendid-looking new woollen cloaks[64] of
crimson, blue, brown, and plaid, and indeed of every shade of striking
colour such as I had never before seen in New Zealand, while some were
dressed in plain European, and some in common native dresses. Near by,
in the midst, stood Hakitara, a tall native of the Rarawa tribe,
dressed in a very large and handsome silky white _Kaitaka_ mat--a
garment of the finest and best kind, and only worn by superior
chiefs--fringed with a deep and dark coloured woven border of a
lozenge and zigzag pattern, the whole of native and national design
and manufacture. The sunlight streaming down from an aperture in the
top of the tent on this beautiful white dress, admired by natives and
Europeans alike, threw the figure of this chief into very prominent
and conspicuous relief, forming a fine contrast to the deep and dark
shades of colour around; whilst here and there a _hani_ or
_taiaha_[65] was seen erected adorned with the long flowing white hair
of the tails of the New Zealand dog, and crimson cloth and red
feathers. In the distance the raven black and glossy locks of the
natives, gracefully ornamented with the snow-white and drooping
feathers of sea-birds, and of the white crane, forming a striking
contrast, added much to the _tout ensemble_. Around the sides of the
tent were the whites, residents, and settlers, by far the greater part
being very respectably dressed; and outside of them, against the walls
of the tent were flags of different nations, which from the brightness
of their colours, gave a charming air of liveliness to the whole, the
table being covered by the vivid colours of the Union Jack."

As Captain Hobson rose from his seat the hum of human voices which
filled the tent suddenly ceased. Animated conversation gave way to an
air of silent expectancy as the Queen's representative began to speak
in slow and measured tones. His speech had been carefully prepared,
and for the purposes of greater accuracy he relied upon extensive
notes.

[Illustration: MR. BUSBY'S RESIDENCE.

Where the Treaty was signed.]

"Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland," he said,
"wishing to do good to the chiefs and people of New Zealand, and for
the welfare of her subjects living amongst you, has sent me to this
place as Governor. But as the law of England gives no civil powers to
Her Majesty out of her dominions, her efforts to do you good will be
futile unless you consent. Her Majesty has commanded me to explain
these matters to you, that you may understand them. The people of
Great Britain are, thank God! free, and so long as they do not
transgress the laws, they can go where they please, and their
sovereign has no power to restrain them. You have sold them lands here
and encouraged them to come here. Her Majesty, always ready to protect
her subjects is also always ready to restrain them. Her Majesty the
Queen asks you to sign this treaty, and to give her that power which
shall enable her to restrain them. I ask you for this publicly: I do
not go from one chief to another. I will give you time to consider the
proposal I shall now offer you. What I wish you to do is expressly for
your own good, as you will soon see by the treaty. You yourselves have
often asked the King of England to extend his protection unto you. Her
Majesty now offers you that protection in this treaty. I think it is
not necessary to say any more about it. I will therefore read the
treaty."[66]

In a clear voice His Excellency then read the treaty in English for
the benefit of the European settlers, the terms of the document being
as follows:

 TREATY OF WAITANGI

 HER MAJESTY VICTORIA, Queen of the United Kingdom, of Great
 Britain and Ireland regarding with her Royal favour the Native chiefs
 and tribes in New Zealand, and anxious to protect their just rights
 and property, and to secure to them the enjoyment of peace and good
 order, has deemed it necessary in consequence of the great number of
 Her Majesty's subjects who have already settled in New Zealand, and
 the rapid extension of emigration both from Europe and Australia
 which is still in progress, to constitute and appoint a functionary
 properly authorised to treat with the aborigines of New Zealand for
 the recognition of Her Majesty's sovereign authority over the whole
 or any part of those Islands. Her Majesty, therefore, being desirous
 to establish a settled form of Civil Government with a view to avert
 the evil consequences which must result from the absence of the
 necessary laws and institutions, alike to the native population and
 to her subjects, has been graciously pleased to empower and authorise
 me, William Hobson, a Captain in Her Majesty's Royal Navy, Consul and
 Lieutenant-Governor of such parts of New Zealand as may be or
 hereafter shall be ceded to Her Majesty, to invite the confederate
 and independent chiefs of New Zealand to concur in the following
 articles and conditions:

 _Article the First_

 The chiefs of the Confederation of the United tribes of New Zealand,
 and the separate and independent chiefs who have not become members
 of the Confederation, cede to Her Majesty the Queen of England,
 absolutely and without reservation, all the rights and powers of
 sovereignty which the said confederation or individual chiefs
 respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or
 possess over their respective territories as the sole Sovereigns
 thereof.

 _Article the Second_

 Her Majesty, the Queen of England, confirms and guarantees to the
 chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, and to the respective families and
 individuals thereof the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession
 of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties
 which they may collectively or individually possess, so long as it is
 their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession; but the
 chiefs of the United tribes and the individual chiefs yield to Her
 Majesty the exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as the
 proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate, at such prices as
 may be agreed upon between the respective proprietors and persons
 appointed by Her Majesty to treat with them in that behalf.

 _Article the Third_

 In consideration thereof Her Majesty, the Queen of England, extends
 to the natives of New Zealand her Royal protection, and imparts to
 them all the rights and privileges of British subjects.

 W. HOBSON,
 Lieutenant-Governor.

 Now, therefore, we the chiefs of the Confederation of the United
 tribes of New Zealand, being assembled in congress at Victoria, in
 Waitangi, and we the separate and independent chiefs of New Zealand,
 claiming authority over the tribes and territories which are
 specified after our respective names, having been made fully to
 understand the provisions of the foregoing treaty, accept and enter
 into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof; in witness of
 which we have attached our signatures or marks at the places and the
 dates respectively specified.

When he had concluded, he turned to Mr. Henry Williams, and invited
him to read to the natives the translation which had been prepared in
the Maori language.

"In the midst of profound silence," Mr. Williams wrote in subsequent
years, "I read the treaty to all assembled. I told all to listen with
care; explaining clause by clause to the chiefs, giving them caution
not to be in a hurry, but telling them that we, the Missionaries,
fully approved of the treaty, that it was an act of love towards them,
on the part of the Queen, who desired to secure to them their
property, rights, and privileges. That this treaty was a fortress to
them against any foreign power which might desire to take possession
of their country, as the French had taken possession of Otiaiti."

 MAORI TRANSLATION OF THE TREATY OF WAITANGI
 AS PRINTED AT THE PRESS OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY, PAIHIA

 KO, WIKITORIA, te Kuini o Ingarani i tana mahara
 atawai ki nga Rangatira me nga Hapu, o Nu Tirani, i tana hiahia hoki
 kia tohungia ki a ratou o ratou rangatiratanga, me to ratou whenua, a
 kia mau tonu hoki te Rongo ki a ratou me te ata noho hoki kau wakaaro
 ia he mea tike kia tukua mai tetahi Rangatira hei kai wakarite ki nga
 tangata Maori o Nu Tirini. Kia wakaaetia e nga Rangatira Maori te
 Kawanatanga o te Kuini ki nga wahi katoa o te wenua hei me nga motu.
 Na te mea hoki he tokomaha ke nga tangata o tona iwi kua noho ki
 tenei wenua, a e mai nei.

 Na, ko te Kuini e hiahia ana kia wakaritea te Kawanatanga, kia kaua
 ai nga kino e puta mai ki te tangata Maori ki te pakeha e noho enoho
 ture kore ana.

 Na, kau pai te Kuini kia tukua a hau, a Wiremu Hopihona, he Kapitana
 i te Roiara Nawi, hei Kawana mo nga wahi katoa o Nu Tirini, e tukua
 aianei amua atu ki te Kuini e mea atu ana ia ki nga Rangatira o te
 Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu Tirini me era Rangatira atu enei ture ka
 korerotia nei.

 _Ko te tuatahi_

 Ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga, me nga Rangatira katoa hoki, kihai
 i uru ki taua Wakaminenga, ka tuku rawa atu ki te Kuini o Ingarani
 ake tonu atu te Kawanatanga katoa o ratou wenua.

 _Ko te tuarua_

 Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangatira, ki nga
 Hapu, ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirini, te tino Rangatiratanga o o
 ratou wenu o ratu kainga me o ratu taonga katoa. Otiia ko nga
 Rangatira o te Wakaminenga me nga Rangatira katoa atu, ka tuku ki te
 Kuini te hokonga o era wahi wenua e pai ai te tangata nona te wenua,
 ki te ritenga o te utu e wakaritea ai e ratou ko te kai hoko e meatia
 nei e te Kuini hei kai hoko mona.

 _Ko te tuatoru_

 Hei wakaritenga mai hoki mo te wakaaetanga ki te Kawanatanga o te
 Kuini. Ka tiakina e te Kuini o Ingarani nga tangata Maori katoa o Nu
 Tirani. Ka tukua ki a ratou nga tikanga katoa rite tahi ki ana mea ki
 nga tangata o Ingarani.

 WILLIAM HOBSON,
 Consul and Lieutenant-Governor.

 Na ko matou, ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu
 Tirani, ka huihui nei ki Waitangi. Ko matou hoki ko nga Rangatira o
 Nu Tirani, ka kite nei i te ritenga o enei kupa, ka tangohia, ka
 wakaaetia katoatia e matou. Koia ka tohungia ai o matou ingoa o matou
 tohu.

 Ka meatia tenei ki Waitangi, i te ono o nga ra o Pepuere, i te tau
 kotahi mano, ewaru rau, ewa tekau, o to tatou Ariki.

 A TRANSLATION OF THE TREATY OF WAITANGI
 INTO ENGLISH FROM THE ORIGINAL MAORI

 Here's Victoria, Queen of England, in her gracious remembrance
 towards the chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, and in her desire that
 the chieftainships and their lands should be secured to them and that
 obedience also should be held by them, and the peaceful state also;
 has considered it as a just thing, to send here some chief to be a
 person to arrange with the native men of New Zealand, that the
 Governorship of the Queen may be assented to by the native chiefs in
 all places of the land, and of the islands. Because too many together
 are the men of her tribe who have sat down in this land and are
 coming hither.

 Now it is the Queen who desires that the Governorship may be arranged
 that evils may not come to the native men, to the white who dwells
 lawless. There! Now the Queen has been good that I should be sent,
 William Hobson, a Captain of the Royal Navy, a Governor for all the
 places in New Zealand that are yielded now or hereafter to the Queen.
 She says to the Chiefs of the Assemblage (Confederation) of the
 tribes of New Zealand, and other chiefs besides, these laws which
 shall be spoken now.

 Here's the first: Here's the chief of the Assemblage, and all the
 chiefs also who have not joined the Assemblage mentioned, cede to the
 utmost to the Queen of England for ever continually to the utmost the
 whole Governorship of their lands.

 Here's the second: Here's the Queen of England arranges and confirms
 to the chiefs, to all the men of New Zealand the entire chieftainship
 of their lands, their villages, and all their property.

 But here's the chiefs of the Assemblage, and all the chiefs besides,
 yield to the Queen the buying of those places of land where the man
 whose land it is shall be good to the arrangement of the payment
 which the buyer shall arrange to them, who is told by the Queen to
 buy for her.

 Here's the third: This, too, is an arrangement in return for the
 assent of the Governorship of the Queen. The Queen of England will
 protect all the native men of New Zealand. She yields to them all the
 rights, one and the same as her doings to the men of England.

 Now here's we: Here's the chiefs of the Assemblage of the tribes of
 New Zealand who are congregated at Waitangi. Here's we too. Here's
 the chiefs of New Zealand, who see the meaning of these words, we
 accept, we entirely agree to all. Truly we do mark our names and
 marks.

 This is done at Waitangi on the six of the days of February, in the
 year one thousand eight hundred and four tens of our Lord.

The whole subject was now before the meeting for discussion, and the
chiefs were invited to express their views upon it, or to make any
enquiries upon points that were still obscure. There being some little
hesitancy displayed Mr. Busby rose and, addressing the natives,
assured them that the Governor had not come to deprive them of their
lands, but rather to secure them in possession of what they had not
already sold. He reminded them that he had frequently given them his
word that land not properly acquired from them would not be recognised
as the property of the person claiming it, but would be returned to
the natives, to whom it rightly belonged. He was proceeding to say
that this promise the Governor would of a certainty be prepared to
carry out, when suddenly he was interrupted by Te Kemara, a chief of
the Ngatikawa tribe, who, springing from his place in front of the
platform exclaimed:

"Health to thee, O Governor. This is mine to thee, O Governor. I am
not pleased towards thee. I will not consent to thy remaining here in
this country. If thou stayest as Governor then perhaps Te Kemara will
be judged and condemned. Yes, indeed, and more than that--even hung by
the neck. No, no, no, I shall never say 'Yes' to your staying. Were
all to be on an equality, then perhaps Te Kemara would say, 'Yes.' But
for the Governor to be up and Te Kemara down--Governor high up, up
up, and Te Kemara down low, small, a worm, a crawler. No, no, no. O
Governor! this is mine to thee, O Governor! my land is gone, gone, all
gone. The inheritances of my ancestors, fathers, relatives, all gone,
stolen, gone with the Missionaries. Yes, they have it all, all, all.
That man there, the Busby, and that man there, the Williams, they have
my land. The land on which we are now standing this day is mine. This
land, even this under my feet, return this to me. O Governor! return
me my lands. Say to Williams 'Return to Te Kemara his land.'" With
outstretched finger he ran and pointed to the Missionary, "Thou, thou,
thou, thou bald-headed man, thou hast got my lands. O Governor! I do
not wish thee to stay. You English are not kind to us like other
foreigners. You do not give us good things. I say go back, go back,
Governor, we do not want thee here in this country. And Te Kemara says
to thee, go back, leave to Busby and to Williams to arrange and to
settle matters for us natives as heretofore."

Te Kemara was a master in the art of Maori oratory, and he delivered
this speech with much simulated anger. Gesture and grimace were alike
extravagant even for a native; his eyes rolled in violent oscillations
and flashed with demoniacal fire, while his whole body trembled as
though convulsed by pent-up rage. He made a brave show of injured
innocence, especially when pleading for the return of his lands. And
yet it was not serious: it was mere theatrical display; for not long
afterwards he gave evidence before the Land Claims Commissioners, and
testified to the fair sale of his land. For the present, however,
Maori vanity was satisfied--Te Kemara had made a great speech.

The serious impression made by the hostile deliverance of the
Ngatikawa chief was somewhat dispelled by the diversion created when
Rewa, of Ngaitawake rose, and, addressing His Excellency in the best
English he could command said, "How d'ye do, Mr. Governor?" The sally
was so unexpected that it immediately created a roar of laughter, in
which all present joined. But Rewa soon became more earnest. He had
evidently no intention of being frivolous--"This is mine to thee, O
Governor!" he impressively said. "Go back. Let the Governor return to
his own country. Let my lands be returned to me which have been taken
by the Missionaries--by Davis and by Clarke and by who and who
besides. I have no lands now--only a name,[67] only a name. Foreigners
come, they know Mr. Rewa, but this is all I have left--a name! What do
native men want of a Governor? We are not whites or foreigners. This
country is ours, but the land is gone. Nevertheless we are the
Governor--we the chiefs of this our Fathers' land. I will not say
'Yes' to the Governor's remaining. No, no, no, return. What! this land
to become like Port Jackson and all other lands seen by the English.
No, no, return. I, Rewa, say to thee, O Governor, go back. Send the
man away. Do not sign the paper. If you do you will be reduced to the
condition of slaves, and be compelled to break stones on the roads.
Your land will be taken from you and your dignity as chiefs will be
destroyed."

The next speaker was Moka, a chief of the Patukeha tribe, from
Rawhiti, the burden of whose speech was also against the acceptance of
the treaty. "Let the Governor return to his own country. Let us remain
where we are. Let my lands be returned to me--all of them--those that
are gone with Baker. Do not say, 'The lands will be returned to you.'
Who will listen to thee, O Governor? Who will obey thee? Where is
Clendon? Where is Mair?[68] Gone to buy, buy our land, notwithstanding
the 'book'[69] of the Governor."

On this statement being interpreted to him Captain Hobson immediately
stopped the speaker, and in the most earnest manner assured the
gathering that lands unjustly held would be returned, and that after
the date of the Proclamation all land, however purchased, would be the
subject of enquiry, and no purchases would be lawful until sanctioned
by the Crown.

This scarcely sufficed to satisfy the sceptical Moka, who replied, as
he advanced close up to the platform, "That is good, O Governor! that
is straight. But stay, let me see. Yes, yes, indeed! Where is Baker?
Where is the fellow? Ah, there he is--there standing. Come, return to
me my lands?"

Here the orator paused, awaiting a reply. His injunction was addressed
to Mr. Baker in the most direct and personal way, so that it could not
be evaded. Moka stood leaning against the edge of the platform,
looking directly at the Missionary, upon whom all eyes were
immediately turned. There was profound silence and the suspense was
acute. Mr. Baker did not flinch but quietly replied, "_E hoki,
koia_"; in other words, "We shall see whether they will return."

This retort was comfortless to Moka, who exclaimed, "There, there,
that is as I said. No, no, no, all false, all false, alike. The lands
will not return to me."

He was in the midst of this lamentation when he was again interrupted.
A European came forward, and addressing His Excellency said that the
speeches of the natives were not being faithfully interpreted by Mr.
Williams, nor were His Excellency's remarks being fully reported to
the natives. He said the natives complained of being robbed, and by a
gesture indicated that Mr. Williams was the robber. This he followed
up by venturing to suggest that a Mr. Johnson, who was present, could
do the work with greater satisfaction to both parties. This was the
first open declaration of the general discontent which pervaded the
settlers, who were angry because of the Proclamation which had so
summarily put an end to their speculations, and which they felt was
playing them unfair. They had heard that a Charter had been granted
to a rich Company in England, while many of them who had worked long
in the land were being, as they thought, overreached by the
Government. But the honest settler was not more angry than the
land-jobbers, the gamblers of the south, who stood on the outskirts of
the crowd, "looking like smugglers foiled in a run, or a pack of
hounds lashed off their dying prey," and appeared as if they were
taking a vengeful pleasure in thwarting the wishes of authority. Many
viewed the proceedings with malignant eyes and smouldering mischief in
their hearts, remaining silent themselves, yet prompting others to
interrupt; hence these accusations of false interpretation, these
irrelevant observations about the Missionaries and Mr. Busby taking
advantage of their privileged positions to unfairly acquire land.

Captain Hobson, always willing to be affable, and desirous that
nothing should give rise to misunderstanding, begged Mr. Johnson, who
was a dealer in spirits at Kororareka, to come forward and do him the
favour of making everything clear to natives and Europeans alike.

Johnson, however, was not so confident of his attainments as a Maori
linguist as his friend was, and in reply to His Excellency's question
whether he fully understood the native language he replied, "Why, I
can't say I do, but I know how to speak to them, and know also what
they say when they speak to me, and----"

"Then pray tell me, Mr. Johnson, what has not been interpreted?" said
Captain Hobson.

To which the modest Johnson replied, "No, Sir, I beg to be excused.
The gentlemen of the Mission ought to be able to do it, and can do it
very well; only let Mr. Williams speak out loud so that we may
hear--that is, those of us in the back part of the tent, and let all
that the natives say be interpreted to the Governor. They say a great
deal about land and Missionaries which Mr. Williams does not translate
to you."[70]

This reflection both upon his capacity as a linguist and his integrity
as a man rather nettled the Missionary, who, having obtained the
permission of the Governor to vindicate himself, addressed the white
people in English, and with his customary directness came at once to
the point. He said there had been much talk about the Missionaries
owning land and farming and such like; but the Commissioners who were
about to sit would examine into the lands held by the Missionaries,
and their titles thereto, as strictly as into any other. It was his
special wish that this should be done, and he had so far given an
earnest of his desire in that direction that he had already applied to
His Excellency to have the Missionary lands made the first subject of
investigation. "People," he said, "should recollect that were it not
for the Missionaries they would not be here this day, nor be in
possession of a foot of land in New Zealand. If any one person has a
prior claim to land in this country that person must be the
Missionary, who has laboured for so many years in this land when
others were afraid to show their noses. I have a large family--a
family of eleven children--more probably than any one present, and
what are they to do when I am taken from them if they are not to have
some land? Much has been said about my land, but I believe that when
it is seen and known, and shared up between my children, no one will
say that I have been over the mark, but on the contrary under. All I
shall say at present is, I hope that all who hold land, obtained from
the natives, will be able to show as good and honest titles to the
same as the Missionaries can do to theirs."[71]

[Illustration: THE WAITANGI FALLS.]

Mr. Busby, who owned the whole of the Peninsula between the Waitangi
and Kerikeri Rivers, felt that he, too, was being drawn into the
vortex of the speculators by these accusations of native spoliation.
He accordingly deemed it due to himself that something should be said
in defence of his purchases, and so having obtained the permission of
Captain Hobson he rose, and, speaking in English, said with some
emphasis, "I deny that the term 'robbed' has been used by the chiefs
Te Kemara and Rewa with reference to my purchase of land, as indicated
by the white man who spoke, and coupled by him with Mr. Williams, by
gestures, though not plainly by words. I never bought any land but
what the natives pressed me to buy, for which I always paid them
liberally. Allusion has been made to my possessing large tracts of
land. I am happy to say I do hold some land; but I did not make any
extensive purchases until I was out of office, and then, on my finding
that, after having served the Government for fifteen years, not any
provision was made, nor was likely to be made for myself and family, I
purchased land. I only regret I had not done so at an earlier period,
and that to a larger extent. In all my purchases, also, I have
reconveyed to the natives both habitations and cultivations, by an
inalienable gift, according to the number of persons thereon."

Mr. Busby having delivered his protest against what he considered to
be the unwarranted aspersions of the white settler, whose name does
not appear to have been recorded, Tamati Pukututu, a chief of the Te
Uri-o-te-hawato tribe broke in upon the monotony of the opposition
with a speech in favour of the treaty.

"This is mine to thee, O Governor! Sit, Governor, sit, a Governor for
us--for me, for all, that our lands may remain with us; that these
'_piritoka_' and '_piriawaawa_,' these homeless wanderers
who sneak about, sticking to rocks, and to the side of the brooks and
gullies may not have it all. Sit, Governor, sit for me, for us. Remain
here a father for us. These chiefs say, 'Don't sit,' because they have
sold all their possessions and they are filled with foreign property,
and they have also no more to sell. But I say, what of that? Sit,
Governor, sit. You two stay here, you and Busby--you two, and they
also, the Missionaries."

In his advocacy of the Governor's cause Tamati was seconded by Matiu,
a chief of the Uri-o-ngongo tribe. "O Governor! sit, stay, remain, you
as one with the Missionaries, a Governor for us. Do not go back, but
sit here, a Governor, a father for us, that good may increase, may
become large to us. This is my word to thee. Do thou sit here, a
father for us."

"No, no, go back, go back," cried Kawiti, a turbulent Ngatihine. "What
dost thou want here? We native men do not wish thee to stay. We do not
want to be tied up and trodden down. We are free. Let the Missionaries
remain, but as for thee, return to thine own country. I will not say
'Yes' to thy sitting here. What! to be fired at in our boats and
canoes by night! What! to be fired at when quickly paddling our canoes
by night! I, even I, Kawiti, must not paddle this way nor paddle that
way because the Governor said 'No,' because of the Governor, his
soldiers, and his guns. No, no, no, go back, go back, there is no
place here for a Governor."

A chief of the Ngatiamake tribe named Wai, now rose and addressed some
pertinent enquiries to His Excellency.

"To thee, O Governor! this. Will you remedy the selling, the
exchanging, the cheating, the lying, the stealing of the whites? O
Governor! yesterday I was cursed by a white man. Is that straight? The
white man gives us natives a pound for a pig, but he gives a
_Pakeha_ four pounds for such a pig. Is that straight? The white
man gives us a shilling for a basket of potatoes, but to a
_Pakeha_ he gives four shillings for a basket like that one of
ours. Is that straight? No, no, they will not listen to thee, so go
back, go back. If they would listen and obey, ah yes, good that, but
have they ever listened to Busby? And will they listen to thee, a
stranger, a man of yesterday? Sit indeed! what for? Wilt thou make
dealing straight?"

At this point there was again some general dissatisfaction amongst the
Europeans who apparently were only able to hear imperfectly. A hawker,
a pedlar named Jones, from Kororareka, called out to His Excellency
that the whites could not follow the interpreter. A young man on the
opposite side of the tent confirmed his complaint, and the European
who had previously objected to Mr. Williams's methods once more became
prominent in support of his confrères. These dissatisfied individuals
maintained a running comment across the tent for some moments, which
resulted in the Governor again requisitioning the services of Mr.
Johnson, who came forward and interpreted the speech of Wai, but not
to the complete satisfaction of that dusky orator, who described the
Johnsonian effort as "great lies."

This resulted in the restoration of Mr. Williams, whose next subject
was Pumuka, a man of influence in the Roroa tribe who was favourable
to the treaty: "Stay, remain, Governor; remain for me" was his
message. "Hear all of you. I will have this man a foster-father for
me. Stay, sit, Governor. Listen to my words, O Governor! Do not go
away; remain. Sit, Governor, sit. I wish to have two fathers--thou and
Busby and the Missionaries."

"Yes, what else? Stay, sit if not what? Sit, if not how?" were the
opening queries of Warerahi, a chief of Ngaitawake, who was popularly
known as George King. "Is it not good to be at peace?" he asked. "We
will have this man as our Governor. What! turn him away! Say to this
man of the Queen, 'Go back?' No, no."[72]

The next speaker was to be Hakiro, who wanted room to deliver himself
as became a great chief, and whilst the reclining natives were being
moved back to make a clear space in which he could run from one end of
the platform to the other a chief from the Waikare, whose name has not
been recorded, rose and complained of the unjust dealings of the white
people, who had no sense of justice. For a very little thing--a
shilling--they wanted a pig as big as himself. What he wanted to know
was could the Governor make the _Pakeha_ give a payment as large as
the article he bought, but the speech was little noticed in the hustle
caused by the clearing of a passage for Hakiro.

Hakiro belonged to the Ngatirehia tribes, being the son of Tareha, but
on this occasion he essayed to speak for Titore,[73] though it is
highly questionable whether he reflected the sentiments to which that
chief would have given utterance had he been still with the living.
Titore was justly regarded as one of the noblest of the Nga-Puhi
chieftains, and his early death was generally mourned, not only as a
personal loss, but as a misfortune to the cause of national unity. Be
that as it may, his illustrious representative on this auspicious
occasion, swayed by other influences, elected to throw the weight of
his great name into the opposite scale to which he would almost
certainly have thrown it himself.

"To thee, O Governor! this. Who says sit? Who? Hear me, O Governor! I
say, no, no."

As he shouted these questions and answers he ran swiftly backwards and
forwards brandishing a _taiaha_ as he ran.

"Sit indeed! Who says sit? Go back, go back. Do not thou sit here.
What wilt thou sit here for? We are not thy people. We are free. We
will not have a Governor. Return, return, leave us. The Missionaries
and Busby are our fathers. We do not want thee, so go back, return,
depart."

Tareha, who followed, was easily one of the largest natives in the
North, and had been one of the most ferocious of cannibals.[74] He
seldom burdened himself with much clothing, and on this occasion, as
if to show how independent he was of such European luxuries, he
appeared with nothing more than a dirty piece of old matting fastened
round his waist. In the one hand he carried a canoe paddle, and in the
other a small bunch of fern-root, tied by a piece of string, for the
purpose of further demonstrating that he and his people still had the
food of their fathers to rely upon. Tareha never became a
Christian--dying as he lived, a heathen--but under the influence of
Hongi he had always shown considerable solicitude for the
Missionaries, whose interests he had invariably protected, both with
his personal and tribal power. His particular protégé at this time was
Bishop Pompallier, to whom, in common with Rewa, Moka, and Hakiro, he
lived near at Kororareka. Whether this association in any way affected
the views of Tareha and his associates is probably a matter best left
to individual opinion, but it has been observed as an interesting
coincidence that the natives who were in closest contact with the
Bishop were the most aggressively hostile to the treaty.

This fact had already been so much in evidence that when Tareha rose,
and in his deep sepulchral voice shouted, "No Governor for me--for us
native men," no one who was taking a keen interest in the proceedings
was very much surprised. With much of the gesticulation peculiar to
Maori oratory and a clever application of the arts involved in native
elocution, Tareha began to develop his pronouncement against the
Governor. "We, we only are the chiefs--the rulers. We will not be
ruled over. What! thou, a foreigner, up and I down! Thou high, and I,
Tareha, the great chief of the Nga-Puhi tribes low! No, no, never,
never. I am jealous of thee; I am, and shall be until thou and thy
ship go away. Go back, go back, thou shalt not stay here. No, no, I
will never say 'Yes.' Stay! Alas! what for? Why? What is there here
for thee? Our lands are already all gone. Yes, it is so, but our names
remain. Never mind, what of that--the lands of our fathers alienated!
Dost thou think we are poor, indigent, poverty-stricken--that we
really need thy foreign garments, thy food? Look at this!"

Here he dangled his bunch of fern-root in the air as proof that his
argument was not without foundation.

"See, this is my food, the food of my ancestors, the food of the
native people. Pshaw! Governor, to think of tempting men--us
natives--with baits of clothing and food! Yes, I say we are the
chiefs. If all were to be alike, all equal in rank with thee; but thou
the Governor up high--up, up, as this tall paddle[75] and I down,
under, beneath! No, no, no. I will never say 'Yes, stay.' Go back,
return, make haste away. Let me see you (all) go; thee and thy ship.
Go, go, return, return."

The speech of Tareha with its forceful opinions and dramatic delivery
had a marked and visible effect upon the native section of the
audience, so much so that Captain Hobson began to regard the result
with considerable trepidation. He expressed these fears to Mr.
Williams, who, knowing the delicacy of the situation, advised him not
to betray his anxiety, but at the close of the meeting to recommend
the treaty to their deliberate consideration, and to say that he would
give them three days in which to finally make up their minds upon it.

For this advice Captain Hobson thanked the Missionary, and then a more
favourable turn was given to the debate by a humorous sally from
Rawiri, a chief of Ngatitautahi, who, anxious to display his
smattering of newly acquired English, opened his speech with the
salutation, "Good morning, Mr. Governor, very good you." This was as
far as his linguistic accomplishments could carry him, and for the
remainder of his oration he relapsed into his native tongue, in which
he made an earnest appeal for established authority and a law that
would maintain them in peace. "Our Governor, our Father! stay here, O
Governor! Sit that we may be in peace. A good thing this for us, my
friends, native men. Stay, sit. Do thou remain, O Governor! to be a
Governor for us."

Up to this point the weight of influence and oratory had been heavily
against the Governor, the opposition evidently considering it good
tactics to get in early and reap the fruits of a first impression. But
the friends of the treaty now put up a powerful foil to Tareha in the
person of Hone Heke, the nephew and son-in-law of Hongi, and
admittedly one of the most influential men, both by lineage and
achievement, in all the North. Heke at this time was actively
espousing the Christian cause, and had not developed the mischievous
spirit which afterwards gave him even greater prominence in European
annals than he had as yet acquired in Maori fame. He began in that
mystical manner so much beloved by Maori orators, the skilful use of
which was regarded as a test of their accomplishment.

"To raise up, or to bring down? To raise up, or to bring down? Which?
Who knows? Sit, Governor, sit. If thou shouldst return, we natives are
gone, utterly gone, nothinged, extinct. What then shall we do? Who are
we? Remain, Governor, a father for us. If thou goest away, what then?
We do not know."

Then turning and addressing himself to those immediately about him, he
said, "This, my friends, is a good thing. It is even as the word of
God.[76] Thou to go away! No, no, no! For then the French people or
the rum-sellers will have us natives. Remain, remain, sit, sit here;
you with the Missionaries all as one. But we natives are children.
Yes, it is not for us, but for you, our fathers--you Missionaries--it
is for you to say, to decide what it shall be. It is for you to
choose, for we are only natives. Who and what are we? Children, yes,
children solely. We do not know. Do you then choose for us. You our
fathers--you Missionaries. Sit, I say, Governor, sit. A father, a
Governor for us."

The emphasis with which these concluding sentences were pronounced,
and the gestures by which they were accompanied, came as a convincing
climax to what had been a mighty speech. The _mana_ of Heke was
great, for was he not descended from Rahiri, who came down in a direct
line from a Viking Admiral of the Hawaiki fleet; was he not the
representative of the Ariki family of Nga-Puhi; had he not by virtue
of his great name levied toll upon all who crossed his estate at
Puketona; was he not the brave who had distinguished himself at the
1830 fight at Kororareka when Hengi was killed, and had he not fought
valiantly at Tauranga when Titore attacked the _pa_ at Otumoetai?
Heke had thus become great in all that told most in the estimation of
the Maori, and when he had spoken it was indiscreet for any dog to
bark.[77]

No sooner had he resumed his seat upon the ground than the hum of
approving comment could be heard in all quarters of the tent. Here was
a speech indeed, Europeans and natives alike joining in eulogiums of
both its manner and its matter. While the buzz of conversation filled
the air, Hakitara, a chief of the Rarawa tribe, rose and commenced a
speech in favour of the treaty. He was, however, unfortunate in having
to follow Heke, who had for the moment captured public attention, and
Hakitara, being unable to raise his voice above the din, soon subsided
and made way for a greater even than Heke.

While the latter was speaking the gathering had received an important
augmentation by the arrival of Tamati Waaka Nēne, his elder brother
Patuone, and the Nga-Puhi chiefs of Hokianga. They had mingled with
the crowd, and immediately the Rarawa chief had concluded, Nēne
came forward and spoke "with a degree of natural eloquence that
surprised all the Europeans and eventually turned aside the temporary
feeling of hostility that had been created."[78]

Dr. Bright, one of the few Englishmen who have left us an account of
this historic gathering, describes Nēne at this moment as a
"mild-looking, middle-aged man with a deportment as if he felt he was
a gentleman." As he listened to Heke he rested upon his _taiaha_,
and smiled upon those about him. His face bore evidence that he was
glad to see the white man and the brown in conference.

To this chief with his great mental powers, his keen perception, his
capacity to read the signs of the times, it had been long apparent
that the advent of the _Pakeha_ was inevitable, and that the
Maori system was incapable of developing the principles of a stable
Government. To now enter upon a campaign of hostility to the whites
would, he believed, certainly result in the destruction of his own
race. It was too late. Yet to govern themselves was manifestly
impossible. He therefore found himself in the same dilemma as had
presented itself to a large section of the ancient Jews in the
beleaguered city of Jerusalem, who honestly enough believed that their
country had arrived at that stage in its history when its only
salvation lay in its seizure and government by a foreign power strong
enough to establish justice and security, even though it might be at
the sacrifice of liberty. What the Romans were to Palestine the
British were in Nēne's eyes to New Zealand, and that was what he
meant when he begged the Governor to remain and be to the Maori a
friend, a father, and a Governor.

As he stepped into the arena of debate the storms were laid still, and
a general calm suppressed the rising excitement, for he was esteemed
by the white men and known to his own race as one who dared to fight
as well as to talk of peace. His voice was low at first, nor needed he
to raise it high--no sound intruded on it.

[Illustration: TAMATI WAAKA NĒNE.

After the painting by G. Lindauer in the Partridge Collection,
Auckland, by kind permission of the owner.]

"I will first speak to us, to ourselves, the natives," said Nēne.
"What do you say? The Governor to return? What then shall we do? Say
here to me, O ye chiefs of the tribes of the northern part of New
Zealand, how are we henceforward to act? Friends, whose potatoes do we
eat? Whose were our blankets? These spears (holding up his
_taiaha_) are laid aside. What has the Nga-Puhi now? The
_Pakeha's_ gun, his shot, his powder. Many months has he been in
our _whares_; many of his children are our children. Is not the
land already gone? Is it not covered, all covered with men, with
strangers, foreigners--even as the grass and herbage--over whom we
have no power? We the chiefs, and natives of this land, are down low;
they are up high, exalted, yet they make no slaves. What do you say?
The Governor to go back? I am sick, I am dead, killed by you. Had you
spoken thus in the olden time, when the traders and grog-sellers
came--had you turned them away, then you could well say to the
Governor, 'Go back,' and it would have been correct, straight, and I
would also have said with you, 'Go back'--yes, we together as one man,
with one voice. But now as things are, no, no, no. What did we do
before the _Pakeha_ came? We fought, we fought continually. But now
we can plant our grounds and the _Pakeha_ will bring plenty of trade
to our shores. Then let us keep him here. Let us all be friends
together. I'll sign the _puka puka_.[79] I am walking beside the
_Pakeha_."

This portion of the speech had been spoken with all the fiery
declamation of which Waaka Nēne was capable when needs demanded it,
but having delivered his message to his own people, he turned and,
with pleading and pathos in his voice, said: "O Governor, sit. I,
Tamati Waaka, say to thee, sit. Do not thou go away from us; remain
for us a father, a judge, a peacemaker. You must not allow us to
become slaves. You must preserve our customs, and never permit our
land to be wrested from us. Yes, it is good, it is straight. Sit thou
here, dwell in our midst. Remain, do not go away. Do not thou listen
to what the chiefs of Nga-Puhi say. Stay, then, our friend, our
father, our Governor."[80]

As it has always been frankly conceded that Nēne's speech was the
turning-point in the debate, it may be well to present here a sketch
of the chief whose stirring history and admirable characteristics were
well and personally known to a writer who lived through all these
eventful days in New Zealand. According to this authority, Nēne
"had a singularly open, honest, and benevolent expression of face, and
though, if needs were, he could be stern enough, there was little of
cruelty or vindictiveness in his composition as there could possibly
have been in one whose youth was spent in such surroundings. He was
the bravest among the brave; a splendid Maori general, averse to
fighting until every way of conciliation was exhausted; and although
he never heard of Polonius, with him too it was a maxim, 'Beware of
entrance to a quarrel, but, being in, bear't that the opposed may
beware of thee.' He was impressed with the abiding feeling that the
only chance for his race was to keep peace with the _Pakeha_, to
accept loyally the supremacy of the Queen, and to bear themselves
patiently through the slow and difficult transition from Maori custom
to British law. His bare word was trusted all through the country as
the most binding writing would be trusted amongst ourselves, and he
had the power of attracting followers to his person with a devotion
which made them ready to stand by him in life or in death.

"He had for many years been a convert of the Wesleyan Mission, and had
received at his baptism the prefix Thomas Walker to his old Maori name
of Nēne. From beginning to end he never swerved in his pledge of
loyalty to the Queen. When he died he was buried in the little
churchyard of Kororareka, having solemnly adjured his friends not to
allow the Maori custom of disposing of his bones, but to let him lie
in peace in a Christian grave; and over his grave the Government
raised a stone monument, with an inscription in both languages
expressive of their gratitude, and purporting that _that_ was the
resting-place of one who was alike steadfast in his friendship for the
British and in his labours to secure the best interests of his
countrymen--a chief of men, one wise in counsel as he was brave in
war.

"For once in a way there was an epitaph of severe and simple truth,
and there was not a word of flattery in its praise of the dead. He had
been one of Hongi's lieutenants, and had traversed with his war
parties the whole of the Northern Island to the neighbourhood of Cook
Strait. But it was for his wisdom as a counsellor and his influence as
a peacemaker that he was specially famous. No one could set down his
conciliation to weakness or fear. In his ordinary bearing he was
gentle as a child. In conversation his voice was soft as a woman's,
but in the shout of battle it was said to be terrible, and it could be
heard above all the clash of arms and the din of the conflict. He was
hardly ever defeated, and it was his way before he fought to look
beyond the victory, and to determine the move by which it should be
followed. He was half a life older than Heke, and indeed he regarded
the action of that chief very much as the escapade of a petulant boy.
In their case the struggle had none of the bitterness of personal
resentment, and when Heke made his somewhat sulky submission, Nēne
advised the Government to treat him with kindness and consideration,
and the war being ended, not to add to his disappointment anything
that would hurt his sense of personal dignity. We owe Nēne's
memory, more than to any other of the Maori race, a real debt of
gratitude and respect, for at many a crisis he threw himself into the
breach, and averted dangers that might have been fatal in those early
days. As a father he was a man of tender feeling. He had but one son,
eighteen years old, whom my mother nursed in his illness, and after
the boy's death, when Nēne came to our house, he could not speak of
his loss without tears, or thank her too much for the kindness that
seemed to him to have been all in vain."

Nēne was followed in the debate by his elder brother, Patuone, well
known as one of the fathers of Nga-Puhi. Though he has not held the
picturesque position in Maori history occupied by his younger
relation, his life was at least eventful enough to have become the
subject of an interesting biography,[81] as he was at this time as
highly esteemed by his own people as he was by the _Pakeha_ in
later years; when in his old age he was living well down into the
European era.

Patuone spoke briefly, but definitely. He favoured the coming of the
Governor as the solution of all their troubles.

"What shall I say on this great occasion, in the presence of all these
great chiefs of both countries? Here then this is my word to thee, O
Governor! Sit, stay--thou and the Missionaries, and the word of God.
Remain here with us, to be a father to us, that the French have us
not, that Pikopo,[82] that bad man, have us not. Remain, Governor,
sit, stay, our friend."

The turn which affairs had now taken proved too much for the
excitable Te Kemara, who had been the first speaker. He had patiently
heard out Heke, Nēne, and Patuone, but unable to longer restrain
himself he at this point jumped up and in his lively, breezy manner
proceeded to counter the flow of pro-British oratory: "No, no," he
shouted. "Who says stay? Go away, return to thine own land. I want my
lands returned to me. If thou wilt say, 'Return to that man, Te
Kemara, his land,' then it will be good. Let us be all alike. Then, O
Governor, remain. But the Governor up, Te Kemara down, low, flat! No,
no, no. Besides, where art thou to stay, to dwell? There is no place
left for thee."

This exclamation of Te Kemara's drew from Mr. Busby the remark that
his house would be occupied by the Governor until a suitable residence
could be procured for him, which piece of information served to
produce a marked change in the chief's demeanour.

Crossing his hands as though they were locked in handcuffs, he ran up
to the Governor, and with eyes flashing with anger, he exclaimed:
"Shall I be thus? Say to me, Governor; speak. Like this--eh, like
this? Come, come; speak, Governor, Like this--eh?"

Here his manner became distinctly offensive to His Excellency, and one
of the chiefs sitting near-by reproached him for his insolence,
whereupon he turned one of those violent mental somersaults which all
extremists are at times apt to do. Leaping forward, he seized hold of
Captain Hobson's hands and shook them heartily, grinning gleefully,
while he shouted in the best English he could command, "How d'ye
do--eh, Governor? How d'ye do--eh, Mister Governor?" This enquiry he
repeated over and over again, the Governor evidently enjoying the joke
as much as any one. "This," says Captain Hobson, "occasioned amongst
the natives a general expression of applause, and a loud cheer from
the Europeans in which the natives joined."

Thus the business of the meeting closed in the most amiable spirit,
the further consideration of the momentous question being by general
consent adjourned until the following Friday (the 7th), in order that
the natives might have one clear day during which to reflect upon the
Governor's proposal.[83]

When Captain Hobson and his escort left the meeting they descended the
rude pathway cut in the side of the hill, and as they walked towards
the beach where their boat lay, the Governor was discussing with Mr.
Colenso the printing of the treaty and other kindred matters. They had
just reached the boat and were preparing to enter, when their
attention was directed to a commotion not far off. They had not
discovered the cause of the excitement before a chief, very much out
of breath, burst in upon the viceregal party, and, standing directly
before the Lieutenant-Governor, gazed intently at him for a few
minutes. Then in a loud shrill voice he cried out in wailing tones,
"_Au e he koroheke! E kore e roa kua mate_," and at once fell
back into the crowd.

The incident was so sudden in its happening, and was so evidently of
personal moment to himself, that Captain Hobson was naturally curious
to know its full import. He appealed to Mr. Colenso to kindly
interpret the old man's message, but the Missionary, unwilling to
enlighten the Governor as to the sinister suggestion conveyed by the
grey-headed seer, endeavoured to evade the point by telling him what
was perfectly true--that this was an old chief who had just arrived
from the interior and was anxious to see the Queen's representative.
The explanation, though plausible enough, did not satisfy the
Governor, who had a predilection that there was more behind the
chief's wild lament than this, and his importunities to know the truth
being supported by those of Captain Nias, Mr. Colenso at length had to
admit that there was more of prophecy than curiosity in the chief's
mournful exclamation: "Alas! an old man. He will soon be dead."

The incident, which had something of comedy in its early features,
thus terminated with a tragic note, and the Governor, who had been
highly elated at the success of the meeting, pulled off to his ship in
a gloomy and meditative mood.

During the remainder of the day[84] a strong effort was made by the
beach-combers and whisky-sellers of Kororareka to spread dissension
amongst the chiefs, and to prejudice the idea of the Queen's
protection; but the Missionaries were whole-hearted in their support,
and vigilant to counteract the opposition of these ill-disposed
individuals.[85] The good impression created by Heke and Nēne
therefore stood, and before the evening had closed there was a
preponderating number anxious to sign the treaty.

The Missionaries were equally anxious to take advantage of this
favourable feeling, and were now keenly apprehensive that the delay
until Friday would be detrimental to the treaty party. They therefore
consulted together with a view to expediting the taking of the chiefs'
signatures, and concluded that it would be better to do so on the
morrow.

There was also another, and undeniably a powerful, factor operating in
favour of a speedy termination of the business. This was the fact that
the natives, having been called hurriedly together, were insufficiently
supplied with food, nor were provisions for so large a number
procurable within easy distance. The natives were thus faced with the
alternative of remaining hungry at Waitangi or returning home to be
fed. This was an option about which no Maori ever had two opinions,
and it was perfectly obvious that if the proceedings were further
delayed until Friday there would be a stampede from the scene of
negotiations and the golden opportunity would be in all probability
irretrievably lost.

Influenced by these considerations, the Missionaries agreed that
Captain Hobson should be made aware of the altered position of
affairs, but apparently no proper steps were taken to have the
information conveyed to him. Consequently when they arrived next
morning from their station at Paihia, about one and a half miles
distant from Waitangi, the Governor had not yet come on shore. There
was also a perceptible diminution in the number of the natives
present, several companies, chagrined at their treatment in the
scramble for the tobacco on the previous day, having folded their
blankets and returned home. Still there were from 300 to 400 squatting
in groups here and there, all earnestly discussing the treaty with
more or less clarity of comprehension. An hour flew by and yet no sign
of the Governor, nor could any movement be detected on board the
_Herald_ indicative of his coming.

Noon had arrived but still no Governor, impatience being manifest on
every face, when a boat containing two officers was seen to leave the
ship. They rowed leisurely across the Bay, and when they reached the
landing-place and were told that both natives and Europeans were
awaiting the Governor, they were considerably surprised, and explained
that "His Excellency certainly knew nothing of a meeting to be held
here this day."

Now that it was clear there had been an unfortunate misunderstanding
it was not long before communication was held with the ship, and
Captain Hobson, accompanied by the officers of his Government, came
ashore; but his departure had been so hurried that he came in
civilian clothes, having no time to don more of his uniform than his
cocked hat. He hurriedly assured those about him that he had not
entertained the least notion that a meeting was to be held; that as
matters stood he was quite prepared to take the signatures of all the
chiefs willing to sign, but that he must still hold the public meeting
on the following day as already announced by him.

A move was then made towards the tents by the whole party, closely
followed by the natives, who crowded under the canvas with no small
excitement and hustle. Some preliminary details--such as the
arrangement of tables at which the chiefs could sign--having been
completed, the Governor and party then ascended the platform, and
Captain Hobson announced that this not being a regularly convened
public meeting he could not permit of any discussion on the merits of
the treaty. The business, therefore, would be confined to accepting
the signatures of those chiefs who were willing and ready to sign.

At this juncture a message came to His Excellency from Bishop
Pompallier, stating that he and his priest were at that moment resting
in Mr. Busby's house, and were anxious to be present at the meeting.
Lieutenant Shortland was immediately despatched to bring the Bishop
in, and on his entering he was welcomed and invited to occupy the seat
he had filled on the previous day.

The business was resumed by Captain Hobson proposing that Mr. Henry
Williams should read the treaty from the parchment on which it had
been engrossed, as that which had been submitted to them on the
preceding day had been merely the original draft. This office was
performed by Mr. Williams, whereupon Bishop Pompallier leaned over to
the Governor and asked that the natives might be informed that all who
should join the Catholic Church should have the protection of the
British Government.

Captain Hobson, with much blandness of gesture and expression,[86]
replied, "Most certainly," and proceeded to express his regret that
the Bishop had not made known his wishes earlier, as in that event the
provision "would have been embodied in the treaty."

Turning then to Mr. Williams, he said: "The Bishop wishes it to be
publicly stated to the natives that his religion will not be
interfered with, and that free toleration will be allowed in matters
of faith. I should therefore thank you to say to them that the Bishop
will be protected and supported in his religion--that I shall protect
all creeds alike."

"I presume the same protection will be offered to all?" remarked Mr.
Williams; to which the Governor replied, "Certainly."

"What need, then," asked Mr. Williams, "is there to burden the
proceedings with such an announcement if all are to have protection
alike?"

To this the Governor replied that as the Bishop was anxious that the
announcement should be made, he would feel obliged if Mr. Williams
would deliver it to the meeting.

Mr. Williams then proceeded to address the natives: "_Na, e mea ana
te Kawana_"--"Attend, the Governor says." Here, however, he felt
the matter was one of such magnitude that he could not afford to treat
it in a casual way, and he expressed this opinion to his fellow
Missionary, Mr. Clarke, who was standing near him.

"Pray, sir, write it down first, as it is an important sentence,"
suggested Mr. Colenso.

Mr. Williams, taking pencil and paper, then wrote as follows: "The
Governor wishes you to understand that all the Maoris who shall join
the Church of England, who shall join the Wesleyans, who shall join
the Pikopo, or Church of Rome, and those who retain their Maori
practices shall have the protection of the British Government."

This he handed to the Governor, who passed it on to the Bishop, who,
having read it, said in English, "Oh yes, that will do very well."

The statement was read to the meeting, and if Mr. Williams is to be
accepted as an authority, it was received in silence, the natives not
knowing what it meant.[87] Bishop Pompallier then rose and, bowing to
the Governor, left the meeting.

These preliminaries having been satisfactorily disposed of, the chiefs
were as a body invited to come forward and append their signatures to
the treaty. To this invitation no one responded for a time, none
caring to be the first to take what might prove to be a precipitate
step. For several minutes the Maori mind hung in this state of doubt
and indecision until Mr. Busby hit upon the expedient of calling upon
the chiefs by name. He had prepared a list for his own information of
those eligible to sign, and by a fortunate circumstance the name of
Hone Heke stood first upon that list. Heke, who had proved himself
such a redoubtable advocate of the treaty, came forward frankly enough
when thus directly appealed to, and was about to sign, when Mr.
Colenso interposed by asking the permission of the Governor to clear
up one point upon which grave doubts had been raised in his mind as
the result of his mingling with the natives since the earlier meeting.
This permission was readily granted, whereupon Mr. Colenso said, "May
I ask Your Excellency whether it is your opinion that these natives
understand the articles of the treaty which they are now called upon
to sign?"

He was proceeding to say that he had that morning arrived at a
different conclusion, when Captain Hobson interrupted him with the
remark: "If the native chiefs do not know the contents of this treaty
it is no fault of mine. I wish them to fully understand it. I have
done all that I could to make them understand the same, and I really
don't know how I shall be enabled to get them to do so. They have
heard the treaty read by Mr. Williams."

"True, Your Excellency," rejoined Mr. Colenso, "but the natives are
quite children in their ideas. It is no easy matter to get them to
understand--fully to comprehend a document of this kind; still I
think they ought to know somewhat of it to constitute its legality. I
speak under correction, Your Excellency. I have spoken to some of the
chiefs concerning it, who had no idea whatever as to the purport of
the treaty."

Here Mr. Busby joined in the discussion by reminding Mr. Colenso that
the best answer that could be given to his observation would be found
in the speech made yesterday by the very chief about to sign, Hone
Heke, who said "the native mind could not comprehend these things;
they must trust to the advice of their Missionaries."

"Yes, that is the very thing to which I was going to allude," replied
Mr. Colenso. "The Missionaries should do so, but at the same time the
Missionaries should explain the thing in all its bearings to the
natives, so that it should be their very own act and deed. Then in
case of a reaction taking place, the natives could not turn round on
the Missionary and say, "You advised me to sign that paper, but never
told me what were the contents thereof."[88]

Captain Hobson, who had evidently not contemplated this contingency,
expressed the hope that no such reaction would take place. "I think,"
he said, "that the people under your care will be peaceable enough: I
am sure you will endeavour to make them so. And as to those that are
without, why, we must endeavour to do our best with them."

This attitude on the part of the Governor sufficed to satisfy Mr.
Colenso, who had no desire to be contumacious, but having conscientious
doubts upon the native grasp of a subject necessarily foreign to their
tribal policy, he felt it his duty to give full expression to those
doubts, and he thanked His Excellency for having given him the
opportunity to do so.

Hone Heke then put his name upon the parchment,[89] and as if to
answer the objection raised by Mr. Colenso, he told the people in a
brief speech that he fully approved of the proceeding, as they all
needed protection from every foreign power, and they well knew the
fostering care of the Queen of England towards them.

With so propitious a lead there was no further hesitancy on the part
of the remaining chiefs, and the process of recording their signatures
went merrily on. While it was proceeding, Marupo, a chief of the
Whanaurara tribe, and Ruhe, a chief of the Ngatihineira tribe, were
busy making violent speeches against the treaty. Both warriors
delivered themselves in the style characteristic of their people when
they have serious business on hand, running sharply up and down a
beaten avenue, gesticulating energetically, stamping their feet, and
pouring out their denunciations with a volubility that was difficult
to follow. Marupo, who had discarded all his clothing except a
_piupiu_ made of reeds which hung round his waist, was especially
determined in his opposition, continuing his harangue until voice and
body failed from sheer physical exhaustion.

Then realising that his oratory had not turned the tide of public
opinion, and that the adoption of the treaty was inevitable, he and
his compatriots, appreciating the advantage of being on the popular
side, joined the ranks of the signatories and drew their _moko_[90]
upon the parchment.

Marupo signalised his conversion by shaking hands heartily--even
violently--with the Governor, and desired to confirm the new-formed
friendship by seizing the Governor's hat, which was lying on the
table, and putting it upon his head.

The next of the insurgents to surrender was the versatile but volatile
Te Kemara, who, when he had succumbed to the pressure of the popular
will, volunteered the statement that he had been influenced in his
opposition by the French Bishop, who had told him "not to write on
the paper, for if he did he would be made a slave."

The only chief of high standing who was present and had not now signed
the treaty was Rewa, but his obduracy was at length overcome, he
yielding to the persuasions of his tribal friends, supported by the
advice of the Church Missionaries, and when at length he drew his
curious hieroglyphics upon the parchment, he too admitted that his
opposition had been wholly inspired by the Bishop, who had earnestly
interceded with him not to become a party to the treaty.

Captain Hobson, who had apparently recovered from his recent
indisposition, appeared to be in the cheeriest of spirits, and as each
chief signed the treaty he took him by the hand, and repeating in
Maori "_He iwi tahi tatou_"--"We are now one people"--paid a
little compliment to the native race that was hugely appreciated by
the recipients.[91]

During the course of the morning small contingents of natives had been
arriving from distant parts, who had not been present at the previous
day's proceedings owing to the unavoidable delay in receiving their
summoning circulars, but after brief explanations by their friends,
they, without exception, subscribed to the Queen's proposal to give
their country a stable Government. Altogether forty-five chiefs signed
the treaty on this eventful February 6, but they were for the most
part men of only moderate influence, and with the exception of Waaka
Nēne, and his brother Eruera Patuone, who hailed from Hokianga, and
Kauwhata, Wharau, and Ngere, from Wangaruru, all were resident within
the immediate vicinity of the Bay of Islands. Twenty-six of these,
however, had signed the much-despised Declaration of Independence five
years before, and Captain Hobson so far concluded that their
acquiescence in his present mission "must be deemed a full and clear
recognition of the sovereign rights of Her Majesty over the northern
parts of this Island," that he immediately arranged with Captain Nias
to announce the cession on the morrow with a salute of twenty-one guns
from the deck of the _Herald_.[92]

Having now concluded the official portion of the business, Captain
Hobson, who had conducted the whole of the proceedings with
conspicuous patience and ability, left the meeting under a volley of
cheers from the natives, which resounded through the hills and across
the sunny waters of the Bay.

"In the course of these proceedings," wrote Captain Hobson to Sir
George Gipps, "I have courted the utmost publicity, and I have
forborne to adopt even the customary measure of propitiating the
consent of the chiefs by promises of presents, and not until the
treaty was signed did I give them anything. To have sent them home
without some acknowledgment would have been a violation of their
customs, and would have given offence. I therefore distributed a few
articles of trifling value before they separated."

This distribution was entrusted to Mr. Colenso, each chief who had
signed the treaty receiving two blankets and a quantity of tobacco,
and "by dint of close and constant attention," reports that gentleman,
"the said distribution went off well without any mishap or hitch."

Next morning broke with a grey sky and rain so incessant as to
dissipate all hope of holding the contemplated meeting. Neither was it
deemed advisable under such depressing circumstances to proclaim the
event by a Royal salute, so that by a strange perversion of fate,
Friday the 7th, which was to have been the day of days, passed off
cold, bleak, and uneventful. It was not, therefore, until Saturday the
8th that the proceedings, so far as they had gone, were fully
consummated. This was accomplished amidst the floating of bunting and
the booming of guns, for upon this bright and sunny day it may be
said that New Zealand became a British colony, and what some of us are
vain enough to regard as the brightest jewel in Britain's Crown.[93]

[51] The number and extent of the erasures in the original draft
indicate that the greatest care was taken in its composition by those
concerned.

[52] "Upon the fullest consideration my judgment inclines me strongly
to recommend you, and through you, all the other members of the
Mission, that your influence should be exercised amongst the chiefs
attached to you, to induce them to make the desired surrender of
sovereignty to Her Majesty."--Bishop Broughton's letter to Mr. Henry
Williams.

[53] Mr. Busby's house was built of Australian hard wood, and though
upwards of eighty years old is still standing in an excellent state of
preservation. The property is now occupied by Mr. Theo. A. Izard, who
recently unearthed on the site where the marquee was erected the iron
shoe of a military tent-peg of the period, doubtless one that was used
in connection with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

[54] Waitangi signifies "crying water," and there were many people
superstitious enough to believe that the choice of this spot was a bad
omen.

[55] The man who stands in the centre of the canoe and gives the time
to the rowers.

[56] Amongst the Americans present were several of the scientists
attached to the United States exploring expedition, under Commander
Wilkes, who had assembled at the Bay of Islands to await the return of
their vessels from the Antarctic. With the exception of Bishop
Pompallier the Frenchmen at the Bay were conspicuous by their absence,
believing that in this way they were offering a protest against the
proceedings.

[57] This was a clever strategetical move on the part of the Bishop,
who, though protesting that he was not concerned in a political
negotiation, evidently saw the advantage of utilising the occasion to
make an impression on the native mind in the interests of his Church.
In his published account of the event Bishop Pompallier makes it
appear that the Protestant Missionaries had been circulating the
statement amongst the natives that he would not "dare" to put in an
appearance at the meeting. He was, however, specially invited by
Captain Hobson, and he made the most of the opportunity thus given
him.

[58] The name of this priest does not seem to have been preserved.

[59] They were members of the Mounted Police Force which Captain
Hobson had brought with him from Sydney.

[60] _Rangatira_: Chief, gentleman, one in authority.

[61] In his discussions with the Maoris, Bishop Pompallier had
stressed the point that he held the advantage over the Protestant
Missionaries in that he was a member of the Episcopacy. The best
attempt on the part of the natives to render into their own language
the word Episcopo, in its varied forms, was "_Pikopo_," hence the
Bishop and his converts became known as _Pikopo_.

[62] The Revs. Ironside and Warren, of the Wesleyan Mission, arrived
at a later hour, with the contingent of Hokianga natives, including
Tamati Waaka Nēne; and on the following day they were amongst the
witnesses to the signatures.

[63] _Authentic and Genuine History of the Signing of the Treaty of
Waitangi_, by the Rev. W. Colenso.

[64] These were all of foreign manufacture, and were the gifts of
Bishop Pompallier. On this point Jameson says: "But the most virtuous
of human actions are liable to be misinterpreted and misjudged, and M.
de Pompallier's liberality to the natives was uncharitably stigmatised
as an attempt to bribe and lure them to the adoption of the Catholic
persuasion. This conduct was invidiously contrasted with that of the
Church of England and Wesleyan Missionaries, who deemed it a point of
duty to hold out no temptation to the cupidity of the natives, as an
inducement for them to become Christians, and also to encourage among
them regular habits of industry, gave them nothing except in fair
exchange for agricultural produce or for services performed. The
Protestant Missionaries have laboured with great zeal and success
amongst the New Zealanders. But in acknowledging their merits, we, in
common justice, cannot condemn the motives of M. de Pompallier."

[65] A short spear.

[66] "Captain Hobson spoke briefly but emphatically and with strong
feeling."--Felton Mathew.

[67] Rewa once replied to a European who had chided him because he had
ceased to pay him his customary visits, "I was ashamed to go, because
I had no present to offer you. Formerly, when I went to see my friends
I always carried them a present of pigs and potatoes, but I am a poor
man now. I have sold all my land and I have nothing to give my
friends."

[68] Mr. Gilbert Mair was a merchant at Kororareka. Mr. James E.
Clendon was likewise a merchant there, and had been Assistant British
Resident at Hokianga. He was at this period U.S.A. Consul.

[69] Meaning the Proclamation referring to land titles.

[70] Colenso repudiates the suggestion that the speeches were not
properly interpreted, and explains that Maori oratory is redundant
with repetition which, of course, was very properly eliminated during
the course of the translation.

[71] The Bishop of Australia thus wrote to Mr. Williams on the subject
of the Missionaries' land claims: "I am led to believe that the
immediate consequence of establishing the British Dominion will be the
settlement of titles to land according to the principles of law and
equity. This proceeding will necessarily lead to a judicial
investigation of the landed properties transmitted to the Society.
These should be exactly and jealously re-examined, that you may be
prepared to sustain them, even to the minutest point when brought
under the scrutiny of the world at large, as beyond all doubt they
will be. I think also that it will be expedient that you should take
advantage of the warning thus given of what you are to expect, by
preparing a most full and explicit account of all the transactions
between you and any of the natives."

[72] This native had been actually christened at his own request as
"King George," Mr. Williams having taken the responsibility of
reversing the names, and entering them in that form in the Register.

[73] This was not the great Titore, who was the first to commence the
felling of kauri spars for the Navy, but another chief of the same
name. Titore Nui (the great) signed the Treaty under the name of
Takiri.

[74] The Rev. R. Taylor relates an instance in which Tareha was about
to despatch a slave for some real or imaginary offence. Mr. Kemp, one
of the Missionaries interposed, and could not be persuaded to let the
killing go on. Whereupon Tareha picked him up (for he was a small man)
and carried him over to his cottage, deposited him inside, and told
Mrs. Kemp to shut him up and keep him out of harm's way. He then
returned to the business on hand. On another occasion the Missionaries
discovered Tareha in a choking condition, a fish bone having lodged in
his throat. He being _tapu_ (sacred) none of his people dared
touch him, but after considerable labour the Missionaries succeeded in
dislodging the bone with the aid of a pair of scissors. After he had
recovered, the punctilious Tareha claimed the scissors as payment for
the desecration of his sacred throat.

[75] Here he held up the canoe paddle, which he had used dramatically
throughout his oration.

[76] This was a reference to the New Testament, which had just been
printed in the native language at the Missionary Press, at Paihia, and
circulated amongst the tribes.

[77] Amongst the many contradictions which the historian of the Treaty
of Waitangi has to reconcile, none is more difficult than the
explanation of Hone Heke's attitude towards the negotiation. The
report of his speech as printed above is taken from Colenso's account
of the proceedings, and would lead one to suppose that Heke was in
favour of the treaty. Colenso's view is supported by the Rev. Henry
Williams, who tells us that Heke "fully approved" of the treaty and
advised the people to sign it. Other accounts are quite different. The
Rev. Mr. Burrows states that Heke "gave a lot of trouble" at the
signing of the treaty. The Rev. Mr. Ironside reports that Heke "was
violent in his harangue against Captain Hobson, vociferating
repeatedly in his native style, '_Haere e hoki_' ('Go, return').
Tamati Waaka came to me and said his heart was _pouri_ (grieved)
with Heke's violence, and the way Captain Hobson was being treated.
'Well,' I said, 'if you think so, say so'; whereupon Tamati sprang up
and made his speech." In some interesting annotations made on the
treaty by Mr. William B. Baker, translator to the Native Department in
1869, that gentleman says: "I remember distinctly being present during
the whole of the meeting; that Hone Heke Pokai was very violent in his
language, though he is not mentioned by Captain Hobson. The chief
whose name is given, Kaiteke, was a better-known character in those
days than Heke, who, though a person of high rank and influence
through his marriage with Hongi's favourite daughter, Rongo, had
previously led a very quiet and retired life. A war of words ensued
between Tamati Waaka Nēne, who came in at this crisis, and Heke,
the result of which was that Waaka 'removed the temporary feeling that
had been created.'" There is thus a distinct difference of opinion and
impression between Mr. Colenso and the above writers who were also
present and heard what was said.

[78] _Vide_ Captain Hobson's despatch to Sir George Gipps,
February 5, 1840.

[79] The Treaty.

[80] "Nēne spoke in a strain of fervid and impassioned eloquence
such as I never before heard, and which immediately turned the tide in
our favour."--Felton Mathew.

[81] _Life and Times of Patuone_, by C. O. Davis.

[82] This was a reference to Bishop Pompallier. The remark was no
doubt prompted by religious prejudice, and serves to show to what
extent the bitterness of sectarian feeling had already grown, for
Patuone was otherwise a man of a most kindly nature.

[83] "One of the chiefs said, 'Give us time to consider this
matter--we will talk it over amongst ourselves, we will ask questions,
and then decide whether we will sign the treaty.' The speeches
occupied about six hours, and the whole scene was one I would not have
missed for worlds, and which I will never forget."--Felton Mathew.

[84] An attempt was made during the afternoon to distribute a quantity
of tobacco amongst the natives, but in their impetuosity to secure the
"fragrant weed" they upset the distributor, and an unseemly scramble
ensued which resulted in a certain amount of bad feeling.

[85] "In the meantime Mr. J. R. Clendon, an Englishman acting as
American Consul, the Missionaries, and many interested persons
residing there, or about becoming settlers, were made to understand
that their interests would be much promoted if they should forward the
views of the British Government. Every exertion was now made by these
parties to remove the scruples of the chiefs, and thus form a party
strong enough to overreach the rest of the natives, and overcome their
objections. About forty chiefs, principally minor ones--a very small
representation of the proprietors of the soil--were induced to sign
the treaty. The influence of Mr. Clendon arising from his position as
the representative of the United States, was amongst the most
efficient means by which the assent of even this small party was
obtained. The natives placed much confidence in him, believing him to
be disinterested. He became a witness to the document, and informed
me, when speaking of the transaction, that it was entirely through his
influence that the treaty was signed."--Extract from Commander
Wilkes's _Journal_.

[86] In some _Early Recollections_ Archdeacon Williams attributes
this affability to the fact that at this time Captain Hobson was
"under the delusion" that the Catholics carried the sway with the
natives.

[87] The Bishop rather plumes himself that by his intervention he
secured the inestimable boon of religious freedom to the people of New
Zealand--_vide_ his _History of the Catholic Church in Oceana_; but he
is obviously labouring a point about which there was no dispute.

[88] Archdeacon Williams is responsible for the statement that none of
the natives held back from signing the treaty because they did not
understand it, but many did because of extraneous influences brought
to bear upon them.

[89] Hone Heke signed the treaty under his ancestral name, Pokai. All
the writers are agreed that he was the first, or amongst the first to
sign; but on the treaty itself his name appears as sixty-sixth in
order, the place of honour being given to Kawiti, his confederate in
the war of 1845. This may be accounted for by the fact that he wrote
his name on the part of the sheet that came most convenient to him.

[90] The tattoo marks on their face.

[91] At the close of the second day's ceremony Patuone advanced to the
dais and presented Captain Hobson with a handsome greenstone
_mere_ as a gift to the Queen. He afterwards returned on board
the _Herald_ and had dinner with the Governor.

[92] The _Herald_ lay off the Hermione reef, where her guns could
command the lawn in front of Mr. Busby's house, as well as the flat to
the left on which the Maoris were camped.

[93] The following interesting reminiscences regarding the Treaty of
Waitangi are from the pen of Mr. George Elliott-Elliott, who in the
year 1841 was Record clerk in the Government service: "This celebrated
document, a sort of New Zealand Magna Charta in its importance, is not
a single document, but is composed of a number of separate sheets;
and, if I remember rightly, some few are of parchment and some of
paper--the text is the same in all; these separate sheets were sent to
the different tribes and _hapus_ of natives for the signatures of
the different chiefs and influential men amongst them. Some of them
could write, and signed their names; others affixed their marks, in
the shape of what was supposed to be an imitation of the tattoo on
their faces. Each of these sheets was in charge of some well-known
European, generally some one in connection with the Church of England
or Wesleyan Missions, who attested the signatures and remarks of the
various persons on the document, and, on completion, returned it to
the Government.

"There is no doubt that this treaty has a _mana_ peculiar to
itself, and that the natives regard it with respect. They believe that
they have thereby voluntarily given up to the _Pakeha_ a
something which is their loss and the _Pakeha's_ gain; but what
that something is they are quite unable to define. I feel pretty sure
that if, from any accident in the early days, this document had been
lost or destroyed, the natives would never have been induced to sign
another. That it was once saved from such accident the following will
show: In 1841 the Government offices were held in a four-roomed wood
cottage in Official Bay, Auckland. The Colonial Secretary, the Audit,
the Colonial Treasurer, and the Customs each had one room. Mr.
Shortland was Colonial Secretary (the Audit was also under his
control), Mr. Cooper was Colonial Treasurer and Collector of Customs.
There were four clerks in the establishment--Grimstone in the
Treasury, Leech in the Audit, Freeman and myself in the Colonial
Secretary's. We were the Government in those prehistoric days. I was
called Clerk of Records, and had charge of the various records and
papers--not many then--amongst them this Treaty of Waitangi. This,
with the seal of the colony, I kept in a small iron box brought from
Sydney in the _Westminster_ the year before. I was living in a
_raupo_ whare in Queen Street, close to Shortland Street, at that
time ('41), when early one morning--I can't remember the precise
date--I observed a great body of smoke ascending from Official Bay. I
at once ran up Shortland Street, and on reaching the top of the hill
found that the Government offices were on fire. When I got to the
building one end was in flames and the place full of smoke. I saw that
nothing could save the place. I at once tied my handkerchief over my
face, got the door open, and rushed into the room which the Colonial
Secretary occupied. I could not see for the smoke, and the
handkerchief both blinded and choked me. The room was small, and I
knew it so well I could put my hand on anything in it blindfold. I at
once went to the iron box, unlocked it, took out the Treaty of
Waitangi, and the seal of the colony, and ran out again directly. I
suppose from the time I entered the building until I left it was not
more than a minute, but it seemed an hour. I carried the seal and the
treaty to the house of Mr. Felton Mathew (Surveyor-General), which was
close by, and gave them into his charge. When I got outside the
burning offices several persons had come up, amongst them some seamen
from a French man-o'-war, then in harbour. They had a portable
fire-engine, but it was useless, for there was no water. Of course the
building and its contents were all destroyed, amongst them the iron
box from which I had taken the seal and the treaty. The box was made
of common sheet iron.

"I subsequently fastened the different sheets of the treaty together
and deposited it in the Colonial Secretary's office, where I presume
it has been ever since."

To commemorate the signing of the treaty, Mrs. Busby planted the
Pohutukawa tree still growing in front of the old Residency (see
illustration).

The Maoris have also erected a monument on the opposite side of the
river, beside what is known as the Treaty House, where they at one
time hoped to establish a Parliament of their own. The monument was
unveiled by the Hon. William Rolleston, Native Minister, on March 23,
1881.

The original documents comprising the Treaty of Waitangi are now in
charge of the Department of Internal Affairs.




CHAPTER V

IN SEARCH OF SIGNATURES


Although Captain Hobson had every reason to be gratified with the
result of his mission at Waitangi, it was perfectly obvious that the
signatures obtained there were only sufficient to give him jurisdiction
over a very circumscribed area of country. It was equally evident that
if the full intentions of the British Government were to be given
effect to, it would be necessary to put into practice the Mahomedan
principle and go to the mountain, since the mountain had failed to
come to him. He accordingly arranged a campaign by which the districts
north of the Bay of Islands would be visited, either by himself
personally, or by his duly accredited officers. Pursuant to this
arrangement on the morning of the 10th, the Lieutenant-Governor
(accompanied by Captain Nias) and his suite left the Bay of Islands
and rode over to the Mission station at Waimate, where on the 12th
they held a meeting and obtained the signatures of all the chiefs
present. With two of the Church Missionaries, Messrs. Taylor and
Clarke, added to his company, Captain Hobson left Waimate next day and
continued his journey to Hokianga, where it was anticipated a great
meeting would be held. On arriving at Waihou, a settlement on the
banks of the river about seven miles above the Wesleyan Mission
station,--for he was now within the Wesleyan sphere of influence,--the
Governor was met by the members of the Mission and all the principal
European settlers in the neighbourhood. Here he received, probably in
the form of an address, the warmest assurances of the settlers'
fidelity to the Queen, and the most hearty congratulations to himself
upon his selection as her representative.

From this point the journey was continued by boats supplied by the
settlers, and the progress down the river was marked by frequent
evidences of cordiality and even enthusiasm. On passing the settlement
at Hauraki a salute of thirteen guns was fired from a miniature fort
of European construction, and on arrival at the Mission station the
Governor was again the recipient of congratulations from the settlers
and the Missionaries.

In response to these graceful felicitations Captain Hobson delivered a
brief address, in which he expressed the high sense he entertained of
this earnest of their loyal zeal in forwarding the views of Her
Majesty's Government, and of the honour they had conferred upon him
personally by their flattering attention. At the same time Captain
Hobson took occasion to announce that in accordance with notices
already published, he proposed to hold a meeting of the chiefs there
next day, to which a cordial invitation was extended to the European
population of every class and nation.

The novelty of the occasion was not without its influence upon the
natives, and upon a careful estimate it is computed that there were
not less than 3000 at the station next morning, of whom between 400
and 500 were chiefs of varying rank and importance. Thus everything
promised well. But at the hour appointed for the assembly it was
observed that there was a great disinclination on the part of the
chiefs to associate themselves with the movement. Some were reticent,
others morose, more were openly hostile, and that to such an extent it
was manifest they were not approaching the subject with unprejudiced
minds, and it required no keen observer to detect that an unfavourable
spirit prevailed amongst them. By the exercise of a little judicious
manœuvring, however, they were at length induced to admit that
there could be nothing derogatory in at least hearing what message the
Governor had to deliver, and after some delay they were induced to
form into procession and march to the place of meeting.

The business of the day commenced in much the same manner as it had
done at Waitangi and Waimate, the Rev. Mr. Hobbs, of the Wesleyan
Mission, acting as interpreter. After a short address to the
Europeans, Captain Hobson entered into a full explanation to the
chiefs of the views and motives of Her Majesty in proposing to extend
to New Zealand her powerful protection. He then, as on previous
occasions, read the treaty, expounded its provisions, offered to
elucidate all doubtful points, and invited the freest discussion.
"This undisguised manner of proceeding," wrote Captain Hobson to Sir
George Gipps, "defeated much of the opposition, but did not, to the
extent of my wish or expectation, remove the predetermination to
oppose me that had already been manifested. The New Zealanders are
passionately fond of declamation, and they possess considerable
ingenuity in exciting the passions of the people. On this occasion all
the best orators were against me,[94] and every argument they could
devise was used to defeat my object."

The debate was opened by Aperahama Taonui, who rose and said: "We are
glad to see the Governor. Let him come to be a Governor to the
_Pakehas_. As for us we want no Governor; we will be our own
Governor. How do the _Pakehas_ behave to the black fellows at
Port Jackson? They treat them like dogs! See a _Pakeha_ kills a
pig; the black fellow comes to the door and eats the refuse."

"What is the Governor come for?" exclaimed Papahia. "He, indeed! He to
be high, very high, like Maungataniwha (a high hill near Hokianga) and
we low on the ground; nothing but little hills. No, no, no! Let us be
equal; why should one hill be high and another low? This is bad."

MOSES (Mohi Tawhai)--"How do you do, Mr. Governor? All we
think is that you come to deceive us. The _Pakehas_ tell us so,
and we believe what they say; what else?"

TAONUI--"We are not good (or willing) to give up our land. It
is from the earth we obtain all things. The land is our Father; the
land is our chieftainship; we will not give it up."

"No, no," cried Kaitoke; "no, Mr. Governor, you will not square out
our land and sell it. See there, you came to our country, looked at
us, stopped, came up the river, and what did we do? We gave you
potatoes, you gave us a fish-hook; that is all. We gave you land, you
gave us a pipe, that is all. We have been cheated, the _Pakehas_
are thieves. They tear a blanket, make two pieces of it, and sell it
for two blankets. They buy a pig for one pound in gold, and sell it
for three. They get a basket of potatoes for sixpence, sell it for two
shillings. This is all they do; steal from us, this is all."

Here the voluble Taonui again broke in upon the proceedings with some
observations which were so clearly not of native origin as to convince
Captain Hobson that he had not only the natural Maori ignorance and
suspicion to contend with, but powerful counter-influences originating
with the Europeans.

"Ha, ha, ha, this is the way you do," cried Taonui. "First your Queen
sends Missionaries to New Zealand to put things in order, gives them
£200 a year. Then she sends Mr. Busby to put up a flag, and gives him
£500 a year, and £200 to give to us natives. Now she sends a
Governor."[95]

"Speak your own sentiments, not what bad men have told you," retorted
Captain Hobson.

"I do," replied Taonui. "I have not been to Port Jackson, but I know
Governors have salaries."

The Governor again felt compelled to interpose, and accused the
speaker of being prompted by designing Europeans.

This fact Taonui frankly admitted, and, turning to the assembly,
called for his _Pakeha_ adviser to come forward and sustain his
allegations. "This call was reiterated by me," says Captain Hobson,
"when a person named Manning[96] presented himself. I asked him his
motive for endeavouring to defeat the benevolent object of Her
Majesty, whose desire it is to secure to these people their just
rights, and to the European settlers peace and civil Government."

Manning's reply was that he conscientiously believed that the natives
would be degraded under British rule and influence, and that therefore
he had advised them to resist the persuasions of the Governor and the
Missionaries in favour of the treaty, admitting at the same time that
the laws of England were requisite to restrain and protect British
subjects, but to British subjects alone should they be applicable.

"But are you not aware that English laws can only be exercised on
English soil?" asked Captain Hobson.

"I am not aware," replied Manning, "I am not a lawyer."

"Then that will do. Resume your seat," commanded Hobson.

The Lieutenant-Governor then proceeded to tell the chiefs that their
_Pakeha_ friend had given them advice in utter ignorance of the
most important principle that British laws could not be enforced on a
foreign soil, and that their only hope of protection against
unscrupulous Europeans was to become a party to the treaty.

"If you listen to such counsel," he continued, "and oppose me, you
will be stripped of all your lands by a worthless class of British
subject, who will consult no interest but their own, and who care not
how much they will trample upon your rights. I am sent here to control
such people, and to ask from you the authority to do so."

This spirited little speech was responded to by what Captain Hobson
has called "a song of applause." Several chiefs who had been silently
sympathetic with the Governor now sprang up actively in his support,
and by their championship changed the whole spirit of the debate.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome, Governor!" cried Ngaro. "Here are the
Missionaries; they come to the land, they bought and paid for it, else
I would not have them. Come, Come! I will have the Governor. No one
else perhaps will say 'Yes,' but I, Ngaro, I will have him. That is
all I say."

MOSES (Mohi Tawhai)--"Where does the Governor get his
authority? Is it from the Queen? Let him come; what power has he?
Well, let him come, let him stop all the lands from falling into the
hands of the _Pakehas_. Hear, all ye _Pakehas_! Perhaps you
are rum-drinkers, perhaps not; hear what is said by us. I want all to
hear. It is quite right for us to say what we think; it is right for
us to speak. Let the tongue of every one be free to speak; but what of
it? What will be the end? Our sayings will sink to the bottom like a
stone, but your sayings will float light, like the wood of the
Whau-tree, and always remain to be seen. Am I telling lies?"

Kaitoke, who had previously delivered a hostile speech, again openly
maintained his opposition by interjecting, "Let us choose our own
Governor."

These sentences, democratic though they were to the last degree, found
no sympathy with Rangatira Moetara, who followed with a brief speech.

"Welcome, Mr. Governor! How do you do? Who sold our land to the
_Pakehas_? It was we ourselves by our own free will; we let it
go, and it is gone, and what now? What good is there in throwing away
our words? Let the Governor sit for us."

MOSES (Mohi Tawhai)--"Suppose the land has been stolen from
us, will the Governor enquire about it? Perhaps he will, perhaps he
will not. If they have acquired the land by fair purchase, let them
have it."

Taonui, upon whom the refutation of Manning by the Governor had
evidently had a marked effect, again rose and said:

"Lo, now for the first time my heart has come near to your thoughts. I
approach you with my whole heart. You must watch over my children; let
them sit under your protection. There is my land too; you must take
care of it, but I do not wish to sell it. What of the land that is
sold? Can my children sit down on it? Can they--eh?"

Here the chiefs Waaka Nēne, his brother Patuone, Rangatira, and
Taonui stepped forward and chanted a song of welcome to the Governor,
after which Nēne made the following speech:

"Listen to me, Governor; all of you listen to me. This is my speech.
If the Baron de Thierry wishes to claim my land, why is he not here
to-day? No, no; it was never sold to him. Does he think he will have
it? No, no; he shall not have any of it. This is all I have to say."

A chief, Hone Kingi Raumati, whose baptismal name was John King, next
delivered a sympathetic address: "My speech is to the Governor. This
is what I have to say. It was my father, it was Muriwai, told me to
behave well to the _Pakehas_. Listen, this is mine; you came, you
found us poor and destitute. We on this side say, 'Stay and sit here.'
We say, 'Welcome, welcome'; let those on the other side say what they
like. This is ours to you. Stay in peace. Great has been your trade
with our land. What else do you come for but to trade? Here am I. I
who brought you on my shoulders.[97] I say come; you must direct us,
and keep us in order; that is all mine to you. If any one steal
anything now there will be payment for it. I have done my speech."

A chief whose name does not seem to have been preserved by the
chronicler of the meeting, but who had support for the Governor in his
words, said: "How do you do? Here am I, a poor man; and what is this
place? A poor place, but this is why you have come to speak to us
to-day. Let the _Pakehas_ come and I have not anything to say against
it. There is my place, it is good land; come and make it your
sitting-place--you must stay with me. That is all."

The last speech was that of Daniel Kahika: "What indeed!" he said in
indignant tones. "Do you think I will consent to other people selling
my land? No, truly. If my land is to be sold I will sell it myself.
But no, I will not sell my land. I do not like the _Pakehas_ to
tease me to sell my land. It is bad. I am quite sick with it. This is
my speech."

So closed the debate at Hokianga. Apologies were freely offered by the
opposing chiefs, the most prominent of whom at once came forward and
signed the treaty.

 "When the example had once been shown," wrote Captain Hobson, "it was
 with difficulty I could restrain those who were disentitled by their
 rank from inserting their names. Upwards of fifty-six signatures were
 given,[98] and at twelve o'clock at night the business closed. Before
 the last of the party were dismissed it was intimated to me that the
 chiefs were desirous I should attend their feast on the following
 morning, and in order to gratify them I relinquished a visit I had
 arranged to the lower part of the river. At ten o'clock on the 13th I
 went by appointment to the Hauraki, and there 1000 as fine warriors
 as were ever seen were collected in their best costume. The native
 war-dance, accompanied by those terrific yells which are so well
 qualified to exhibit the natural ferocity of the New Zealand
 character, was exhibited for my amusement, the guns from a small
 European battery were fired, and the natives discharged their muskets
 and dispersed under three hearty cheers for my party. The feast which
 I had ordered to be prepared, consisting of pigs, potatoes, rice, and
 sugar, with a small portion of tobacco to every man, was partaken of
 by all in perfect harmony. It was estimated that of men, women, and
 children there were 3000 persons present. The influence against me
 was entirely traceable to the foreign Bishop of the Roman Catholic
 persuasion, and to a set of escaped convicts and other low ruffians
 who have congregated on the river in considerable numbers. These
 parties, though actuated by different motives, were united in their
 proceedings, and many of the latter were agents of the former. Mr.
 Manning, whom I have before mentioned, though not of a degraded
 class, is an adventurer, who lives with a native woman, has
 purchased a considerable portion of land, and being an Irish Catholic
 is the active agent of the Bishop. Another person, altogether of a
 lower description, known under the name of 'Jackey Marmon,' who is
 married to a native woman, and has resided in this country since
 1809, is also an agent of the Bishop. He assumes the native character
 in its worst form--is a cannibal--and has been conspicuous in the
 native wars and outrages for years past. Against such people I shall
 have to contend in every quarter, but I do not despair of arranging
 matters hereafter with comparative ease. The two points at which I
 have already met the natives were the strongholds of our most violent
 opponents, and notwithstanding the untiring efforts of the Bishop
 Pompallier and the convicts, I have obtained the almost unanimous
 assent of the chiefs. Of the whole of the Hokianga but two head
 chiefs refused their consent, and even from their tribes many chiefs
 have added their names to the treaty. On the morning of the 14th,
 when preparing to return here, I regret to say that, notwithstanding
 the universal good feeling which subsisted among the chiefs on the
 previous day, two tribes of the Roman Catholic Communion requested
 that their names might be withdrawn from the treaty. It is obvious
 that the same mischievous influence I before complained of had been
 exercised in this instance. I did not of course suffer the
 alteration, but I regret that the credulity of the chiefs should
 render them so susceptible of unfavourable impressions. I considered
 that on the conclusion of the treaty at Waitangi the sovereignty of
 Her Majesty over the whole of the northern district was complete. I
 can now only add that the adherence of the Hokianga chiefs renders
 the question beyond dispute. I therefore propose to issue a
 Proclamation announcing that Her Majesty's dominions in New Zealand
 extend from the North Cape to the 36th degree of longitude. As I
 proceed southward and obtain the consent of the chiefs I shall extend
 these limits by Proclamation until I can include the whole of the
 Island."

On the day that Captain Hobson had first met the Rev. Henry Williams
on board the _Herald_ one of the many subjects they had discussed
was the purchasing of a site for the colonial Capital. In this respect
the Missionary's geographical knowledge of the north was invaluable,
and when asked for his opinion he immediately pronounced solidly
against the Bay of Islands where the land was too confined for a
potential city. He was, however, enthusiastic about the isthmus at the
Waitemata, as being unoccupied by natives, and possessing topographical
advantages far in excess of any other known site. It was, therefore,
for the dual purpose of inspecting this promising locality, and of
meeting the natives at Waitemata, that the Governor and Mr. Williams
left the Bay of Islands on February 21 in the _Herald_. A
considerable number of signatures were obtained at various points
along the coast of the Hauraki Gulf, and on reaching the mouth of the
Waitemata River in the Firth of Thames,[99] Mr. Williams was
despatched to Maraetai to communicate with and collect the natives in
that district. As he was returning to the ship four days later he met
Captain Nias coming to meet him in his boat. The Captain conveyed to
him the disquieting intelligence that on the previous Sunday (March 1)
Captain Hobson had been attacked by a violent illness--due to the
harassing nature of his duties and to long exposure to wet, resulting
in a paralytic seizure[100]--so severe as to disable him, and to cause
him to seriously contemplate his resignation and return to Sydney.

When the Missionary saw the invalid in his cabin he took a more
optimistic view of the situation, and strongly urged Captain Hobson
not to determine so hurriedly to relinquish his office as Governor. He
further offered to find him comfortable quarters at the Mission
station where he could rest and have every care it was possible to
provide under the circumstances. These persuasions induced the
Governor to fall in with the Missionary's views; the _Herald_
returned to the Bay of Islands, and the patient was conveyed to the
house of Mr. Richard Davis at Waimate, where he was attended by the
ship's surgeon, Dr. Alexander Lane, and was for several months nursed
with the utmost solicitude by the Missionary's family.

During this period of forced inactivity Captain Hobson displayed the
greatest anxiety that the interests of his mission should not suffer
because of his misfortune, and so far as his energies would permit he
daily laid his plans for the carrying on of the campaign which had
thus been suddenly interrupted so far as he was personally concerned.

Fortunately he was surrounded by a band of men who were loyal, and
enthusiastic in the cause he had come to espouse, and he had no
difficulty in enlisting the services of those who were prepared to
continue the work where he had been compelled to lay it down. In this
respect the Missionaries, confidently relying on the traditional
justice of the British Government,[101] were particularly zealous, and
to them more than to any one else does the ultimate success belong.
Had they so much as whispered hostility, the treaty and all its
professions would have been rejected and despised. So far from this,
they not only lent it the influence of their word, but at this
critical stage, when the Governor was lying a stricken man, they
became the harbingers of its promises and the apostles of its
principles.[102]

To the north went the Rev. Mr. Taylor with Mr. Shortland; to the east
the Rev. William Williams, each bearing an authenticated copy of the
treaty, and authorised to treat with the principal native chiefs, at
properly constituted gatherings, for their signatures and their
adherence to the provisions of the national compact.

The meeting in the north, which must rank next in importance to the
gatherings at Waitangi and Hokianga, was that conducted by Lieutenant
Shortland at Kaitaia. Indeed it is questionable whether in some
respects it has not achieved a greater celebrity, for it was here that
the eloquent chief Nopera (Noble) coined the phrase which has been
more often quoted than any other in connection with the history of the
treaty: "The shadow of the land goes to the Queen, but the substance
remains with us."

On April 27 Mr. Shortland, who had now become Colonial Secretary,
accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Taylor, Dr. Johnston, and Lieutenant Smart
of the mounted police embarked on board the little schooner _New
Zealander_, and steering for the far north, touched first at
Mangonui, where they obtained the services of a native pilot, and on
the following Saturday anchored in the Awanui River, fully sixteen
miles from their destination. Mr. Taylor and the Doctor at once left
the vessel, and pushed on to the Mission station, there to arrange the
preliminaries with Mr. Puckey, the resident Missionary. The Colonial
Secretary remained on board the schooner until the Monday, and then
with Lieutenant Smart and the members of his force proceeded up the
river to Kaitaia, where they were received with volleys of musketry,
and the fearsome evolutions of the war dance. From an early hour on
the following morning the chiefs and people were astir, busy with the
preparations for the meeting, their demeanour being marked by a
cordiality which had been so conspicuous by its absence at Waitangi
and Hokianga.

At 10 o'clock the people--a motley and vivacious crowd--assembled on a
large grass plot in front of Mr. Matthew's house, where they were
addressed by the Colonial Secretary, with a solemnity befitting the
occasion and a pomposity[103] which he deemed becoming his station.
The illness of the Governor was touchingly referred to as a reason for
the speaker's presence; the text of the treaty was read; the purpose
of the compact explained; the machinations of the Queen's opponents
were denounced, and a promise given that His Excellency would strictly
perform all the solemn engagements which the treaty imposed upon him
in the name of Her Majesty.

With this important difference, that there was but little opposition,
there were few features to distinguish the debate from its
predecessors. Several of the speakers boldly stated they had been told
that the treaty was nothing but a cunning device to enslave them.
There were also dark references to a Nga-Puhi plot to drive the
_Pakehas_ into the sea, but to which they unhesitatingly declared
they were not prepared to give their countenance,[104] the speeches as
a whole breathing deeply the influence of the Missionaries.

The first speaker was a chief who had accepted the baptismal name of
Taylor,[105] who appeared to scent trouble, but subsequently signed
the treaty under the name of Reihana Teira.

"This is my speech. We have always been gentlemen; we do not want a
shepherd. We will not be hindered getting wood; we formerly cleared
any spot of land we liked, burnt the wood; then some once came and
built a house on it, and then we quarrelled."

"The _Pakehas_ say the Governor comes to take the land,"
exclaimed a chief whose name has not been recorded. "This is the first
time I ever heard the _pukapuka_ (the treaty). The _Pakehas_
explained it differently. Some people say plenty of _Pakehas_ are
coming to buy our land, but not for our good. They say the soldiers
are come to shoot us, and that the Governor will not be a shepherd for
us.[106] They say Mr. Puckey and Mr. Matthew know what is to become
of us, but will not tell us. These are my sayings."

WILLIAM (Wiremu Wirihana)--"They tell us you are come to
murder all the Maoris, but if your works are good you will come to
preserve us. If you are like the Missionaries that will be good. We
fear the soldiers."

In clear and emphatic tones Te Rewiti, to whom has been given the
English name of Davis, exclaimed, "I say 'Yes,' I say 'Yes' for the
Queen. Although some men say 'No,' for the Governor, I say, 'Yes.' If
the Governor come to be our shepherd that is good; but if he come to
take our land I will not have him. If you say who makes me say, 'Yes,'
I say my own heart. Much land has been bought by the _Pakehas_.
Let it not be said it has been taken by the Governor. It has been
taken before. I have nothing more to say. If you have anything to say,
say it now, but do not go home and grumble."

"Let all our sayings be one, let none say 'No,'" was the counsel of
Forde. "The Governor has not taken our land, it was taken before. My
heart and my thoughts are with the Governor. I say, Yes, yes."

MARSDEN--"We shall not be slaves. Had we gone to other lands
we might have been slaves; they have come to protect us. Let not our
hearts be dark; let us not listen to words from afar; let us see
first. Is it not sin to murder and commit adultery; to tell lies. If
what we hear from our teachers is true then what we hear from the
Governor is not a lie."

"I have no land to give the Governor," said Toketau (Tokitahi). "We
were gentlemen before, we will be greater now. Now we have more
blankets, shirts, and trousers. Our houses were once made of rushes;
they are better now. I have made my speech."

BUSBY (Puhipi)--"Before the _Pakehas_ came we loved our
own people. We sometimes quarrelled and then made war; then we made
peace again and rubbed noses, then we had another battle. I am glad
you are come; let our hearts be one. If quarrels happen who will settle
them? You are so far off. Murder and theft may be suppressed, but what
shall be done with adultery? It is carried on privately; do not let it
be said that I hide anything."

PI (Pihere)--"It will be good to see all the adulterers
hanged in a row."

"Will a man be taken up if he walk in the night?" was the pertinent
question put by Matiu Tauhara (Mathew). "That is all I am afraid of.
If a man steal it is right to punish him. This is all I have to say:
Let all the Governors and _Pakehas_ be like the Missionaries,
that we be good. We have not been hurt by them."

"If your thoughts are as our thoughts in Christ, let us be one. We
believe your hearts to be good. The _Pakehas_ bought all our
land, and we have no more," were the words of Matiu Huhu.

The speech of Paratene Waiora (Broughton) concluded those of the minor
chiefs.

"There is only one great man," he said, "who cannot be killed, that is
the tongue; it often stirs up great wars. My father, Nopera, was
sitting in his house reading his Bible when they said he was gone to
the north to kill the people. I say send away Pikopo (Bishop
Pompallier). Send him back; he is the cause of strife amongst us."

Nopera Panakareao, the most powerful chief in the district, who had
accepted the not inappropriate baptismal name of Noble,[107] then rose
and delivered the great speech of the meeting--a speech if not the
most influential in guiding the native mind at a critical moment it is
at least so rich in worldly wisdom, so happy in poetic simile, so full
of fervent loyalty, that it has become one of the Maori classics, and
deserves to be preserved amongst the finest examples extant of
old-time native oratory:

"Here all of you _Pakehas_ and Maoris. This is my speech. My desire
is that we should be all of one heart. Speak your words openly; speak
as you mean to act; do not say one thing and mean another. I am at
your head. I wish you all to have the Governor. We are saved by this.
Let every one say 'Yes,' as I do. We have now some one to look up to.
Some say it will be the _Pakehas_ who will offend, I say no; it will
be the Maoris. My grandfather brought the _Pakehas_ to this very spot,
and the chiefs agreed with what my grandfather did. He went on board
the ship and got trade. He spread it through the land. Let us act
right as my ancestors did. The _Pakehas_ went to the Bay of Islands
and were murdered. Let us do them no harm. What has the Governor done
wrong? The shadow of the land goes to the Queen, but the substance
remains with us. We will go to the Governor and get payment for our
land as before. If the Nga-Puhi commit evil they will suffer. We have
always been friendly with the _Pakehas_. We never went in ships to
England or Port Jackson to buy arms to kill our countrymen. If you
want to be cut off, go and fight the Governor. Do not, like the chiefs
at Hokianga, wish to kill the Governor. Live peaceably with the
_Pakehas_. We have now a helmsman, one said, 'Let me steer,' and
another said, 'Let me steer,' and we never went straight. Be jealous:
look well into your own hearts and commit no evil. The natives did
wrong at the Bay and suffered. What man of sense would believe that
the Governor would take our goods, and only give us half of it? If you
have anything else to say, say it; but if not, finish, and all of you
say, 'Yes'--say 'Yes.'"

This oration swept away all vestige of possible opposition as chaff
before the wind. No one was bold enough to contend with the
redoubtable Nopera, to agree with him were superfluous. The debate
therefore abruptly closed with a general exclamation of "_Ae,
Ae_" ("Yes, yes") and the assent and signatures of sixty of the
principal chiefs were speedily obtained,[108] so that a few days
later Captain Hobson was able to write from his sick-room to the Chief
Secretary for the Colonies: "I am happy to report to your lordship
that Mr. Shortland succeeded to the fullest extent."

The Ambassador to the west was Captain Symonds,[109] an officer of the
British Army, who immediately on receipt of his instructions proceeded
to Manakau and there, aided by Mr. Hamlin, a Catechist of the Church
Missionary Society, summoned at short notice a meeting of the chiefs.
The Missionary explained to the assembled warriors the views of the
British Government, and solicited their adherence to the treaty, but
the opponents of the measure had been in advance of its advocates, and
prejudice was already in the air. Amongst the most active in his
hostility was the vacillating Rewa, who having reluctantly signed the
document at Waitangi, had speedily recanted.[110] He now sought to
make up for his apparent desertion from the ranks of the opponents by
the violence of his attacks upon the Government, and Captain Symonds
found the chief had been so successful in his misrepresentations that
he was not able to do more at the first meeting than to dispel some of
the doubts which the ingeniousness of Rewa had created in the minds of
all. A few days later the chiefs were again in council, when new
forces were gathered from the Waikato, Taranaki, and Taupo. With these
Rewa had less influence, with the result that some signatures, and
several promises were obtained from amongst the most influential men.

But now a new species of opposition was developed. The haughty Te
Wherowhero, the potential king of the Waikato, felt that he had been
slighted in not being bidden to consult with the _Pakeha_
Governor ere this. Why had he been left to this late hour, and who
were these who had been placed before him? His dignity was severely
wounded; his aristocratic soul rebelled against such scurvy treatment,
and in a fit of pique he wrapped his blanket about him and refused to
sign.

Feeling that he must be satisfied for the present with whatever
measure of success he had achieved, Captain Symonds left Manukau on
April 3, and hauling his boats across the portage which divides the
Manakau from the waters of the Waikato, he proceeded down the Awaroa
river to the Church Mission station at the Waikato Heads. Here he was
received with the utmost cordiality by the Rev. Mr. Maunsell[111] who
was waiting his coming with no small anxiety. Matters had almost
reached a crisis with the Missionary, who in the previous month had
taken advantage of a large gathering of natives for religious purposes
to introduce the subject of the treaty, a copy of which had already
been forwarded to him by the Lieutenant-Governor. The project had been
received by the natives in the most friendly spirit, and signatures
had been obtained with the utmost alacrity. One important feature,
unobserved at the time, had, however, been omitted. No presents had
been sent to the Missionary to distribute amongst the signatories.
Exception had not been taken to this apparent lack of hospitality at
the moment, but word had come into the settlement from the north that
all who had signed the treaty at the Bay of Islands, and at Hokianga
had been paid with the Governor's blanket. The insidious nature of
this treatment had just dawned upon them when Captain Symonds arrived.
The whole settlement was in a state of wildest excitement. Their
Missionary had deceived them; payment had been withheld; their
signatures had been wrongly obtained. To put matters right they loudly
demanded the return of the offending paper that they might tear it to
bits and scatter it to the winds. Symonds was, however, able to
quieten the tumult with timely explanations, and, what was more to the
purpose, distributed a number of blankets amongst the chiefs,
promising a similar gift to all others who would subscribe to the
terms of the treaty.

The expedition displayed by Mr. Maunsell, but which had come so
perilously near wrecking his own influence, proved an unexpected boon
to Captain Symonds, who on examination of the signatures thus obtained
discovered that with few exceptions all the influential chiefs as far
south as Mokau, had acknowledged the sovereignty of the Queen. These
few were resident in the districts of Aotea and Kawhia, and were
within the sphere wherein was labouring the Rev. John Whiteley,[112]
of the Wesleyan Mission. To him accordingly Captain Symonds wrote,
"being well assured of the disposition on the part of the Wesleyan
Mission to support the Government by every exertion in its power," and
confided to him the execution of that portion of his instructions
which he deemed could be more expeditiously carried out by the
Missionary than by himself.

On April 18 Captain Symonds returned to Manakau, and there obtained
seven more signatures. Te Wherowhero[113] was still obdurate, though
manifesting no ill-will towards the Government. His native pride had
been hurt, and time had not yet healed his injured spirit.

In these latter negotiations Captain Symonds laboured under the
considerable disadvantage that he was unable to procure the services
of a competent interpreter, Mr. Hamlin[114] being absent on duties
incidental to his station. The lack of all public ceremonial was also
to his disadvantage, the pageant of which ever appeals with persuasive
force to the impressionable mind of the savage; while the surroundings
were not altogether without the suggestion that the crozier was still
secretly opposing the Crown.

[Illustration: REV. HENRY WILLIAMS, C.M.S.]

For the purpose of preserving the consecutive nature of our narrative
it will be convenient at this point to digress for a moment, and in
that time discuss a debatable point which must ere now have occurred
to the reader, viz. what was Bishop Pompallier's attitude towards the
treaty? To aid our judgment in this connection two classes of evidence
are available,--that of the Protestant Missionaries and the official
despatches of those engaged in the promotion of the treaty, on the one
side, and the personal statement of his position by the Bishop on the
other. Bishop Pompallier had landed at Hokianga in 1838 for the
purpose of establishing a branch of the Roman Catholic Oceanic
Mission, of which he had been appointed Vicar Apostolic. We have his
assurance, which may be accepted without reservation, that he hoped to
labour in a part of the country where he would not come into conflict
with other Missions, and it came to him as a surprise, and probably as
a deep disappointment, when he discovered that the existing Missions
had so far covered the country that no such isolation was possible at
Hokianga, upon which he had determined as the centre of his operations.
But having come he decided to remain; and his advent was a bitter
trial to the representatives of the Protestant Missions, who foresaw
in it a serious interruption of their work by the introduction to the
Maori of doubts and controversies which, while disturbing, were not
essential either to their civilisation or to their soul's
salvation.[115] Exactly what they anticipated would occur, did occur,
with the result that the animosities of religious rivalry were kindled
in a way that had never been known between the Anglican and Wesleyan
Missions; and the absurdity was not infrequently witnessed of Maoris
confidently discussing matters of dogma which for centuries have
baffled solution at the hands of trained theologians. The effect of
this was to sow the seeds of bitterness in the hearts of the
Protestant Missionaries, and there is sometimes noticeable a dearth of
charity in their references to the Bishop which unfortunately is not
singular in Church history.

We may, therefore, discount on the grounds of prejudice their
accusations against the "Catholic Bishop" as much as we please, but we
have still to account for the awkward fact, to which Mr. Colenso has
drawn pointed attention, that the most violent opposition to the
treaty at Waitangi came from the chiefs living under the religious
guidance of Bishop Pompallier. The same circumstance was noted by
Captain Hobson at Hokianga, by Captain Symonds at Manakau, and by
Major Bunbury at Tauranga. Was, then, this widespread disaffection
amongst the Catholic converts merely a coincidence? or was it the
fruit of suggestion?

It has to be admitted that whatever feelings animated the Protestant
Missionaries, at least Captain Hobson was not the victim of religious
prejudice. From the first he adopted an attitude of most respectful
deference towards the Bishop, a partiality which the Frenchman was not
slow to observe and comment upon. When, therefore, the Lieutenant-Governor,
took the responsibility of stating in his despatch to Sir George Gipps
(February 17, 1840), "The influence against me was easily traceable to
the foreign Bishop of the Roman Catholic persuasion," he is at least
entitled to the credit--considering the character of the man--of our
believing that he would not have made so bold an assertion had he not
been fortified by the conviction that there was evidence to support
it. The same measure of confidence must be accorded to Captain
Symonds, a military officer of, so far as we can judge, the highest
integrity. In reporting the result of his mission at Manakau he
records the fact that "Rewa the principal follower of the Roman
Catholic Bishop, exerted all his influence against me," and that on
his return to this settlement from the Waikato Heads a few days later,
he was still unable to secure the signatures of certain chiefs, a
failure which he attributed "partly to the Bishop's influence." Again
bluff Major Bunbury tells us that when at the Otumoetai Pa, near
Tauranga, "Another chief expressed some indignation because the
Christian chiefs had not, as he said, met them. I presume he meant
those from the other _pa_ where Mr. Stack's influence was
supposed to extend more than his own, and where a Roman Catholic
Residency and the Catholic Bishop were supposed to have more
influence."

Whether this failure on the part of the Christian natives to
co-operate with the residents of Otumoetai in the consideration of the
treaty meant their active hostility, or merely a negative indifference
to the proposals of the Crown, is not clear, nor is it certain to
what extent the influence of the Missionary Bishop and his assistant
contributed to either of these conditions, if either existed. Certain
it is, however, that neither exerted themselves to aid the
consummation of the treaty. Of this fact Bishop Pompallier has made no
secret so far as he himself was concerned, and it is unlikely that his
clergy would adopt an attitude different to his own. Neutrality he
makes the buttress of his position, professing a total disregard for
politics; his whole concern being the spreading of the Church's
influence and the refutation of heresy. Of this, a perusal of the
Bishop's own statement is the least devious road to proof:

 On January 1840 Captain Hobson arrived at the Bay of Islands with the
 qualification of English Consul and Vice-Governor of New Zealand,
 under the immediate control of the Governor of Sydney in New Holland.
 The corvette, the _Herald_, brought Captain Hobson and all the
 members of his approaching administration. The Protestant
 Missionaries spread the report amongst the natives that this time the
 Catholic Bishop was going to be taken out of the country by the
 English man-o'-war which lay at anchor off the coast. They said also
 that I would not dare to appear at the public meetings that the new
 Governor was going to hold with the Maori chiefs and the whites, to
 talk over with them his plans for the Colonial administration of New
 Zealand. All the natives in the country were astonished both at the
 arrival of a strange Governor, and at the strange reports that were
 flying about. The day after his arrival, the Maori chiefs received
 printed letters from Captain Hobson, inviting them to meet at a place
 in the Bay called "Waitangi," where a treaty was to be read to them
 in their own language, and afterwards signed by them. Many of the
 Catholic chiefs came to consult me, above all the great chief Rewa.
 They asked me what was to be done under the circumstances in which
 their country was placed, and whether they ought or not to sign. I
 answered them that these were political matters which were outside my
 province. I was only in this country to pasture souls in the word of
 God, and direct them in the faith, morality, and the Catholic
 discipline, confer the sacraments of salvation on persons of
 whatsoever nationality who should have recourse to my ministry in a
 proper disposition, and that there ended my divine mission. It was
 for them to determine what they might desire to do with their
 national sovereignty; whether to keep it or to transfer it to a
 foreign nation; they were therefore at liberty to sign or not, to
 sign the treaty which was going to be put before them; that for
 myself and my clergy we were prepared to exercise our ministry of
 salvation for those who signed in the same manner as for those who
 did not sign. In a word, we were prepared to instruct them in the
 faith whether they continued to be New Zealanders or became English.
 Now in this way I kept myself entirely aloof from politics, and the
 people were at liberty to do as seemed best to them, with regard to
 their social state of life, and I remained free in what concerned my
 ministry for the spiritual and Christian life they had to follow in
 the Catholic Church. I went dressed in my Episcopal cassock, to the
 great meeting of the chiefs of the Bay of Islands with the whites,
 over which Captain Hobson presided. His Excellency was surrounded by
 the officers of the corvette and by a number of Protestant
 Missionaries. My coming was a great surprise to the latter, and to
 the natives who had heard that I should never dare to appear there.
 Captain Hobson received me with much civility and respect, and caused
 me to be put in a place of distinction. A political treaty which the
 English Government wished to conclude with the Maoris was read and
 explained to them. By virtue of this treaty the Maoris became English
 subjects; they remained masters of their landed property, but they
 were not allowed to sell, as formerly to private purchasers. If they
 desired to sell any of their land they could only do so with the
 consent of the Colonial Government.

 While the speeches were being made on behalf of Captain Hobson and
 the chiefs of the Maori tribes I remained silent; I had nothing to
 say; they were simply about political matters. One question, however,
 interested me deeply, it was that of religious freedom about which no
 one in any way seemed to trouble themselves. Before the last meeting
 broke up, and it became a question of signing the treaty I broke
 silence. I addressed Captain Hobson, begging him to make known to all
 the people the principles of European civilisation which obtain in
 Great Britain, and which would guarantee free and equal protection to
 the Catholics as to every other religion in New Zealand. My demand
 was immediately acceded to by Captain Hobson, who made a formal
 notification of it to all the assembled people, to the great
 satisfaction of all the Catholic chiefs and tribes, who triumphed in
 the fact of my presence in the face of the Protestant Missionaries,
 and at the speedy compliance with the few words I had spoken. As to
 the political treaty, was it or was it not understood by the natives?
 That is a mystery difficult to solve. The result was that some chiefs
 signed it and some did not. But the Catholic religion gained instead
 of losing its dignity and its influence over the minds of the people.
 When a certain number of natives had signed the treaty the
 sovereignty of England over the whole of New Zealand was declared by
 a salvo of artillery fired by the corvette _Herald_. The English
 flag floated over the country, and Mr. Hobson took the title of
 Vice-Governor of New Zealand. As for myself, I exercised my ministry
 as freely as before over all parts of this large archipelago. The
 Governor seemed to have a particular regard for the Catholic Bishop.
 His Excellency promised that my future missionary vessel should be
 free from all imposts, and that everything that came to me from
 beyond the country for the purpose of my labours should be free from
 duty. My position at this time disappointed not a little the ill-will
 of those who had spread sinister reports about myself and my clergy,
 some weeks before. The people became more and more confident in the
 idea that Protestantism had always been deceiving them. They saw,
 moreover, that we had come to New Zealand but for them and the ends
 of salvation, in favour of every soul that lived in the country, not
 troubling ourselves as to what national flag they belonged. They saw
 in our hands but one standard, that of the cross that leads to
 Heavenly glory. At one time they had said the Catholic had come to
 seize upon the sovereignty of New Zealand, and they beheld him
 remaining and working just as before, after possession had been
 taken. Many natives in their uprightness said, "It was all very well
 for the Protestant Ministers to tell us so much about the Catholic
 Bishop taking our country, but on the contrary, it was themselves, in
 their own nation who took it from us." From all these new
 circumstances there resulted on the part of the people, English and
 Maoris, but especially the latter, more esteem, more confidence, more
 attention for the Bishop and the Catholic Clergy.[116]

The Bishop's publicly expressed views receive valuable confirmation
from Captain Lavaud, of the French frigate _L'Aube_ which reached
the Bay of Islands in July 1840. After paying his respects to the
Lieutenant-Governor, the Captain proceeded to the Bishop's house and
there had an interview with the prelate, the substance of which he
subsequently reported in the following terms to the French Minister of
Marine:

 I arrived at the Bishop's only in the afternoon, so long is the
 passage from Russell-town to Kororareka against contrary winds and
 tide. I was curious and impatient to hear what he might have to
 communicate to me. Still I was reassured as to the situation in which
 he found himself placed with regard to the authorities, by the very
 pleasing manner in which Mr. Hobson[117] had just spoken of him to
 me: the feelings of esteem and consideration which he expressed; the
 respect his name evoked from all those present, and the well-deserved
 praise they gave to his character and his tolerance. Compared with
 the Anglican Missionaries he was the real good man, the friend of the
 poor and of the savages, having no other ambition than to call to the
 Catholic faith and to civilisation the natives, to whose happiness he
 consecrates his existence, hoping to receive in the other world a
 reward which his adversaries prefer to taste in this one. Their
 evangelic labours are thus always accompanied by schemes of
 aggrandisement of luxury, and of riches, things in which they have
 until now made considerable progress. To stop them nothing less was
 necessary than the prohibition of the Queen (of England) forbidding
 them henceforth to acquire land from the natives, and limiting the
 holdings to 2500 acres. These gentlemen were indeed not slow to
 notice that though they were occult instruments of British power in
 New Zealand, they were its first victims. One must not, however,
 believe that the Anglican, Wesleyan, Methodist, and other
 Missionaries occupy themselves exclusively, and all of them, with
 speculations and means of making their fortunes; they also occupy
 themselves with the instruction of the people, but I shall have
 opportunity later on of returning to this subject. On my arrival at
 Bishop Pompallier's I received the marks of kindness which that
 excellent pastor lavishes on all his fellow-countrymen. He thanked me
 more than it was necessary for him to do for all my care and
 attention towards the priests during the voyage, and he did not
 conceal from me that this little increase of subjects sent out to him
 by the Marist community had been so necessary for so long a time that
 it was no longer by twos, but by tens and even twenties that priests
 ought to be sent out to him to help him to save the people of New
 Zealand, of whom 25,000 were already on the way to Catholicism. He
 also told me how grateful he was to the French Government for the
 protection it granted him, as well as to his mission in these seas.
 He spoke to me of the acts of kindness of the King, of the Queen and
 the Royal family, and principally of the interest H.R.H. Madam
 Adelaide was taking in the success of his labours. I took great
 pleasure in listening to Monsignor Pompallier on this subject, but I
 had not lost sight of the fact that he must have other things whereof
 to inform me. I, too, since I had seen Captain Hobson, was rather
 eager for news, and curious to know the mission of the _Herald_. I
 therefore profited by the first opportunity I had to ask the Bishop
 to speak to me about the political events of this country, but
 Monsignor is like they all are, he loves his Mission, his successes,
 his hopes, and it was with difficulty he decided upon changing the
 subject of conversation, but at last he did it most graciously. I
 learned thus from him, that from the month of February 1839, Captain
 Hobson, who had arrived some days previously in the Bay of Islands,
 with the title of "Consul" had assumed the rank of Lieutenant-Governor
 of the Islands of New Zealand conferred on him by the gracious will
 of the Queen; that an assembly presided over by him, and attended by
 most of the great chiefs of the North Island, as well as several
 Europeans of distinction, Monsignor himself included, had taken
 place, the aim of which was to make known to the New Zealand chiefs
 that the Queen would grant her powerful protection to the New Zealand
 tribes who had solicited it, only under the condition that the treaty
 proposed to them would inform them that H.B.M. would extend her
 sovereignty over the Islands of New Zealand only as far as these
 chiefs would consent to sign it. I here transcribe this official
 document, yet but little known, and so singularly reproduced by some
 persons.[118]

 It will be noticed that at the Assembly of which I have just spoken,
 which was held in Busby's in Wai-Tanghi, there was not one single
 Frenchman, except Monsignor. They thought by their absence (at least
 that was their intention) to protest against what was taking place.
 The Bishop who certainly was not obliged to inform me of the motives
 that made him act differently, told me, however, that having received
 a special invitation from Mr. Hobson, he thought he ought not to
 refuse his presence, inasmuch as his Mission was quite a spiritual
 one, and that his being an ecclesiast put him outside of all
 politics, and that it was most necessary for the success of
 Catholicism in this country that all should be convinced that in that
 respect he was perfectly indifferent, that every day he was trying to
 avoid giving his conduct the slightest doubt of the purity of his
 intentions, that besides in the assembly Captain Hobson had in his
 address to the New Zealand chiefs, of whom several were Catholics,
 informed them that Bishop Pompallier, pointing him out, would remain
 amongst them, that he would be protected there, as well as the
 religion he preached, in the same manner as the British Missionaries
 and their co-religionists. At this assembly the New Zealanders
 appeared uneasy and anxious to know how the meeting would end,
 during which several speeches were delivered by the chiefs, partly to
 the Governor and partly to the New Zealanders themselves. At one
 moment it was feared the treaty would be rejected. Several chiefs
 spoke against it, and one of the most prominent, Rewa-Rewa, went as
 far as to say, "Let us drive away the white chief. What does he come
 here for? To take away from us the liberty you are enjoying. Do not
 believe his words. Do you not see that, later on, he will use you to
 break stones on the roads?"

 This chief belonged to the Catholic religion, but his allocution was
 opposed by two of the principal chiefs of the Island, and of the
 district of Hokiangha, as well as by Pomare the nephew of the
 celebrated chief of that name of Kawa-Kawa, in the Bay of Islands,
 all partisans of the Williams Mission. This allocution (Rewa's) did
 not have the success he expected for it, and the acceptance took
 place, although without enthusiasm, by the majority of the members of
 the assembly. Several gave their adhesion by signing the treaty,
 others retired without signing, and already on the following day,
 after a few small gifts, the sovereignty of H.M. the Queen of England
 was proclaimed over the North Island of New Zealand. Eye-witnesses
 report that this declared sovereignty is a conjuring trick on the
 part of Captain Hobson, but in that case, at least we must admit that
 the trick was played rapidly and skilfully enough. Other official
 declarations were made on the same subject.

Here then are the facts--conflicting it is true--from which no doubt
conclusions equally conflicting will be drawn. Having regard to the
high character of the Bishop it is inconceivable that he would desire
to do anything but that which was right. It is, however, equally
possible that he experienced a difficulty in completely suppressing
his national feelings, and that he had unconsciously created for
himself the paradoxical position of being neutral as an ecclesiastic,
and yet hostile as a Frenchman.

Along the populous shores of the Bay of Plenty, and in the interior
behind Tauranga, Hobson had as his allies the Revs. Brown and Stack,
while William Williams[119] carried the treaty from _hapu_ to _hapu_
through the rugged country on the eastern coast between East Cape and
Ahuriri.[120] In a like manner upon Missionaries Chapman and Morgan
devolved the onerous task of bringing the turbulent Arawas at Rotorua
into line. The manner in which these minor envoys laboured, and the
extent to which they succeeded is modestly told in their letters to
the Lieutenant-Governor; but this much must in justice be said, that
though their proceedings were necessarily less picturesque in their
setting, and less sensational in their climax, they were equally
sincere with those who garnered in the wider fields, and who in
consequence have loomed more prominently in the historical
perspective.

A mission upon a more extensive scale and one fraught with more
important issues was entrusted to the Rev. Henry Williams. To this
virile Missionary was allotted the task of bearding the lion in his
den, for the Lieutenant-Governor had every reason to believe that the
officers of the New Zealand Company would use whatever influence they
possessed to prevent the consummation of a policy which in its
ultimate effects they surmised would be so prejudicial to their own.
For this assumption events proved there was only too much justification.
The Government had, however, put its hand to the plough; and in Mr.
Williams, Colonel Wakefield found a match both in determination and
diplomacy.

A small schooner, the _Ariel_, owned and sailed by Captain
Clayton, was chartered for the journey, and late in March they set
off, calling at Tauranga and Poverty Bay _en route_, leaving
copies of the treaty for local circulation as they went. The
_Ariel_ reached Port Nicholson late in April, her coming being by
no means a welcome circumstance to the principal agent of the Company.
The first meeting between Colonel Wakefield and the Missionary took
place on the Saturday after arrival, at the house of Mr. Hunter, and
was more animated than friendly. The former had either not yet
received--or chose to ignore--the private instructions of his
superiors in England, to afford Captain Hobson all the aid and
assistance in his power towards the attainment of British
sovereignty.[121]

For ten days the Colonel doggedly held on his course of opposition,
during which time there was a frequent clash of wordy weapons, the
soldier seeking to vindicate the independence of his settlement on the
ground that they had acquired their rights from the chiefs prior to
the intervention of the Crown; the missionary maintaining that no such
rights could be acquired by British subjects without the consent of
the Sovereign.

Whether or not the constitutional nature of this argument appealed to
the Colonel, it is impossible to say. In all probability it did not,
but there are ample reasons for concluding that the governing
influence in his conduct was a desire to obtain possession of a block
of forty acres of land in what was then the most valuable portion of
the infant settlement of Wellington, and to which Mr. Williams had
acquired an undoubted title. Wakefield's subsequent actions at least
indicate that his surrender did not carry with it his conversion to
the treaty, which he still strove to persuade himself could not affect
the purchases of the Company. But whatever the considerations that
influenced him, just as the Missionary was preparing to depart in
disgust, he at length[122] consented to withdraw his objections to
the chiefs considering the treaty, and retracting what Mr. Williams
has been pleased to designate as his "insolent" remarks.

The character of the terms in which the Colonel was likely to address
the Missionary may be judged from a paragraph in a letter indicted by
him to his directors on May 25, 1840, in which he declares: "I cannot
express to you the feelings of repugnance entertained by the
respectable colonists who came into contact with Mr. Williams, towards
him, on account of his selfish views, his hypocrisy, and unblushing
rapaciousness. He frequently said that finding I had been before him
in the purchase of land in the Strait without consulting him, he had
endeavoured to do the best for himself, and had disparaged the Company
and its settlers to the natives. On the whole, it was only by a great
effort, and in the hope of benefiting the colony that I could bring
myself to hold any terms with this worst of land-sharks."[123]

The hostility of the Company's principal agent once removed,
thirty-two of the chiefs signed the treaty readily enough on the 29th
of the month, the impression made on Mr. Williams's mind being "that
they were much gratified that protection was now afforded to them in
common with Her Majesty's subjects."

In his marked antipathy to Mr. Williams and all that he did Colonel
Wakefield has endeavoured to deprecate the value of these proceedings
in his report to his superiors, wherein he takes the responsibility of
saying, "The natives executed some paper, the purport of which they
were totally ignorant," and insinuates that the whole transaction took
place in an underhand way and had neither the countenance nor the
assistance of the colonists.

The _Ariel_ then crossed over to Queen Charlotte Sound, "where,"
says Mr. Williams in his Memoir, "we saw all who were to be seen
there. We crossed over to Kapiti, Waikanae, and Otaki the stations of
the Rev. O. Hadfield. The treaty was explained at all these places and
signed.[124] On this visit I saw in the Bank at Wellington a map of
New Zealand about six feet in length, and was told by the authorities
of the New Zealand Company that the coloured portion was the property
of the Company from the 38° to the 42° parallel of latitude. At this
time there was no one in connection with their Company who knew
anything of the language. A man named Barret could speak a few words
in the most ordinary form. This man alone was the medium of
communication between the Maoris and the Company in all their affairs,
and the deeds of purchase were drawn up in English, not one word of
which was understood by the Maoris."

It had been Mr. Williams's intention, after completing the collection
of the signatures in the vicinity of Cook Strait, to proceed to the
far South, soliciting the assent of the Ngai-Tahu tribe to the terms
of the treaty. To this end he had already entered into an arrangement
with Captain Clayton, who like the loyal sailor he was, readily agreed
to forgo his more lucrative coastal trade in order that his vessel
might remain at the disposal of the Government. Before this section of
the voyage could be undertaken, however, it was ascertained that the
Governor, deeming the mission worthy of some more ostentatious display
of power than could be effected by a schooner, had commissioned Major
Bunbury of the 80th Regiment to sail with Captain Nias in Her
Majesty's frigate _Herald_,[125] for the purpose of visiting the more
important Southern settlements.

On hearing of this, Mr. Williams returned with all expedition to his
duties at Waimate, which place he reached on June 10, bringing with
him the famous Ngati-Awa chief, Wiremu Kingi, whose anxiety to see the
Governor had induced him to travel all the roadless miles which lay
between Waikanae and the Bay of Islands.

On the submission of his report to the Governor, Mr. Williams was the
recipient of the most hearty congratulations from Captain Hobson, who
recognised in the service of the Missionary an arduous task well and
faithfully performed in the interests of the Crown.

On the morning of April 28 the _Herald_ left her anchorage in the
outer harbour of the Bay of Islands, carrying with her Major Bunbury,[126]
commissioned to accept the signatures of the Southern chiefs; Mr.
Edward Marsh Williams engaged to act as interpreter, and a small
company of marines whose presence it was thought would add somewhat to
the impressiveness of the occasion. Captain Nias was authorised "to
display the force of his ship along the coast," and Major Bunbury was
furnished with complete instructions for the governance of his conduct
in all his negotiations with the native people, which needless to say,
were to be continued along the strictly honourable lines which had
hitherto been observed by the Lieutenant-Governor. Pursuant to these
instructions the _Herald_ entered the Coromandel harbour next day
(30th), and Major Bunbury, accompanied by Mr. Williams, landed at the
house of Mr. Webster, an American whose claims to land in New Zealand
have since been the subject of searching enquiry by his own country.
The purpose of this visit was to arrange a time and place at which the
chiefs might be invited to a _korero_. Monday May 4, and Mr. Webster's
establishment were selected to fill these essentials, and messengers
were accordingly despatched to the various surrounding _pas_ to bid
the chiefs to the conference. Hearing that the Scottish exile, Captain
Stewart, the discoverer of the southern Island which bears his name,
was at Mercury Bay, a special messenger was hurried off to him
requesting that he would pilot the _Herald_ in these waters, and
likewise use his influence with the chiefs of Mercury Bay in the
direction of securing their presence at the meeting, to both of which
the sealer Captain gave a ready response.

"On the day appointed," so writes the Major, "Captain Nias, with
several officers of the ship, together with Mr. Williams and myself,
went on shore at 11 o'clock, but no native chiefs had at that hour
assembled. A considerable number of Europeans appeared, however, to
have been attracted by the report of the expected meeting.
Subsequently a number of natives did assemble with six chiefs of
different tribes. Mr. Williams explained the treaty; its object in
consequence of the increasing influx of strangers; and that the claim
for pre-emption on the part of the Crown was intended to check their
imprudently selling their lands without sufficiently benefiting
themselves or obtaining a fair equivalent. After a variety of
objections on the part of the chiefs we succeeded in obtaining the
signatures of four, one of these being the principal chief of the
district the celebrated Horeta,[127] of Bannin's Island notoriety. The
principal orator, an old chief named Piko, and another of inferior
note, refused to sign, alleging as a reason that they wanted more time
to assemble the different tribes of the Thames district, and to
consult with them, when they would also sign; but that he could, for
himself, see no necessity for placing himself under the dominion of
any prince or queen, as he was desirous of governing his own tribe."

This policy of procrastination was obviously induced by the
intelligence which had reached them of the arrest at the Bay of
Islands of a native, Kiti, for the murder of Mr. Williams's shepherd,
Patrick Macdonald, and of his trial and subsequent condemnation. They
did not complain of the injustice of the punishment, but the whole
proceeding was so novel in its character, and so dubious in its
ultimate result that they felt prudence warranted a deeper reflection
than the subject had yet received. They therefore hesitated before
committing themselves to a policy, the end whereof they could not see.

There was also a passing difficulty with those chiefs who signed the
treaty, for these gentlemen elected to entertain so exalted an idea of
the Queen's munificence that they deemed the homely blanket offered to
them as being altogether unworthy of so great a Sovereign's
generosity, and expressed a decided preference for forage caps and
scarlet cloaks. There was greater unanimity displayed over the feast
of pork and potatoes which Major Bunbury had thoughtfully provided for
their entertainment before he left.

After completing arrangements for securing the signatures of a few
eligible chiefs who were living near the Mission station of the Rev.
Mr. Preece, Major Bunbury, late in the evening of Friday the 8th, took
his departure from Coromandel in the schooner _Trent_, chartered
from Captain Bateman, and coasted round to Tauranga, a district where,
in consequence of a war with the Rotorua people, the claims of the
Crown had not been enthusiastically received. On Sunday, at nightfall,
the vessel arrived at the entrance of the harbour, but prudent
seamanship dictated the wisdom of remaining in the offing till the
morning, when the treaty party landed at the Mission station and were
welcomed by Mr. Stack.

"I was agreeably surprised," wrote Major Bunbury to Captain Hobson,
"to learn that most of the native chiefs in this neighbourhood had
already signed the treaty, the exception being the principal chief,
and one or two of his friends at the Omimoetoi (Otumoetai) _pa_. This
_pa_ we visited the same evening, accompanied by Mr. Stack. It was a
very extensive fortification, and appears to contain about one
thousand men. The chief who had declined signing is a very young man,
and his manner was timidly reserved and less prepossessing than most
of those I had before seen. On our taking leave he made the usual
remark, that he wanted to consult the other chiefs, and that he would
meet us with them at the Mission station on the morrow. On the
following day he did not speak until the close of the conference, and
then only in private to Mr. Williams--after Mr. Stack and I had left
them--to enquire how much he was to get for his signature.[128]
Another chief expressed some indignation because the Christian chiefs
had not--as he said--met them. I presume he meant those from the other
_pa_ where Mr. Stack's influence was supposed to extend more than to
his own, and where a Roman Catholic European residentiary and the
Catholic Bishop are supposed to have more influence."

A third chief, evidently of an enquiring mind, created some amusement
by his quaint method of arriving at a complete analysis of the
position. The debate had to all appearances closed--his own speech
being no small contribution to the oratory of the day--and he was
approached with a view to securing his signature, he firmly deprecated
everything in the nature of hurry, and calmly _taihoa-ed_[129]
the whole proceeding.

"Now first let us talk a little," he said. "Who was the first stranger
who visited our shores?"

On being told it was Captain Cook, he continued, "And who was Cook's
king, was he not Georgi?"

To this a reply was returned in the affirmative. "And who then," he
asked, "is this Queen?"

Major Bunbury took some trouble to explain to him that the King George
to whom he referred had been dead for some years, as also his two sons
George IV. and William IV., who had succeeded him on the throne, and
that the present Queen now reigned because she was the next in line to
these dead monarchs.

This modest little dissertation on the Royal genealogy appeared to
satisfy him on that point, for he immediately adverted to the native
wars, and more particularly to their own hostilities with the Rotorua
tribes. Major Bunbury assured him that one of the principal objects of
his mission was to persuade all the tribes at present at war to accept
the mediation of the Governor, and to induce them to abide by his
decision.

"If then your nation is so fond of peace, why have you introduced into
this country firearms and gunpowder?" was his pertinent rejoinder.

To this Major Bunbury replied that the effects of this traffic had
been much deplored by Her Majesty's Government, who were most anxious
to mitigate its consequences by substituting justice and a regular
form of government in their country for the anarchy which had
prevailed, but this could only be done by the surrender of the
sovereign rights to the Queen as asked for in the treaty.

His next enquiry was whether the Queen governed all the white nations?

"Not all," replied Major Bunbury, "but she is the Queen of the most
powerful white nation." The Major then went on to explain that Britain
had acknowledged the Maoris as an independent nation, but that
arrangement had proved abortive in consequence of the native wars and
their want of cohesion. To themselves alone therefore were to be
attributed the evils from which they suffered. As a corrective for
these political troubles the Government had not leagued themselves
with other white nations to force an unwelcome authority upon them,
but they had come direct to the Maoris themselves, and asked them as
a spontaneous gift to vest in Britain the power to avert the evils
which were assuredly accumulating round them; evils due to the
increasing influx of the _Pakeha_, and who must otherwise remain
subject to no law and amenable to no control.

"On being told," continues Major Bunbury's report, "that I was a chief
of a body of soldiers, and that I had served under the monarchs
already named, he enquired should his tribe, agreeable to my request,
abstain from making war upon the natives at Rotorua, would the
Governor send a portion of my force to protect them? I told them Your
Excellency desired rather to mediate between them, and only in cases
of extreme emergency would you be prevailed upon to act in any other
manner. If, however, your arbitration was applied for I had no doubt
the custom of their country would be complied with, by your insisting
on a compensation being made to the party injured, by the party
offending."

Major Bunbury then dwelt upon the sale of native lands, and the right
of pre-emption claimed for the Queen, explaining that this restriction
was intended equally for their benefit, and to encourage industrious
white men to settle amongst them to teach them arts, and how to
manufacture those articles which were so much sought after and admired
by them. This course, he pointed out, was preferable to leaving the
sale of large tracts of country to themselves, when they would almost
surely pass into the hands of men who would never come amongst them,
but would by their speculations hamper the industrious. The Government
being aware of the intentions of these men--many of whom had no doubt
counselled them against signing the treaty--would nevertheless
unceasingly exert themselves to mitigate the evils following in the
train of the speculators, by purchasing the land directly from the
natives at a more just valuation.

To this the Nestor of the tribe replied that there was but cold
comfort in that for them, as their lands had already gone to the white
men, but the land had been fairly sold and fairly bought.

[Illustration: MAJOR BUNBURY, K.T.S.]

Feeling that he had now said all that he could say of a nature likely
to influence the chiefs, and knowing the constitutional abhorrence on
the part of the Maori to hurry in such matters, Major Bunbury
intimated that he had still another _pa_ to visit, and departed,
leaving Mr. Williams to answer any new points which might be evolved
in the fertile brain of the men who spoke for the tribe. Their further
deliberations, however, took a pecuniary rather than a legal turn.
Presents were demanded, and when Mr. Williams indicated that Major
Bunbury would doubtless arrange that Mr. Stack should distribute his
gifts to those entitled to receive them the sceptical diplomat, who
believed in having his bird in the hand, was candid enough to remark
that he was not enamoured of prospects so remote.

Before leaving the district Major Bunbury visited the chiefs of the
Maungatapu _pa_, a stronghold of great strength, peopled by a
tribe of considerable importance. These men being well disposed
towards the Government had, with two exceptions, previously signed the
treaty, and their reception of the Governor's representative was most
cordial. The hospitality of his table was offered by Nuka, the
principal chief, whose engaging manners and admirable bearing so
impressed the visitor that he estimated his good-will as worth
securing at the cost of "some mark of distinction" if ever it came
within the policy of the Government to so honour the more discerning
of the chiefs.

"I have deemed it expedient to enter more fully into the detail of
this conference," wrote the Major to the Lieutenant-Governor in rebuke
of the disloyal speculators, "as one which not only shows fully the
general character of the natives, but also the nature of the obstacles
I may hereafter expect to meet when principles alien to the Government
have been instilled by interested Europeans into their minds, as
exemplified also at Coromandel Harbour. Neither will I disguise from
Your Excellency my regrets that men professing Christianity should, in
a country emerging from barbarity, whose inhabitants are scarcely able
to comprehend the simplest doctrines of the Christian religion,
endeavour to create distrust of its Ministers--of whatever
persuasion--Christianity in any shape, with these people being better
than the deplorable condition of many of them at present. It is not
the specious professions of a religion which asserts itself
unconnected with civil Government which should blind us to the
political disunion it creates, but rather its sincerity should be
tested by its acts and their effects whether it seeks to open a new
field of labour before uncultivated, or to paralyse the efforts of
those who have laboured to improve the soil by establishing themselves
upon it. The latter I conceive is incompatible with such professions,
while this country contains so vast a field untried, but still it is
to be hoped reclaimable."

At the conclusion of the Tauranga conference Major Bunbury resumed his
journey towards the south, the Missionaries being commissioned by him
to continue their negotiations for signatures as opportunity offered.
With the Arawa people at Rotorua, they had but poor success, for the
reason that the members of that tribe were not altogether free to
exercise their own will. Worsted in recent wars by Hongi and other
victorious chiefs, the Arawas had in self-defence sought an alliance
with the great Te Heuheu, of Taupo, whose protecting _mana_ was
at this time thrown over them, and fearful lest they might forfeit his
good-will should they adopt a course to which they had every reason to
believe their ally was hostile, they refused to subscribe to the
treaty until the voice of Te Heuheu had been heard. This leads us to a
point where it will be convenient to consider the attitude adopted
towards the treaty by this remarkable man.

Te Heuheu Tukino was the second chief of that name, and was a leader
endowed with exceptional power, being large of body and of brain. His
home was on the shores of Lake Taupo, and by claiming certain
geographical features as portions of his own body, he had thereby
rendered his domain sacred, and so limited the right to dispose of it
to himself. He was not amongst the chiefs present at Waitangi, for
under the limited notice given by Captain Hobson, that was not
possible. It is even within the bounds of probability that had the
messengers of the Lieutenant-Governor reached him he would have
dismissed them as they came, for of this he was firmly convinced--that
he was "a law unto himself," asserting his own _rangatiratanga_ as
sufficiently strong to rule his own people, for which he neither
needed nor desired foreign assistance. His first introduction to the
treaty came to him through his younger brother Iwikau, who, together
with another chief of Taupo, Te Korohiko, were at the then small
settlement which has now grown into the city of Auckland, when they
were met by Captain Hobson's messengers, and invited to Waitangi.
Iwikau and his companion was in charge of a company of Taupo natives
who had gone to the shores of Waitemata harbour for the purpose of
acquiring European goods. They had packed bundles of flax fibre on the
backs of their slaves, who had carried this medium of trade over
trackless miles to the coast in order that it might be exchanged for
guns and powder. While trafficking with the _Pakehas_ news came of the
projected meeting at Waitangi, and some of the Nga-Puhi chiefs--so we
are told--thus addressed Iwikau: "Go you to Waitangi, for you are the
fish of the stomach of the island.[130] The _mana_ of Queen Victoria
is about to be drawn as a cover over the island. All we chiefs of the
native people will pass under her and her _mana_, that we may not be
assailed by the other great nations of the world."

To this Iwikau answered: "I will not be able to attend that meeting if
such is its object, namely consenting to the _mana_ of Queen
Victoria being placed over us. The right man to consent to or reject
such a course is my elder brother, Te Heuheu, at Taupo; and any action
on my part might be condemned by him."

This objection was combated by the messengers from Nga-Puhi, who
replied: "By all means go, that you may acquire red blankets to take
back to your elder brother at Taupo."

Iwikau was still obdurate, feeling that he had no authority to
compromise his tribe in the absence of his superior chief, but the
vision of the red blankets was more than Te Korohiko could resist, and
he joined to those of the Nga-Puhi chiefs his own solicitations: "Oh,
let us go that we may acquire the red blankets."

This appeal finally broke down the resistance of Iwikau. They attended
the conference at Waitangi, and amongst others of influential rank
were invited to sign the treaty. Before signing, Iwikau remarked to
Captain Hobson, "I have heard the payment for the chiefs' consent to
the Queen's rule consists of blankets." To which the Queen's officer,
always anxious that his presents should not be misunderstood, replied,
"No, not exactly. The blankets are not payment, but a friendly gift to
you folks who have come from afar, and as a means of keeping you warm
on your home journey."

The point of distinction was evidently neither so wide nor so fine as
to cause Iwikau any alarm, and he signed the document with a portion
of his _moko_, his clan being Ngati-Turumakina. Te Korohiko also
signed, and when the gathering had broken up they returned to Taupo to
report their proceedings. They met Te Heuheu at Rangiahua, his
_pa_ at Te Rapa, where he stood in the midst of the assembled
people, a giant amongst men. When the self-constituted ambassadors had
concluded their explanations, and produced their blankets the storm
which Iwikau had secretly feared burst upon them.

"What amazing conduct is this of yours? Were you two, indeed, sent to
perform such acts? O say! O say! is it for you to place the _mana_
of Te Heuheu beneath the feet of a woman. I will not agree to the
_mana_ of a strange people being placed over this land. Though
every chief in the island consent to it, yet I will not. I will
consent to neither your acts nor your goods. As for these blankets,
burn them."

Thus did Te Heuheu assert his prerogative, and scorn the interference
of the stranger, but he was soon soothed into a more reasonable frame
of mind, by Iwikau, who urged his angry brother to await future
developments when he would himself see the treaty. "Be not so severe
and you can state your thoughts to the Queen's official yourself, for
he is travelling the islands of Ao-tea-roa and Wai-pounamu, seeking
you, the surviving chieftains, that you may agree to that
marking."[131]

Te Heuheu consented to wait, and the blankets were for the moment
preserved. At length news arrived that Parore, a Nga-Puhi chief, and
the Queen's official were on their way to Rotorua to bear the treaty
to the Arawa chiefs. Then Te Heuheu thus instructed his people: "When
the officer reaches the Arawa at Rotorua I shall attend. Let the tribe
accompany me, armed, as trouble may arise over my declining to accept
the Queen's rule."

There was much burnishing of rusty arms and snapping of fire-locks at
Taupo for the next few days, in anticipation of possible contingencies,
for these inland tribes had not yet fully realised the peaceful nature
of Britain's mission. Living as they did in the centre of the Island,
they were less corrupted by the influence of the degenerate whites,
and had neither seen nor felt the need for the interposition of a
correcting hand in the same way that the imperative necessity for a
change had appealed to the residents of the coastal districts.

Neither were the tribesmen of Te Heuheu being influenced by the same
considerations that were driving Nga-Puhi to accept the gospel from
the Missionaries and the treaty from the Government. For many years
the northerners had enjoyed almost a monopoly in the business of
procuring guns, and this superiority in weapons had enabled them to
levy a bloody toll upon their southern neighbours. With the increase
of traders and the enlarged enterprise of the tribes less favourably
situated, this advantage was rapidly receding. Others were securing
guns as well as they, and the leaders of Nga-Puhi saw that the day was
not far distant when their victims would retaliate, and they would
perhaps receive as good as they had given. They therefore welcomed the
gospel as a shield, and the intervention of British authority as a
bulwark that would stand between them and their enemies whenever they
should think fit to seek satisfaction for former injuries on something
like equal terms. Not so the Taupo tribes, who were less controlled by
such motives. Their position of greater isolation gave them the
confidence begotten of a sense of greater security; they felt that
they breathed the refreshing atmosphere of a wider independence, and
were less subjected to the force of external considerations.

Moreover, the ceding of authority by treaty was an innovation dangerous
in its novelty to a people who had known no method of acquiring or
foregoing rights so effectual as conquest, and, confident in their own
strength to maintain their position by the older method, they were
less disposed to dabble in the subtleties of negotiation. With war and
its consequences they were perfectly familiar. Diplomacy they did not
understand so well; and when to the uncertainty of the procedure was
added the supposed indignity of being asked to treat with a Queen, the
haughty spirit of Te Heuheu rebelled against such a demeaning
suggestion. To submit himself to the superior authority of a chief of
his own aristocratic lineage would have been indignity enough, but to
come under the dominion of a woman was beyond the limits of toleration.

In due course a messenger reached the _pa_ with the intelligence
that the Missionaries at Rotorua had received a copy of the treaty,
whereupon Te Heuheu set off with five hundred picked men, prepared to
resist to the uttermost should an attempt be made to compel his
submission to the Queen. On reaching the Papai-o-Uru _pa_ at
Ohinemutu, the discussion began, after the ceremonial of welcoming the
strangers had been concluded. The copy of the treaty which the Arawas
were being invited to sign, had been entrusted to Messrs. Morgan and
Chapman, the Church Missionaries, and to them Te Amohau and Te Haupapa
addressed themselves on behalf of their tribe: "The Arawa people have
nothing to say in regard to your object. The Arawa will await the
word of Te Heuheu Tukino, and will abide by what he says to you."

Te Heuheu arose with stately grace, and repeated an ancient chant,
revered amongst the sacred _karakia_ of the Maori, and known as
_Hiremai_. He repeated it to the end, all ears being strained to
detect an error, the commitment of which would have boded evil, but he
went on faultless to the finish. Leaping to their feet his warriors
then indulged in mock passages-at-arms, and when this form of revelry
had ended the great chief delivered his judgment upon the treaty:
"_Hau wahine e hoki i te hau o Tawhaki_. I will never consent to
the _mana_ of a woman resting upon these islands. I myself will
be a chief of these isles; therefore, begone! Heed this, O ye Arawa.
Here is your line of action, the line for the Arawa canoe. Do not
consent, or we will become slaves for this woman, Queen Victoria."

Te Pukuatua then rose and gave the final answer for his tribe:
"Listen, O Parore, you and your _Pakeha_ companions. The Arawa
have nothing to add to the words of Te Heuheu. His words denying the
_mana_ of the Queen are also our words. As he is not willing to
write his name upon your treaty, neither will the chiefs of the Arawa
come forward to sign."

Then turning to Te Heuheu he added: "Hear me, O Heu. The Arawas have
nothing to say, for you are the person of the Arawa canoe."

The blankets given to Iwikau, at Waitangi, were returned to the
Missionaries by Te Heuheu, with the remark: "I am not willing that
your blankets should be received as payment for my head and these
Islands," and with this embargo put upon their operations, the agents
of the Lieutenant-Governor were unable to secure a single Arawa
signature to the treaty.

The fiat of Te Heuheu went even far beyond the steaming waters of
Rotorua, for at Tauranga upon the coast there lived Tupaea, a chief of
the Ngai-te-Rangi, whom because of his influence the Missionaries were
particularly anxious to enlist as a subject of the Queen. He too hung
upon the words of Te Heuheu, and when he was approached he made answer
thus: "What did Te Heuheu say to you at Rotorua?"

The reply was: "Te Heuheu did not consent."

"And what of the Arawa chiefs?" asked Tupaea.

"They followed the word of Te Heuheu," replied the Missionaries.

"Then," said Tupaea, "I will not agree to the chiefs of Ngai-te-Rangi
signing the treaty of Waitangi," a decision from which neither he nor
his people could ever be induced to depart.[132]

In the meantime the _Herald_ had left the Auckland waters, and
made her way to the south, arriving off Banks's Peninsula during the
night of the 24th. Calms and storms alternately intercepted her
progress, and it was not until the 28th that Major Bunbury was able to
disembark at Akaroa, accompanied by Mr. Edward Williams and Captain
Stewart, whose personal acquaintance with the Southern chiefs and
their altered dialect[133] was destined to be of great service in
promoting a common understanding.

At Akaroa they found a native _pa_ in which lived a remnant of
the Ngai-Tahu people, broken by the last raid of Te Rauparaha, a
whaling station, and a cattle run,[134] established by a Captain
Lethart, who had arrived from Sydney as recently as the previous
November. The visitors were more favourably impressed with the
condition of Lethart's cattle than with the appearance of the
natives, who were so dejected by their misfortunes as to consider
themselves almost destitute of rights and without a name. The
signature of Iwikau, a brother of Tamiaharanui, the chief who was
conveyed captive by Te Rauparaha in the blood-stained _Elizabeth_, was
obtained, as well as that of John Love, another native less highly
born, but more richly endowed with intelligence. These two signatures
Major Bunbury conceived to be of considerable consequence to his
purpose, although from the diminished number of the tribe the men
themselves scarcely laid claim to the rank of chief.

Southward the frigate again sailed, and on June 4 cast anchor in
Zephyr Bay, a beautiful inlet at Southern Port, Stewart's Island.
Accompanied by Captain Stewart, who was now in latitudes peculiarly
his own, Major Bunbury landed next morning, and set out to visit a
station in the harbour, distant four or five miles, where for some
time Stewart had employed a number of boat-builders, and who, it was
hoped, might still be there. Vestiges of their former residence were
found but that was all. Their camp was deserted, their industry
abandoned, and no sound broke the stillness of the primeval forest
save the flick of a bird's wing, or the screech of the brightly
plumaged parrakeet.

Several excursions were made to other parts of the island, but no
natives were met with, either upon the shores of the sheltered coves,
or within the generous shade of the bush, and Major Bunbury returned
to the ship for the first time without having added a signature as a
trophy in the cause of the Queen's sovereignty.

Aided by his own experience, and fortified by the local knowledge of
Captain Stewart, Major Bunbury concluded that the prospect of meeting
with any chief in the apparently deserted island was so slight as not
to warrant the delay involved in the search. He therefore consulted
with Captain Nias, and together they agreed that it would be advisable
to proclaim without protraction the Queen's authority over a territory
that had impressed them both as being singularly beautiful.[135] For
this purpose, during the afternoon of the day after arrival, the
marines were landed with a party of officers from the ship which had
now been moved into Sylvan Bay. Here upon the apex of a small island
which becomes a peninsula at low water, the ceremonial forms usual to
such occasions were duly observed. The Union Jack was hoisted by
Captain Nias and saluted by the marines. A salute was also fired from
the guns of the _Herald_, and after the following declaration had been
read by Major Bunbury to the assembled sailors, Stewart's Island
became an outpost of the Empire.

 DECLARATION OF SOVEREIGNTY OF THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND
 OVER STEWART'S ISLAND

 The Island called Stewart's Island, New Zealand, situated between the
 meridian 167° and 168° east of Greenwich, and 46° and 48° south
 parallel, with all the Bays, Rivers, Harbours, Creeks, etc., in and
 on the islands lying off, were taken possession of in the name and in
 the right (by the discovery of the late lamented Captain Cook) for
 Her Most Excellent Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and
 Ireland, and Her Majesty's colours were accordingly hoisted at Sylvan
 Bay, Southern Port, on the 5th day of June 1840, by Captain Joseph
 Nias, commanding Her Majesty's ship _Herald_, with a detachment
 of Royal Marines, and by Major Thomas Bunbury, K.T.S., 80th Regiment,
 who were commissioned for that purpose.

 Done in the presence of us:

 Peter Fisher, Lieutenant, H.M.S. _Herald_; C. Hewitt,
 Lieutenant, Royal Marines, H.M.S. _Herald_; James Giles, Purser,
 H.M.S. _Herald_; J. H. Shairp, Mate, H.M.S. _Herald_;
 William Kelly, Gunner, H.M.S. _Herald_; John Caseley, Boatswain,
 H.M.S. _Herald_; Fred. S. Grey, Volunteer, H.M.S. _Herald_.

 _Witnesses._--Joseph Nias, Captain; Thomas Bunbury, Major 80th
 Regiment (charged with a diplomatic Mission).

On the island eminence, where the sovereignty of the Queen had been
declared, the original of this document was buried, enclosed in a
bottle--a silent witness to be produced in the contingency of
international complications, which were then believed to be by no
means remote.

For three days the _Herald_ lay weather-bound, but on Tuesday the
9th the wind shifted to a more favourable quarter, enabling her to
leave her anchorage in Sylvan Bay and move over to Ruapuke Island, the
home of the greatest of all the Ngati-Tahu chiefs, Tu Hawaiki, more
widely known as "Bloody Jack."[136] On nearing the land a boat manned
by some natives and Europeans came off, and a Mr. Hesketh boarded the
_Herald_ and explained that they had been expecting her arrival
for some time. He represented himself as the resident agent of Jones &
Co., of Sydney, and being on intimate business relations with Tu
Hawaiki volunteered to go ashore and bring him off that evening,
leaving an English seaman, formerly in the employ of Captain Stewart,
to pilot the frigate to an anchorage. Here she lay in proximity to a
French and a Portuguese whaler, neither of which had enjoyed a
successful season:

 The native village, being at some distance from an anchorage ground
 Mr. Hesketh did not return until late in the evening. The chief
 Tooiaki (Tu Hawaiki) came on board in the full dress staff
 uniform[137] of a British aide-de-camp, with gold lace trousers,
 cocked hat and plume, in which he looked extremely well, and his
 behaviour at Captain Nias's table, when he took tea, showed that the
 examples he had seen had not been lost upon him. He was also
 accompanied by a native orderly-sergeant dressed in a corresponding
 costume. The chief spoke a little English, and appeared to be aware
 of the nature of the treaty, but which I thought it necessary to have
 read and explained to him in the presence of Mr. Hesketh, and he
 signed it without hesitation.[138]

 He said he had at his village twenty men dressed and in training as
 British soldiers, and was very anxious that Captain Nias should
 permit them to come on board the following morning and see the
 marines go through the manual and platoon exercise, which he (the
 Captain) kindly acceded to. The chief then gave me a paper written in
 English which he wished me to sign and affirm. It was a declaration
 that the Island of Ruapuke was his property and that of his tribe, to
 different individuals to whom he had allotted portions of it. Not
 wishing that he should conceive that any deception was intended on
 our part I wrote on the back of the document, "I have seen this paper
 but am not prepared to give an opinion, or any information on the
 purport of it. The treaty guarantees the full and exclusive
 possession of their lands and other properties to the natives." No
 mention having been made in this document to the title to the Middle
 Island, although this chief styles himself the principal, I am
 inclined to suppose it is claimed by some Europeans, I believe by a
 Mr. Weller, of Sydney. On the chief taking leave, I told him I would
 return his visit on the morrow, which I accordingly did, accompanied
 by Lieutenant Hewitt, Royal Marines, and Captain Stewart, to whom the
 chief was known, Mr. Williams, and an officer from the ship in charge
 of the boats.

 After being carried through the surf by some natives, we were
 received by the chief in the same scarlet uniform he had worn the day
 before, and by the sergeant who then accompanied him, at the head of
 six soldiers dressed in British uniforms, without hats or shoes. The
 chief took us to his cottage, a weatherboard hut, and offered us rum,
 of which he appeared to have a good supply, but Mr. Hesketh, to their
 credit, states that although they are not absolutely temperance men,
 they seldom get drunk. I was afterwards introduced to his son, a fine
 boy of about seven years of age, of whom he appears justly proud. The
 child was dressed in a very becoming manner, and has six toes on each
 of his feet, which his father seemed to exhibit with much
 satisfaction. Rauparaha, who is a great warrior, and the mortal enemy
 of this tribe, is similarly gifted with this unusual addition to his
 feet. I also received from him a memorandum respecting the register
 of a small craft between 25 and 30 tons, building at Mauraki (Moeraki),
 which paper I beg herewith to forward.

 I was very sorry to learn from the chief that a British subject,
 named M'Gregor, who had been residing some years in this
 neighbourhood, had suddenly disappeared with a small craft, taking
 with him some of this chief's women and _kookis_ (slaves). The
 vessel is without a name or register, and Captain Nias is in hopes we
 may be able to meet with her. M'Gregor is reported to be a convict
 escaped from Van Dieman's Land, and his conduct made the English
 residing here for some time apprehensive that the chief might
 retaliate on them and insist on a compensation. An Englishman, a
 carpenter residing at Otakou (Otago) I hear has been shot by a native
 when in a state of intoxication, but whether in connection with the
 above affair or otherwise, I could not satisfactorily ascertain.

 Knowing that Captain Nias was anxious to proceed on his voyage, we
 were obliged to shorten our visit. The chief and his son came off
 with us, and the sergeant and six of his soldiers, with two other
 chiefs, came off in two whale boats, a third following with natives
 bringing potatoes, etc., to the ship. The soldiers of the chief and
 natives having arranged themselves on deck, the Marines went through
 the manual and platoon exercise, as had been promised, and
 afterwards, at my request, Captain Nias permitted a few sailors to go
 through the sword exercise, which, as I had anticipated, pleased and
 interested them very much, particularly the "attack" and "defence,"
 the chief frequently calling to his followers to pay attention and
 see how it was performed.

 Whilst the ship was getting under way they took their departure, two
 other chiefs[139] having also been permitted to sign at the request
 of Tooiaki (Tu Hawaiki). This influential chief is one of the
 individuals, who (similarly with Rauparaha in Cook Strait) have had
 sufficient address to gain the ascendency over the chiefs of the
 neighbouring tribes, without any claim from circumstance of birth.

Such is Major Bunbury's own account of his historic meeting with this
singular native, whom he left upon his lonely island in the midst of a
windy strait struggling between his native barbarism and an
inarticulate craving for civilisation. On the 13th the _Herald_
reached the Otago Heads, but so late in the evening that there was
only time to obtain the signatures of two chiefs who resided near the
entrance of the harbour.[140] Taiaroa was absent at Moeraki, and his
son was so far inaccessible that the limits of daylight would not
permit of his being reached. The boat, therefore, returned to the
ship, and on June 16 she dropped anchor in Cloudy Bay, then the most
important centre of European activity in the South Island.

Seven whalers were lying at anchor when the _Herald_ arrived, and
the strange admixture of humanity--the venturesome, quarrelsome,
quasi-criminal collection--which went to make up a whaling community
was forcibly impressed upon Major Bunbury when he landed at Guard's
Cove in the evening. The only chief of importance whom he met was old
Nohorua, the elder brother of Te Rauparaha, who had with him three
younger men, his nephews. Their reception of the Major was cordial
enough, but when the subject of the treaty was broached to them they
resolutely declined to attach their signatures to it, or to
countenance it in any way. This attitude was adopted under the
distinct impression that if they signed the document their lands would
be taken from them, and considering that their only experience of
deeds had been with the Sydney land sharks[141] the reservation was,
to put it mildly, a natural one.

Not having been successful in securing the immediate concurrence of
Nohorua, Major Bunbury left him in the hope that he would fulfil his
reluctant promise to visit the ship on the following day, by which
time he would have had the opportunity--dear to every Maori--of
holding a _korero_ upon the novel suggestion. Early next morning
the Major, Mr. Williams, and Captain Stewart set off for one of the
neighbouring coves, and here they met with greater success, the chiefs
signing without any hesitation when the principles of the treaty had
been explained to them. Amongst the various natives whom they
encountered was a young chief whom Major Bunbury has called Maui Pu,
who, having visited Hobart Town in the warship _Conway_, had
sufficient command of English to converse freely with the Europeans.
His sympathies were at once enlisted in support of the treaty, and
when the difficulties met with at Guard's Cove were mentioned he
expressed no surprise, as the natives had no conception of a deed that
did not mean the sacrifice of their land. He, however, offered to go
with them and assist at the second interview with Nohorua, and so
adroitly did he explain the purport of the second Article that the old
chief's objections were at length so far overcome that he agreed to
sign provided his signature was witnessed by his European son-in-law,
Joseph Toms,[142] a whaler who had interests both here and at Porirua.

Though there is no definite information on the point, it is probable
that Toms had added his persuasion to those of Maui Pu, as Nohorua's
reason for insisting upon the above stipulation discloses the justice
of his mind and his desire to fix the responsibility beyond any chance
of evasion: "If my grandchildren lose their land, their father must
share the blame." The three younger men having no son-in-law on whom
to shift the responsibility still postponed the important step until
they were aboard the ship.

On returning to the _Herald_ there was a considerable gathering
of chiefs awaiting the treaty party, and with the exception of
Nohorua's nephews all expressed their willingness to subscribe to the
terms of the compact. Not so these young gentlemen, who still held
aloof. For their reservation, however, the wife of one of them was
anxious to compensate, by demanding the privilege of signing the
treaty. She claimed to be the daughter of the great Te Pehi, who was
caught in his own trap at Kaiapoi in 1829, and when Major Bunbury
politely but firmly declined to permit her the honour, she gave way to
a fit of anger, and in a torrent of invective expressed her opinions
concerning the _Pakeha_ in general, and Major Bunbury in
particular, with a freedom that would have been painful had all her
observations been clearly understood.

As an evidence of the persistency with which these people had been
harassed about their lands, and the jealousy with which they sought to
preserve this class of property, it was noted that they all firmly
declined to receive the presents[143] which it had now become customary
to offer, lest by some quibble it might be construed into a payment
for its surrender, and in this attitude they persisted until they had
been repeatedly assured to the contrary.

The Rev. Henry Williams having visited Queen Charlotte Sound during
the course of his Southern Mission and secured the signatures of the
chiefs there, Cloudy Bay thus became the last port in the Middle
Island at which the _Herald_ could profitably call. Under these
circumstances Major Bunbury consulted with Captain Nias, and they were
agreed that it would be advisable to at once proclaim the Queen's
authority over the Island as the most effectual means of preventing
further dissensions amongst the natives and Europeans.

This resolution was not hurriedly arrived at, for although many
important signatures had now been obtained the whole position was so
hedged about with intricately interwoven interests that Major Bunbury
felt it was something akin to cutting the Gordian knot to take the
contemplated step without further consulting the Lieutenant-Governor.
Yet view the matter as he would, there appeared no simpler way, for
there was every reason to believe that delay would only breed new
difficulties, by suspending the establishment of political authority,
and by affording other powers time to develop their embryonic claims.
The presence, too, of so many vessels at anchor in the harbour seemed
to lend opportunity to the occasion, for with their co-operation it
was possible to render the declaration of Her Majesty's sovereignty
more solemn and imposing, and where it was desired to impress the
native mind Major Bunbury realised the advantage of pressing to his
service the assistance of this additional theatrical touch.

The decision come to by the Major and Captain Nias was conveyed to the
natives while they were still on board, and whether or not they were
seized of all that the ceremony involved, they entered with
considerable enthusiasm into the spirit of the occasion.

In order to invest the intended declaration with becoming dignity the
marines were landed on the little island on which was situated the
Horahora-Kakahu _pa_. There a temporary flagstaff was erected and
standing at the foot of it at 2 P.M. Major Bunbury read to
the assembled people the following Declaration of Sovereignty.


 DECLARATION OF SOVEREIGNTY OVER TAVAI POENAMMOO (TE WAI-POUNAMU)

 This Island called Tavai Poenammoo (Te Wai-Pounamu), or Middle Island
 of New Zealand, situate between the meridian 166° and 174° 30' east
 of Greenwich, and 40° 30' and 46° 30' south parallel, with all the
 Bays, Rivers, Harbours, Creeks, etc., in and on the Islands lying
 off, having been ceded in Sovereignty by the several independent
 native chiefs to Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of the
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the said Island was
 accordingly taken possession of and formally proclaimed, and Her
 Majesty's colours hoisted at the _pa_ of Hoikaka
 (Horahora-Kakahu), Cloudy Bay, under a salute of 21 guns on the 17th
 day of June 1840, by Captain Joseph Nias, commanding Her Majesty's
 ship _Herald_, and by Major Thomas Bunbury, K.T.S., 80th
 Regiment, who were commissioned for that purpose.

 Done in the presence of us:--

 Peter Fisher, Lieutenant, H.M.S. _Herald_; P. L. D. Bean,
 Master, H.M.S. _Herald_; C. J. Parker, Acting Master, H.M.S.
 _Beagle_; J. H. Shairp, Mate, H.M.S. _Herald_; Thomas
 Frazer, Surgeon, H.M.S. _Herald_; James Giles, Purser, H.M.S.
 _Herald_; C. Hewitt, 1st Lieutenant Marines, H.M.S.
 _Herald_; F. H. Niblett, 2nd Master, H.M.S. _Herald_; G. F.
 Munro, Assistant Surgeon, H.M.S. _Herald_; Edmund Webber,
 Midshipman, H.M.S. _Herald_; John B. Catoo, Midshipman, H.M.S.
 _Herald_; H. R. Crofton, Midshipman, H.M.S. _Herald_; H. W.
 Comber, Midshipman, H.M.S. _Herald_; Frederick S. Grey,
 Volunteer, H.M.S. _Herald_; William Kelly, Gunner, H.M.S.
 _Herald_; John Caseley, Boatswain, H.M.S. _Herald_; J.
 Chappels, Carpenter, H.M.S. _Herald_.

 _Witnesses to Signatures._--Joseph Nias, Captain, H.M.S.
 _Herald_, Thomas Bunbury, Major, 80th Regiment, charged with
 diplomatic Mission; Edward Marsh Williams, Interpreter.

The reading of the Proclamation done, the Union Jack was run up by
Captain Nias, and the guns of the _Herald_ began to boom forth
the Royal Salute. The yards of the frigate were manned, and the cheers
of those grouped round the flagstaff were answered by those on board
the man-of-war, the echoes from the surrounding hills being reinforced
by the approving shouts of the natives.

The all-important step having now been taken and received with local
approbation, the _Herald_ weighed anchor and sailed for
Kapiti[144]. Two days later (June 19), she arrived under the shadow of
Te Rauparaha's home. By a fortunate circumstance the great chief, whom
Major Bunbury had special instructions to see, was at that moment
entering his canoe, preparatory to making an excursion to the Island
of Mana. As the _Herald's_ boat was proceeding to the shore the
Queen's Commissioner and the chief met mid way, the meeting being of
the most cordial nature. Te Rauparaha left his own canoe "in lordly
decoration the lordliest far," and returned on board with Major
Bunbury in the ship's boat. Here the proceedings of the Rev. Henry
Williams were related by the chiefs--how he had explained the treaty,
obtained Te Rauparaha's signature, and presented him with the
much-prized blanket.

On enquiry being made by Major Bunbury for Te Rangihaeata and Te Hiko,
he was informed that both these warriors were at Mana. As this Island
lay directly in the route to Port Nicholson, the _Herald_ was put
about and her course shaped towards the south. Under a fresh wind the
vessel was soon abreast of Mana. The chief and Mr. Williams
accompanied Major Bunbury on shore, where they found Te Rangihaeata
but Te Hiko was absent on an expedition to the mainland.

No record appears to have been preserved of the negotiations which
followed between the representative of the Crown and the two leaders
of the Ngati-Toa tribe. Major Bunbury contents himself with informing
us that "the chief Rangihaeata, after some time, returned with us on
board, accompanied by Rauparaha, when both signed the treaty."

The importance of their discussion is, however, somewhat diminished by
the fact that the elder chief had already signed the treaty under the
persuasions of the Rev. Henry Williams, but their questions, which
were certain to have been shrewd and searching, would have been
interesting as revealing their mental attitude towards the proposed
innovation. There is a widespread impression, founded upon equally
widespread prejudice, that both men were thoroughly insincere[145]
when they subscribed to the terms of the treaty, and this view is
encouraged by the fact that at this time they stood less in need of
British protection than any other chiefs of the native race. They were
indeed masters of all the territory they claimed. Their immediate
enemies had been defeated and crushed, their powerful foes were far
distant. There was a gun in the hand of their every warrior, and
solidarity in the ranks of their every _hapu_. So situated they
had less to gain by ceding their sovereign rights than others had.
Neither is it to be supposed that the advantages of their position
were not apparent to themselves, for with their gifts of military
command, they combined a state-craft that was of quite an exceptional
order. If political considerations entered into the transaction at
all, it is more than likely that a presentiment of impending trouble
with the New Zealand Company was the governing influence in securing
their adherence to the policy of the Crown, and in the light of
subsequent events their fears were not unfounded--their foresight was
almost prophetic.

While on shore at Mana, the protection of Major Bunbury was solicited
by a section of the whaling population against the alleged
encroachments of the Maori chiefs in general and Te Rangihaeata in
particular. Though clamorous for justice, they were unable to
formulate any specific charges against the chief; and after such
investigation as was possible under the circumstances, the Major came
to the conclusion that the accusers were a set of "drunken, lawless
vagabonds," and that so far from their having any just grounds of
complaint against Te Rangihaeata, the chief in all probability would
have more reason to feel aggrieved towards them.

The _Herald's_ course was now directed to Port Nicholson, and
arriving there next day (20th) she anchored inside the Heads, the wind
and tide having failed her at a critical moment. Major Bunbury at once
left the ship and pulled towards the Thorndon beach, where much to his
surprise on landing, he met Mr. Shortland. The presence of Lieutenant
Shortland at Port Nicholson at this juncture requires some explanation.
Shortly after the departure of Major Bunbury from the Bay of Islands,
copies of the _New Zealand Gazette_, a paper published by the
colonists at Port Nicholson, reached the Lieutenant-Governor, and from
the columns of this journal, as well as from other well-authenticated
sources, he learned that the settlers had set up a system of Local
Government consisting of a Council, over which Colonel Wakefield
presided, and a bench of Magistrates, who were attempting to levy
taxes, and to enforce punishments for breaches of laws enacted by
their self-constituted authority.[146]

To this latter tribunal on April 14 came a Mr. Wade, pleading for
protection against the violence of Captain Pearson of the brig
_Integrity_, his allegation being that this rude seaman had not
only assaulted him, but threatened to throw him overboard. The law,
such as it was, was immediately set in motion, the Captain was
arrested and haled before Major Baker, who held the post of District
Magistrate. To his other supposed offences, Pearson now added the more
heinous one of refusing to recognise the jurisdiction of the Court. He
defied the complainant to proceed with his charge, and dared the
Magistrate to convict him. For this exhibition of independence he was
immediately committed by the irate Magistrate, who could brook no such
contempt for his brief authority.

On hearing of the fate of their Captain, the crew of the
_Integrity_ flew to arms and pulled to the rescue, but the
settlers were loyal to the law and repulsed them. In view of this
belligerent attitude on the part of his shipmates, it was deemed safer
to incarcerate the recalcitrant Captain on board one of the other
ships lying in the harbour, whither he was conveyed, but it is said,
"owing to the culpable negligence of the constable in charge," he was
permitted to escape.

While the authorities were foolishly dreaming that their victim was
safely under lock and key, the _Integrity_ sailed for the Bay of
Islands, where Captain Pearson reported, no doubt with advantages, to
the Lieutenant-Governor that the settlers at Port Nicholson were "a
turbulent set of rebels who were seeking to establish a republic."

The story of the indignant Captain took Governor Hobson completely by
storm, and after satisfying himself by reading the latest copies of
the _New Zealand Gazette_[147] that it had some foundation in
fact he developed a state of anxiety not far removed from panic. It
did not take him long, however, to determine how he should act in the
emergency.

In the absence of any legal authority to advise him he rather absurdly
interpreted the proceedings of the New Zealand Company as acts of high
treason, and within an hour had ordered the officer commanding the
troops to detach thirty men of the 80th Regiment for duty at Port
Nicholson. He also, two days later, dictated a Proclamation in which
he denounced the attempt to supersede the authority of the Queen, and
called upon all loyal subjects to resume their allegiance to their
lawful sovereign.


 PROCLAMATION

 WHEREAS certain persons residing at Port Nicholson, New
 Zealand, part of the Dominions of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, have
 formed themselves into an illegal Association, under the title of a
 Council, and in contempt of Her Majesty's authority, have assumed and
 attempted to usurp the powers vested in me by Her Majesty's Letters
 Patent, for the Government of the said Colony, to the manifest injury
 and detriment of all Her Majesty's liege subjects in New Zealand.

 NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM HOBSON, Lieutenant-Governor of
 New Zealand, command all persons connected with such illegal
 Association immediately to withdraw therefrom, and I call upon all
 persons resident at Port Nicholson, or elsewhere, within the limits
 of this Government, upon the allegiance they owe to Her Majesty,
 Queen Victoria, to submit to the proper authorities in New Zealand,
 legally appointed, and to aid and assist them in the discharge of
 their respective duties.

 GIVEN under my hand at Government House, Russell, Bay of Islands,
 this 23rd day of May in the year of our Lord 1840.

 WILLIAM HOBSON,
 Lieutenant-Governor.

 By command of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor,

 WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND,
 Colonial Secretary.


The exigencies of the circumstances were such as seemed to warrant the
taking of even a more decisive step than the despatching of troops to
Wellington, and without waiting for a report from Major Bunbury as to
the success or failure of his mission, two other proclamations were
hastily formulated and published, the one taking possession of the
North Island by virtue of its cession by the native chiefs; the other
declaring the South Island to be part of the Queen's Dominions by
right of discovery.[148]

In order to give effect to the views which he had formed Captain
Hobson commissioned Lieutenant Shortland, in whose discretion he
placed implicit confidence, to proceed to Port Nicholson, there to
personally read the proclamations, and to take such steps as he might
deem necessary to secure the due recognition of the Crown at the
Southern settlement. Accompanied by the small detachment of troops,
and a still smaller force of mounted police, under the command of
Lieutenants Smart and Best, the Colonial Secretary reached Port
Nicholson in the barque _Integrity_ on the evening of Tuesday,
June 2. A Mr. Cole[149] one of the civil staff, was immediately sent
on shore with copies of the proclamations, and a letter to Colonel
Wakefield, telling him it was Mr. Shortland's intention to land next
day and read the proclamations, requesting at the same time that he
would make all the necessary arrangements.

These dispositions were interfered with by a heavy gale which sprang
up during the night, making it impossible to carry out the intended
ceremony. In the meantime the Colonial Secretary was waited upon on
board the _Integrity_ by Dr. Evans, and Messrs. Chaffers and Tod,
who came for the purpose of expressing the gratification it gave the
settlers to learn of his arrival. They then proceeded to assure Mr.
Shortland that their actions and intentions had been greatly
misrepresented. Dr. Evans volunteering the information that their
Council had been formed for no other purpose than to preserve the
peace, and for mutual protection until either the Lieutenant-Governor
or some duly accredited representative of the Crown should arrive in
their midst.

These assurances Mr. Shortland indicated he was prepared to accept,
conditionally upon their being followed by some practical evidence of
their sincerity. He told them plainly that the Council must disappear,
that the flags flown as the insignia of its authority must come down,
and that any proposal from any body of persons assuming any power or
rights would be regarded by him as an act of hostility. To these
conditions the deputation agreed and withdrew, after again protesting
the loyalty of the colonists.

The storm having abated, Lieutenant Shortland landed on the beach at
Thorndon at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of Thursday June 4, accompanied
by Lieutenants Smart and Best and the four members of the police
force. They were received on the beach by Colonel Wakefield, Dr.
Evans, Captain Smith, R.A., and all the principal settlers, who
conducted them to the appointed place of ceremony. Here the Colonial
Secretary read the proclamations, which he assures us "were responded
to by three hearty cheers; a royal salute from the Europeans, and with
a war dance and general discharge of musketry by the natives who had
assembled in great numbers."


 PROCLAMATION

 In the name of Her Majesty, Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of
 Great Britain and Ireland. By William Hobson, Esq., a Captain in the
 Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand.

 WHEREAS by a treaty bearing date the 5th day of February in
 the year of our Lord 1840, made and executed by me William Hobson, a
 Captain in the Royal Navy, Consul and Lieutenant-Governor in New
 Zealand, vested for this purpose with full powers by Her Britannic
 Majesty, of the one part, and the chiefs of the confederation of the
 United tribes of New Zealand, and the separate and independent chiefs
 of New Zealand, not members of the confederation, of the other, and
 further ratified and confirmed by the adherence of the principal
 chiefs of this Island of New Zealand, commonly called "The Northern
 Island," all rights and powers of Sovereignty over the said Northern
 Island were ceded to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and
 Ireland, absolutely and without reservation.

 NOW, THEREFORE, I, William Hobson, Lieutenant-Governor of
 New Zealand, in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, do hereby
 proclaim and declare to all men, that from and after the date of the
 above-mentioned treaty, the full sovereignty of the Northern Island
 of New Zealand vests in Her Majesty Queen Victoria, her heirs and
 successors for ever.

 GIVEN under my hand at Government House, Russell, Bay of
 Islands, this 21st day of May in the year of our Lord 1840.

 WILLIAM HOBSON,
 Lieutenant-Governor.

 By His Excellency's command,

 WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND,
 Colonial Secretary.


 PROCLAMATION

 In the name of Her Majesty, Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of
 Great Britain and Ireland. By William Hobson, Esq., a Captain in the
 Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Governor of[150] New Zealand.

 WHEREAS I have it in command from Her Majesty Queen
 Victoria, through her principal Secretary of State for the Colonies,
 to assert the Sovereign rights of Her Majesty over the Southern
 Islands of New Zealand, commonly called "The Middle Island" and
 "Stewart's Island," and also the Island commonly called "The Northern
 Island," the same having been ceded in Sovereignty to Her Majesty.

 NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM HOBSON, Lieutenant-Governor of
 New Zealand, do hereby proclaim and declare to all men, that from and
 after the date of these presents the full sovereignty of the Islands
 of New Zealand extending from 34° 30' north[151] to 47° 10' south
 latitude, and between 166° 5' to 179° of east longitude, vests in Her
 Majesty Queen Victoria, her heirs and successors for ever.

 GIVEN under my hand at Government House, Russell, Bay of
 Islands, this 21st day of May in the year of our Lord 1840.

 WILLIAM HOBSON,
 Lieutenant-Governor.

 By His Excellency's command,

 WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND,
 Colonial Secretary.


As the last sounds of the rejoicing died away the leaders of the
Settlement again pressed upon the Colonial Secretary their
protestations of loyalty, and reiterated their assurances that in
appearing to assume authority over the community they had been
actuated by no other motive than a desire to preserve the peace and to
protect their property. Under these circumstances the Colonial
Secretary was able to write to Captain Hobson on June 20, "I have
great pleasure in informing your Excellency that Her Majesty's
Government is now fully established, and that both European and native
populations are in a very satisfactory state."

[Illustration: HORAHORA-KAKAHU ISLAND.

Where sovereignty was declared over the South Island.]

Matters were in this position when Major Bunbury landed at Port
Nicholson. He confirmed the harmonious nature of the relations between
_Pakeha_ and Maori in an interview he held with some native
chiefs, and subsequently with Captain Smith, R.A., Surveyor-General to
the Company. This gentleman expressed himself as being much annoyed at
the exaggerated accounts which had been spread regarding the condition
of the settlement,[152] and the disloyalty of the settlers, whom he
averred had received the Colonial Secretary[153] with the most
spontaneous cordiality, the feminine section of the community being
equally enthusiastic in acclaiming the substitution of the British
flag for that of the Company. These protestations must be received and
accepted for whatever weight they may bear. It is a fact too well
known to again require substantiation, that the intervention of the
British Government at this juncture was a grievous blow to the
promoters of the New Zealand Company, and that whatever the feelings
of the populace may have been, the leaders were never in a mood to
express jubilation at the authority of the Crown thus unceremoniously
overriding their own.

It is at least significant that the _New Zealand Gazette_, the
organ of the Company, in its issue of June 6, is content with making
the most meagre mention of the fact that Lieutenant Shortland had
landed at Thorndon and read the Governor's proclamations. There is no
enthusiasm, no shouts of acclamation described there, while the
editorial is sullen in temper, and ill conceals the barb of
disappointment, or the touch of sarcasm in its congratulations:

 We congratulate our fellow-colonists upon being secured in this part
 of the world in all the rights of British subjects. All know, of
 course, that His Excellency has it not in his power either to extend
 or limit our rights, consequently if we were, so are we now entitled
 to the representative Government we have sometime enjoyed, though it
 may be for the present placed in abeyance. Under the British flag and
 having our representative Government in respect of administration of
 affairs, we shall be the most favoured Colony in this part of the
 world. We shall be in a better position even than South Australia,
 whose constitution is conditional upon having a given amount of
 population at a particular moment, and the which may be when obtained
 of a very questionable kind. If deprived of our representative
 Government, the main good of the proclamations will have been placing
 us, so far as the benefits of trade are concerned, on a footing with
 all other British colonies. But with this good we have a large
 quantity of bitter thrown into the cup. The highest in the scale of
 rank is a non-subcolony with a representative Government, and free of
 convicts; the lowest a subcolony to a Crown penal colony; and this is
 the position in which the free men of New Zealand find themselves
 placed by a British proclamation. We are dependent on New South
 Wales, and are therefore lowest in the scale of British
 colonies--indeed it would be difficult to conceive a lower condition.
 We are to be legislated for by a convict colony, we are therefore its
 inferior. New South Wales has Norfolk Island--the accursed of
 jails--and New Zealand as its dependencies. We place Norfolk Island
 first, because first subjected to New South Wales. The difference
 between these dependencies is that the one is now devoted to the
 convict system and the other is not, but as yet we have no guarantee
that this shall not be the cherished abode of vice and crime. We have
congratulated the colonists upon being placed under the British flag,
but of course we firmly believe that Lord John Russell will
immediately render these Islands independent of New South Wales, and
that if we lose our Representative Government for the present, we
shall not find ourselves placed upon a less favourable footing than
the colonists of South Australia. It must never be forgotten that we
have shewn we can govern ourselves, and were proceeding in a quiet,
orderly, and successful career when the assertion of British authority
took place.

That these sentiments faithfully reflected the views of the leaders at
Port Nicholson is scarcely open to question, for the writer was in
daily communication with them, and the most cursory perusal of them is
all that is needed to establish how much of elation there is in their
tone. The fact is the despatch of Captain Hobson to New Zealand, and
his subsequent success, brought the keenest mortification to Colonel
Wakefield and his colleagues, and after resistance and ridicule had
failed to prevent the consummation of the treaty, they adopted an
attitude of silent but angry acquiescence in a line of policy which in
their hearts they regarded with the utmost malignity.

One thing, and one thing only, made the new position tolerable to
them, and that was the prospect of securing to their own settlement
the seat of Government. To this end they adopted an address of welcome
to Captain Hobson, and despatched Colonel Wakefield to the Bay of
Islands to present it. The bait was offered of a hearty welcome and
the most valuable sites in the town for the convenience of the public
offices. Captain Hobson's failure to accept the bribe only added fuel
to the smouldering fires of discontent and served to enhance the
difficulties of his already intricate administration--perhaps to
shorten his life.

The _Herald_ left Port Nicholson just before dusk on Sunday the
21st, beating out of the Heads in the dark against a fresh south-east
breeze, with her boats holding lights on the extremities of the
outlying reefs for the guidance of the helmsman. Her journey along the
coast was uneventful, and on the night of the 23rd she anchored in
Hawke's Bay.

On the following morning Major Bunbury landed in search of the chief
Te Hapuku, the most influential representative of the Ngati-Kahungunu
tribe living on this stretch of coast. By common report this chief had
acquired an unenviable reputation for rapacity and extortion towards
the Europeans settled at Ahuriri (Napier). For this reason Major
Bunbury anticipated some little difficulty in finding him "at home":

 "Nor," says he, "did the tears of some of the women who followed us
 from one of his residences we found at the bottom of the Bay, make me
 think more favourably of him. After walking about a mile along the
 beach, and crossing the sandy isthmus we arrived at an estuary, the
 road leading round it being only passable at low water. After walking
 and wading another half hour we arrived at the _pa_, but the
 chief had gone into the country. A native was, however, sent after
 him. Here we remained some time, but no chief appearing, we prepared
 to return, and left a note for him explaining the nature of our
 mission, with a native who was able to read. Before reaching our boat
 Te Hapuku overtook us, accompanied by a chief from the Bay of Islands
 district, named Hara. The chief, Te Hapuku, at first refused to sign
 the treaty, saying that he was nobody, and that he had heard that
 those who signed it at the Bay of Islands had been made slaves. I
 therefore requested Mr. Williams to ask the chief Hara, who was one
 of those who had signed, how he came not to be made a slave and how
 many slaves he had seen at that place when he left the Bay of Islands
 with Mr. Williams' father. He endeavoured then to explain his meaning
 by a sort of diagram on a piece of board, placing the Queen by
 herself over the chiefs as these were over the tribes. I told him it
 was literally as he described it, but not for an evil purpose as they
 supposed, but to enable her to enforce the execution of justice and
 good government equally amongst her subjects. Her authority having
 been already proclaimed over New Zealand with the consent of the
 greatest number of influential chiefs, he would find that the tribes
 must no longer go to war with each other, but must subject their
 differences to her arbitration; strangers and foreigners must no
 longer be plundered and oppressed by natives or chiefs; nor must the
 natives be injured or insulted by white men. It was not the object of
 Her Majesty's Government to lower the chiefs in the estimation of the
 tribes, and that his signature being now attached to the treaty could
 only tend to increase his consequence by acknowledging his title. He
 might, therefore, sign or otherwise as he thought best for his own
 interests and those of his tribe. To give him greater confidence I
 told him I regretted it was not in my power to show him the ship, as
 we had not the means of relanding his party. I could give him and
 his party a seat in our gig, but as they did not appear to have any
 canoes in this part of the Bay I did not know how they were to get
 back. He then immediately volunteered to go and take his chance of
 meeting with some canoes alongside the ship, in which he might
 return.

 "A complaint having been made to me by Mr. Ellis, against a native
 who had taken from him a whaling boat with its oars and sails, on
 pretence that Ellis had cursed him, and who acknowledged he had been
 induced so to act from having been prevented from removing some
 sawyers he had employed, and for an attempt made to make him pay over
 again five sovereigns and 40 lbs. of tobacco he had paid for the
 timber. I referred the matter on the spot to Te Hapuku, who
 acknowledged that the Englishman's statement was correct. He said,
 however, that the native did not belong to his tribe, but as he had
 been cursed he wished to know how the native was to be compensated. I
 told him Ellis had done wrong, but according to our notions, under
 all the circumstances, the punishment had far exceeded the offence. I
 should therefore insist upon the boat being returned to him, but as
 mild measures were always preferable, I begged he would send a native
 to advise the boat being immediately given up, to prevent the
 necessity for my employing the ship-of-war, which I otherwise should
 do. Mr. Parker of the _Herald_ and Mr. Williams having
 volunteered to accompany Mr. Ellis in his boat, I desired the latter,
 who understood and spoke the native language, to be told by Mr.
 Williams in their language, that I was determined that justice should
 be done, not alone to the natives, but to strangers also, and if
 necessary the _Herald_ would interfere. When Mr. Ellis was about
 to shove off in his boat he returned and told me the observations
 that had been made had caused such a sensation amongst the natives
 present that he was confident his boat would be, immediately on his
 arrival, returned to him, and that he did not consider it would now
 be necessary to trouble either Mr. Parker or Mr. Williams to
 accompany him. These gentlemen were accordingly passed into the
 _Herald's_ gig, and accompanied by Te Hapuku, Hara, and some
 other natives we returned on board. Captain Nias ordered a gun to be
 fired, at their request, and having signed the treaty and received
 some blankets and tobacco as a present, they were put on shore at a
 native village in the Bay, where they would get canoes to convey them
 to their residence. Mr. Ellis not having returned on board the
 _Herald_ according to an agreement I had made with him on shore,
 we concluded his boat had been restored to him."

Major Bunbury having now visited all the places of importance from the
point of view of native population on the East Coast, the
_Herald_ once more set her course for the Bay of Islands,
reaching port on July 4. Captain Hobson had so far recovered in
health, as to resume the active administration of affairs, and was at
the moment of the Major's arrival "absent on a tour of duty." The
propaganda of the treaty had prospered to the fullest expectation.
Five hundred and twelve[154] signatures had been obtained, embracing
almost every man of influence throughout the Islands with the
exception of Te Wherowhero of Waikato, Te Heuheu, of Taupo, Te
Waharoa, chief of Ngatihaua and Taiaroa, of Otago.

In recognition of this achievement Lord John Russell wrote to Captain
Hobson then rapidly approaching his end: "As far as it has been
possible to form a judgment, your proceedings appear to have entitled
you to the entire approbation of Her Majesty's Government."

In these circumstances we have now reached that stage in our history
where we may in words of the chiefs themselves, write: "Now, we, the
chiefs of the Assembly of the _hapus_ of New Zealand, assembled
at Waitangi. We, also, the chiefs of New Zealand, see the meaning of
these words. They are taken and consented to altogether by us.
Therefore are affixed our names and our marks."


SIGNATURES TO THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

=Waitangi, February 6, 1840=

  KAWITI. The leader with Heke of the rebellion in the North
    in 1845.
  TIRARAU. The principal chief of Northern Wairoa.
  POMARE. Was detained on board H.M.S. _North Star_
    during the Northern war.
  KIORE HEKE, of the Matarahurahu tribe.
  HORI KINGI, WHARERAHI. This chief accompanied Hongi to
    England.
  TAMATI PUKUTUTU. Fought with our troops against Kawiti, at
    Ruapekapeka.
  HAKIRO. Son of Tareha.
  WIKITENE (HIKITENE). Chief of Kapotai of Waikare.
  PUMUKA. Was killed by Captain Robertson of H.M.S. _Hazzard_
    at the sack of Kororareka.
  MARUPO. A noted warrior. Conquered Ngatimaru and Ngatipaoa.
  TE TAO.
  REWITI ATUAHAERE. An uncle of Hone Heke.
  WIREMU HAU. Afterwards a native assessor. Fought for the
    British at Ohaeawai.
  KAUA.
  TONA.
  MENE.
  TAMATI WAAKA NĒNE. The celebrated loyal chief of Nga-Puhi.
  MATU HUKA.
  KAMERA (KAITEKE).
  WARAU.
  NGERE.
  PATUONE ERUERA MAIHI. Brother of Tamati Waaka Nēne.
  PAORA NOHOMATANGI.
  RUHE. Father of Maketu, who was the first Maori hung for
    murder in New Zealand. Ruhe shot himself in 1865.
  KAITARA WIREMU KINGI.
  TAURA. Killed at Mawhekairangi.
  TAURAU. The younger brother of Te Tirarau.
  TE ROHA. The younger brother of Te Tirarau.
  REWA. Father of Huirau.
  MOKA. A celebrated chief in the early days of the colony.
  PAPAHIA. Chief of the Hokianga tribes. Father of Wi Tana.
  TAKIRI (TITORE NUI, the Great). First commenced
    the felling of Kauri spars for the navy.
  TAKO.
  WIREMU TANA. Son of Papahia.
  TANGATA KOTAHI. Son of Papahia.
  TE TAI. Son of Papahia.
  TOROIHUA.
  TE KEHA.
  KOWAO.
  TAKURUA.
  HINAKI.
  MANUTA WUNU.
  NGA MANU (HAUTOKIA).
  HIRO.
  MARAMA.
  MOE NGAHEREHERE.
  MAHU.
  WIREMU WUNA.
  TAWAEWAE.
  WHAREUMU. Killed at Waima.
  MAKOWARE.
  TE AHU. Son of Parore of Nga-Puhi.
  TUKUPUNGA.
  HARA.
  HAKITARA. Went to England to see King William IV.
  HAWAITU (TAMATI).
  MATATAHI.
  RAWIRI TAIWHANGA. Father of Hirini (Sydney) and Hemi. A
    very intelligent man.
  PARAARA.
  ANA HAMU.
  HIRA PURE.
  IWI. Ngatirangi tribe, Te Waka.
  WHIORAU.
  WIREMU WAHTIPU.
  PIRIPI HAURANGI.
  POKAI. Ngatirangi tribe. The celebrated Hone Heke. Leader
    of the rebellion of 1845.
  KAUWHATA. Ngatiwai tribe.
  TUIRANGI. Matarahurahu tribe.
  HOHEPA KINGI RAUMATI.
  TAWAKAWAHA. Ngaitawake tribe.
  TAWATANUI.
  RAWHITI.
  KUIHANGA (MAIHI PARAONE KAWITI).
  PARAKA.
  TAHUA HORI KINGI.
  PUKA.
  KOROIKO (TE KOROHIKO). A chief from Taupu.
  IWIKAU HEUHEU. Younger brother of the great Te Heuheu, of
    Taupo. He afterwards became an ardent Kingite.

  _Witnesses._--James Busby; Henry Williams; Richard Taylor,
  M.A.; John Mason, of the Church Missionary Society; Samuel Ironside,
  Wesleyan Missionary Society; James Stuart Freeman, gentleman.
  Witness to the signature of Pomare--James R. Clendon.

=February 9, 1840=

  REWITI IRIKOE.
  TE KUTA.
  PAORA KINGI (?). Patu Matekoraha.
  HAUPOKIA AHUAHU. A celebrated chief and priest. He was
    wounded in three places during the Northern war: twice through the
    chest.
  MOHI TAHUA.
  KAME KUTU.
  RANGI TUTURAU.

  _Witnesses._--Joseph Nias, Captain H.M.S. _Herald_; Henry
  Williams, clerk.

=Hokianga, February 13, 1840=

  HAKE.
  REWIRI.
  TE PANA.
  HONE MAKINAIHUNGA.
  PANGARI.
  RANGATIRA PAKANAE (RANGATIRA MOETARA).
  TIO.
  TE KAREKARE.
  TUKARAWA.
  PAKA.
  WHAREKORERO.
  MARUPO. Ngatikorokoro tribe.
  TOTO.
  TOKO.
  PO.
  PIRIPI NGAROMUTU.
  WIREMU RAURAKA.
  WIREMU PATENE. Son of Otene Pura.
  MANAIHI.
  PARATENE (TE RIPI).
  TE HIRA.
  TURAU.
  TE KETI.
  KENANA.
  PERO.
  TE URUTI.
  WITIKAMA.
  TIRA.
  TIPANE.
  MATIU.
  KAIHU.
  KAITOKE (TE WHAKAWAI).
  HIRA.
  KIRI KOTIRIA.

  _Witnesses._--Joseph Nias, Captain H.M.S. _Herald_;
  Willoughby Shortland; George Clarke, Church Missionary Society;
  William Woon, Wesleyan Mission Society; G. P. Russell, Kohukohu.

=Waimate, February 15, 1840=

  TAMATI HAPIMANA.
  TE KEKEAO PARATENE.
  TAONUI MAKOARE.
  DANIEL KAHIKA.
  ABRAHAM TAUTORU (APERAHAMA TAONUI).
  KAITOKE MURIWAI.
  TE NAIHI.
  TAHUA.
  TUKU.
  NGARO.
  RAWIRI MUTU.
  WIREMU WAHNGAROA.
  TIMOTI TAKARE.
  HAMIORA MATANGI.
  ARAMA HONGI.
  HAIMONA TAURANGA.
  TE KURA.
  HEREMAIA.
  PI, TE MAHUREHURE. Of the Waima tribe. Killed at Otuihu. Father of
    Arama Karaka.
  REPA MANGO.
  MAUNGA RONGO.
  WIRE MANU.
  TAKAHOREA.
  WAKANAU.
  MOHI TAWHAI. A loyal chief who fought for us at Ohaewai.
  TIMOTI MITO.
  HAIMONA PAIKORAHA.
  HUNA TUHEKA. Ngatipakau.
  PERO.
  WIREMU KINGI.

  _Witness._--Richard Taylor, Church Missionary Society.

=Waitemata, March 4, 1840=

  WIREMU HOETE. Chief of Ngatimaru.
  HAKOPA.
  TE AWA. Father of Te Hira.
  TAPURU.
  TITAHA. Killed by Heke at the battle of Ohaeawai.
  KAHUKOTI.
  RUINGA. Hori Pokai.
  HOHEPA.
  POUROTO.
  ENOKA.
  HINAKI.
  KEPA.
  PAORA (PUTU).
  MOHI TE AHI-A-TE-NGU.
  ANARU.
  WAITANGI, of Paroa.
  WILLIAM KOROKORO. Chief of Ngatiwai.

  _Witnesses._--Joseph Nias, Captain H.M.S. _Herald_; Henry
  Williams; William Thomas Fairburn.

=Kaitaia, April 29, 1840=

  NOPERA PANAKAREAO. Died April 1856 of erysipelas.
  PAORA NGARUE.
  WIREMU WIRIHANA.
  UMU.
  HIMIONA TANGATA. Died in 1860.
  MATENGA PAERATA. Died in 1862.
  RAPATA WAKAHOTU.
  HORI POPATA WAKA. Died in 1862.
  TAUA.
  TAITIMU.
  MATIU HUHU.
  TOKITAHI.
  PARATENE WAIORA.
  RAPITI REHUREHU.
  KORONEHO PUPU.
  PIRIPI RAORAO.
  KOPA.
  MEINATA HONGI.
  OTOPI.
  PAETAI.
  MARAMA.
  PARATENE KARUHURI.
  TAMATI PAWAU.
  REIHANA TEIRA MANGONUI.
  WATENE PATONGA.
  WIREMU NGARAE.
  HOHEPA POUTAMA.
  HARE MATENGA KAWA. Died in 1862.
  KINGI KOHURU.
  MATIU TAUHARA.
  HAMIORA POTAKA.
  HUYATAHI (HETARAKA).
  MARAKAI MAWAI.
  UTIKA HU.
  HARE HURU.
  TAMATI MUTAWA.
  HAUORA.
  TOMO.
  PUHIPI TE RIPA. Afterwards a native assessor.
  EREONORA. Wife of Nopera Panakareao. She died in 1847.
  POARI TE MAHANGA.
  RAWIRI.
  KEPA WAHA.
  KORONIRIA NUA.
  NGARE (RIWAI HAKI NGARE).
  HAMIORA TAWARI.
  WHITI. Chief of Awanui.
  RUANUI.
  HAUNUI. Died in 1862.
  KURI.
  KAWARIKI.
  RAWIRI AWARUA.
  RU. Died in 1862 of typhoid fever.
  PAPANUI.
  HAKARAIA KOHANGA.
  KAWAHEITIKI.
  PERE KAMUKAMU.
  KARAKA KAWAU. Afterwards a native assessor.
  PAORA TE HOI. Died in 1862 of typhoid.
  HIMIONA WHARAORA.
  APERAHAMA OTIRU.
  TARA.
  PIHERE, from Kawakawa. Ngatimanu tribe.

  _Witnesses._--William Gilbert Puckey, Church Missionary
  Society; John Johnson, M.D.; H. D. Smart, 28th Regiment, New Zealand
  Mounted Police; Richard Taylor, M.A., Church Missionary Society;
  Willoughby Shortland, Colonial Secretary.

THAMES NATIVES FROM WHAREKAWA

=Tamaki, July 9, 1840=

  TE ARA KARAMU.
  KUPENGA.
  NGAHUKA.
  NGA MANU.
  RARO MANU.
  TE HANGI.

  _Witnesses._--David Rough; George Clarke, P.G.A.; John Johnson,
  M.D., Colonial Surgeon.

=Russell, August 5, 1840=

  HAKE (URIKAPANA).
  KANAWA.
  HANIWA.

  _Witnesses._--George Clarke, Protector of Aborigines; James
  Coates, gentleman; James Stuart Freeman, gentleman.

=Coromandel Harbour, May 4, 1840=

  HORETA TE TANIWHA. Father of Kitahi (Ngatiwhanaunga tribe).
  KITAHI.
  PUAKANGA.
  HAUAURU.

  _Witnesses._--Joseph Nias, Captain H.M.S. _Herald_; Thomas
  Bunbury, Major 80th Regiment.

=Mercury Bay=

  PUNAHI. Ngatimaru tribe.
  NGATAIEPA, RAPUPO.

  _Witness._--Joseph Nias, Captain H.M.S. _Herald_.

=Akaroa=

  IWIKAU. Ngatirangiamoa tribe.
  JOHN LOVE. Ngatikahukura tribe.

  _Witnesses._--Thomas Bunbury, Major 80th Regiment; Edward Marsh
  Williams.

=Ruapuke, Foveaux Straits=

  JOHN TOUWAICK (TU HAWAIKI).
  TAIAROA.
  KAIKOURA.

  _Witnesses._--Joseph Nias, Captain H.M.S. _Herald_; Thomas
  Bunbury, Major 80th Regiment.

=Otago=

  JOHN KARITAI.
  KORAKO.

  _Witnesses._--Thomas Bunbury, Major 80th Regiment; W. Stewart.

=Cloudy Bay, June 17, 1840=

  MAUI PU.
  EKA HARE.
  PUKE.
  KAIKOURA.
  JOSEPH TOMS. Son-in-law of Nohorua.
  NOHORUA.  Elder brother of Te Rauparaha.
  WAITI.
  WI.
  TE KANAE.
  PUKEKO.

  _Witnesses._--Thomas Bunbury, Major 80th Regiment; W. Stewart.

=Kapiti, June 19, 1840=

  TE RAUPARAHA.
  TE RANGIHAEATA.

  _Witnesses._--Thomas Bunbury, Major 80th Regiment; W. Stewart.

=Hawkes Bay, June 23, 1840=

  TE HAPUKU.
  WAIKATO. Went to England with Hongi.
  MAHIKAI.

  _Witnesses._--Thomas Bunbury, Major 80th Regiment; Edward M.
  Williams.

=Manukau, March 20, 1840=

  KAWAU (APIHAI). Chief of Ngatiwhatua tribe.
  TINANA.
  TE REWETI (WIREMU REWETI).

  _Witnesses._--W. C. Symonds; James Hamlin.

=Kawhia, April 28, May 25, June 15, August 27, September 3, 1840=

  RAWIRI.
  TE KAWANA.
  TARIKI.
  HAUPOKIA.
  TE WARU (HORI).
  TAONUI.
  HONE WAITERE AOTUROA.
  TE MATENA TE WHAPU.
  NGAMOTU.
  WHAREKAWA.

  _Witnesses._--James Wallis; John Whiteley.

=Waikato Heads, April 11 and 26, 1840=

  PAENGAHURU. Ngatitipa tribe.
  KIWI NGARAE. Ngatitahinga tribe. Father of Apera Kiwi.
  PAKI. Ngaungau tribe.
  NGAPAKA. Ngatitipa tribe.
  KUKUTAI. Ngatitipa. Father of Waata Kukutai.
  TE NGOHI.  Ngatimaniapoto from Kawhia.
  MURIWHENUA. Ngatihaua from Aotea.
  TE PAKARU. Ngatimaniapoto from Kawhia.
  NUTONE. Afterwards a pensioner.
  TE WARAKI. Ngatimaniapoto from Kawhia.
  TE ROTO KIWI. Ngatimahuta from Kawhia.
  PAERATA NGATIPOU.
  KATIPA NGATIPOU. Father of Maihi, who was captured at
    Rangiriri.
  MAIKUKU. Ngatiteata tribe.
  APERAHAMA NGAKAINGA. Ngatiteata tribe.
  HOANA RIUTOTO. Ngatimahuta tribe.
  WAIRAKAU. Ngatitetata tribe.
  HAKI AOTEA. Ngatituwehi tribe.
  WIREMU TE AWAITAIA (WIREMU NERO). The well-known loyal
    chief of Whaingaroa.
  TUNUI NGAWAKA. Ngatitahinga from Waikato.
  KAMURA WAUROA.
  POHEPOHE. Ngatihaua from Matamata.
  POKAWA RAWHIRAWHI. Ngatihaua from Matamata.
  PUATA. Ngatiruru from Otawhao.
  MOKOROA.  Ngatiruru from Otawhao.
  PUNGAREHU. Ngatiapakura from Tarawera.
  POHOTUKIA.
  TE KEHA. Ngatinaho.
  WHAREPU.  Ngatiahine from Taupiri (Pene). Killed at
    Rangiriri.
  KANAWA. Ngatiahine from Taupiri (Kihiringi). Killed at
    Rangiriri.
  WHATA. Ngatitipa from Whangaroa.
  NGAWAKA TE AO (TE AO-O-TE-RANGI). Ngatiwauroa from Putataka.
  PEEHI. Ngatiruru from Otawhao.
  WIREMU NGAWARO.
  HONE KINGI.
  TE TAWA.
  TAMATI.
  RAPATA WAITI.
  TE AWARAHI.
  REHUREHU.

  _Witnesses._--R. Maunsell; B. Ashwell; W. C. Symonds.

=Opotiki, May 27 and 28, 1840=

 †TAUTORU.
 TAKAHI.
 APOROTANGA. Killed by the wife of Tohi-Pekamu after the battle
   of Te Awa-a-te-Atua.
 ATUA.
 WHAKIIA.
 †RANGIMATANUKU.
 †RANGIHAEREPO.

=Torere, June 11, 1840=

  PUTIKI.
  RANGIHUATAKI.

=Tekaha, June 14, 1840=

  HAUPURURANGI (AOPURANGI).
  HAHIWARU.
  HAOMARAMA.
  WHARAU.

=Torere, June 14, 1840=

  TAKU.
  TAUTARI.

  _Witnesses._--James W. Fredarb;[155] Papahia; Wiremu Maihi.

=Whakatane, June 16, 1840=

  MOKAI.
  MATA.
  TARAWATEWATE.
  TUNUI.
  TAUPIRI.
  HAUKAKAWA.
  PIARIARI.
  MATATETOHIA.
  REWA.
  TUPARA.
  MOKAI.
  TE UIRA. Ngatipou tribe.
  NGAHU.
  RAHIRI. Ngatimaru tribe.
  TE MOKE. Ngatitewehi tribe.
  TE WERA. Ngatimaru tribe.

  _Witnesses._--J. W. Fredarb; R. Maunsell.

=Wellington (Port Nicholson), April 29, 1840=

  TUARAU.
  HIKO-O-TE-RANGI. Chief of Mana Island.
  TUNGIA.
  RAKE.
  WHAREPOURI.
  MATANGI.
  TARINGA KURI.
  WHAKAKEHO.
  PORUTU. Attended the Kohimarama Conference, 1860.
  WHAKATAURANGA.
  HORE.
  PANI.
  RAWI.
  KOPIRI.
  WHANGA.
  NGAPAPA.
  REIHANA REWETI.
  NGATATA. Father of Wi Tako.
  PUAKAWE.
  NAPUNA.
  MOHIROA.
  TUTE.
  INGO.
  PAKAU.
  PATUHIKI.
  TE KAHE. Grandmother of the Hon. Dr. Pomare, M.P.; and with
    Topeora, Rangihiata's sister, was the only woman permitted to sign
    the treaty.
  KOPEKA.
  REREWA.
  TE PUNI (TE HONIANA).
  TUHOTO.
  PAKEWA.
  POPUKA.

  _Witnesses._--Henry Williams, Clerk; George Thomas Clayton,
  Merchant.

=Queen Charlotte's Sound, May 4 and 5, 1840=

  TOHEROA.
  REWA.
  WHATIMO.
  TE TUPE.
  TIAHO.
  TIKAUKAU.
  ORAKAKA.
  TUTERAPOURI.
  TIRARAU.
  NGAORANGA.
  HURIWENUA.
  TAUKINA.
  IWIKAU.
  PUNGA.
  RANGOWAKA.
  KIRIKIRI.
  POTIKI.
  TARAHEKE.
  ANARU.
  PIKAU.
  HONE. (?) ROPOAMA TE ONE
  MANA.
  KAPARANGI.
  TAPOTUKU.
  UAPIKI.
  MARU.
  KARAKA.

  _Witnesses._--Henry Williams, Clerk; George Thomas Clayton,
  Merchant.

=Rangitoto, May 11, 1840=

  TE WHETU (The Star).
  PARI.
  TAROPIKO.
  PUTETE.
  RANGIAHUA.
  TAHANUI.
  OROKAKA.
  TOITOI.
  TE MAKO.
  IPUKOHU.
  TE TIHI.
  HUIA.
  NUKUMAI.

  _Witnesses._--Henry Williams, Clerk; George Thomas Clayton,
  Merchant.

=Kapiti, Otaki, Manawatu, May 14, 1840=

  TE RAUPARAHA.  Principal Chief of Cook's Strait.
  KATU.
  TE WHIWHI (MATENE).
  TOPEORA. Mother of Matene Te Whiwhi.
  TE RURU (APERAHAMA).
  MATIA.
  KEHU.
  HAKEKE. Father of Kawana Hunia.
  TAUMARU.
  MAHI.
  TE OTA.
  KIHAROA.
  TE PUKE.
  TOREMI (HOROMONA).
  TE AHOAHO (TE KINGI).
  TAHURANGI.
  PATUROA.
  TE TOHE.
  TE WHETU.
  TAUHEKE.
  PAKAU.
  WHITIOPAI.

  _Witnesses._--Henry Williams, Clerk; Octavius Hadfield, Clerk.

=Waikanae, May 16, 1840=

  RERETAWHANGAWHANGA. Father of Whiti.
  WHITI. the Celebrated Wiremu Kingi.
  PATUKEKENO.
  NGARAUREKAU.
  TE HEKE.
  TUAMANE.
  NGAPUKE.
  PATUKA KARIKI.  Died At Taranaki.
  NGAKANAE.
  PUKERANGIORA.
  KUKUTAI. Killed at Te Poutoko.
  KOMAKI.
  RARANGA.
  HOHEPA MATAHAU.
  KIHA.
  HIANGARERE.
  URERUA. Killed at Waikanae.
  TE WEHI.
  PEHI.
  KETETAKERE.

  _Witnesses._--Henry Williams, Clerk; Octavius Hadfield, Clerk.

=Motu Ngarara, June 4, 1840=

  TE RANGIHIROA.
  TE OHU.

  _Witnesses._--Henry Williams, Clerk; George Thomas Clayton,
  Merchant.

=Wanganui, May 23 and 31, 1840=

  ANAUA (HORI KINGI).
  TAWITO (KAWANA PAIPAI).
  MAWAE.
  RERE.
  TE TAURI (WIREMU ERUERA).
  RORE.
  TUROA.
  TAKA.
  KURAWHATUA.
  RANGIWHAKARURUA.
  URIPO.
  HIKO.
  TAKATERANGI.
  PAKORO.

  _Witnesses._--Henry Williams, Clerk; O. Hadfield, Clerk.

=Tauranga, Poverty Bay=

  MANUTAHI.
  TURUKI.
  KAINGAKIORE.
  ERUERA WINA.
  TAKATUA, from Waiapu.
  DAVID RANGIKATI, from Waiapu.
  TAMAWA KAMEHUA, from Tokomaru.
  TE PAKARA, from Turanga.
  PAI-TE-RANGI.
  TUTAPATURANGI TAETANGAWARE.
  TITIRANGI.
  TAWARAU.
  RANGIUIA UAWA (NOPERA RANGIHUIA).
  RANGIWAI, from Waiapu.
  MIMIOPAWA, from Waiapu.
  KAKATARAU, from Waiapu.
  AWARAU, from Waiapu.
  TAMITERE, from Tokomaru.
  MANGARE, from Turanga.
  MARONUI, from Turanga.
  TONA (TANAMANAIA), from Turanga.
  NGATIKAREAHO, from Wairoa.
  TUHURA.
  TE HORE, from Turanga.
  WHAKAHINGATU, from Turanga.
  PONEKAHIKA (HORI), from Uawa.
  RANGIWHAKATATAE, from Waiapu.
  MOKOPUORONGO (PARATENE). Leader of the Kingites at Tokomaru.
  POTOTI, from Turanga.
  UIRAMAITAI, from Turanga.
  TAWARAKIHI, from Turanga.
  TUROA, from Turanga.
  MAHUIKA, from Turanga.
  TE PANEPANE, from Turanga.
  TE WHAREANA, from Turanga.
  TE EKE (RAWIRI), from Turanga. Father of Hirini.
  TE TORE, from Ahuriri.
  TUTAEPA, from Waiapu.
  KAURU-O-TE-RANGI (POPATA). Afterwards leader of the King
    party at Korauruterangi, from Waiapu.
  TE POTAE (ENOKA), from Tokomaru. Father of Henare Potae.

  _Witnesses._--William Williams; Henry Williams, Junr.; G.
  Clarke, Junr.

=Tauranga (now Gisborne)=

  TE WHANAKE.
  HIUTAO.
  TAMAIWAHIA.
  TE HUI.
  PAETUI.
  TE KOU.
  REKO.
  TARI.
  MATATAHUNA.
  TE KONIKONI.
  TAUARUMIA.
  NUKA.
  TE TUTAHI.
  TE POHOI.
  PUTARAHI.
  PIKITIA.
  TE MAKO.
  TE PEIKA.
  KAPA.
  TE HAEREROA.
  HOANI ANETA.

  _Witnesses._--Hoani Aneta; James Stack; Henry Taylor.

[94] Although the Hokianga chiefs as a body were the most determined
in their opposition to the treaty, it is worthy of note that they were
afterwards the most faithful in their adherence to the Government, and
fought gallantly under Waaka Nēne, Aperahama Taonui, and Mohi
Tawhai against Heke and Kawiti, during the Northern war of 1845.

[95] These speeches are reported from notes made at the time by
Lieutenant Shortland. In Captain Hobson's despatch he makes it appear
that it was Papa Haiga (Papahia) who made this statement, but from Mr.
Shortland's notes it would appear to have been Taonui.

[96] Afterwards Judge Manning of the Native Land Court, and author of
that classic _Old New Zealand_.

[97] Meaning one who has been favourable to the introduction of
Europeans.

[98] Altogether 120 signatures were obtained in the Hokianga
district.

[99] Captain Nias conducted the meeting at the Waitemata, and secured
eight or ten signatures.

[100] It is more than likely that at this date Captain Nias did not
know the real nature of Captain Hobson's illness. Some correspondence
which took place later in the month seems to suggest that there was a
little friction between Dr. Lane, the ship's surgeon, and himself on
the subject. On the arrival of the _Herald_ in Sydney, towards
the end of March, Dr. Lane was sent for by Sir George Gipps, who
requested that he be furnished with a written report on the state of
Captain Hobson's health. Dr. Lane replied, ascribing the illness to an
attack of paralysis hemiplegica. In forwarding this report to the
Governor, Captain Nias stated that "it is in total contradiction of
everything he has stated before to me on the subject."

[101] The attitude of the Missionaries toward the treaty was well
expressed by the Rev. Mr. Maunsell in a letter to the Colonial
Secretary, Mr. Shortland, dated April 14, 1840.

[102] These services were acknowledged in the most generous terms by
Captain Hobson.

[103] "The appointment of Police Magistrates was one of the first acts
under the new order of things. Mr. Robert (?) Shortland, the first
Police Magistrate, after the illness of Governor Hobson, styled
himself Acting-Governor, and a more ridiculously pompous functionary
could scarcely be imagined."--Commander Wilkes.

[104] "A report prevails and not without foundation that a conspiracy
against the Government and Military exists amongst many of the chiefs
of this neighbourhood. I know the persons implicated and I will have
them closely watched. If there really is any truth in the matter it
may be ascribed to the mischievous stories that have been circulated
by low, abandoned Europeans who try to persuade the natives that we
only wait until we are strong enough, to take possession of the land,
and sell it, irrespective of Native claims."--_Vide_ Captain
Hobson's Letter to Sir G. Gipps, May 5, 1840.

[105] In many cases Mr. Shortland has used the baptismal name of the
men who spoke, and in some instances, such as Forde and Marsden, it is
now impossible to identify the men from their signatures on the
treaty.

[106] A reference to the misrepresentations of the Europeans.

[107] "Our chief Noble has become quite a European in his habits. He
has a neat little weather-boarded cottage, which is furnished with
table and chairs like our own, and his food is much the same. He has
purchased tea, sugar, and rice from the European settlers, and is as
cleanly with his wife as any white person, and in all respects as
comfortable. He assembles his servants and people about him, morning
and evening for prayer, and all his concerns are conducted with the
utmost order. His Excellency Governor Hobson has just visited this
place. He, with his suite, supped at Noble's, and was vastly pleased
with him."--Report of Mr. Puckey in _Missionary Register_, 1841.

[108] The meeting concluded with a war dance, and general discharge of
musketry, and a feast provided entirely at Nopera's expense. Not only
did he refuse to accept any payment, but he added to his generosity by
sending to the Governor a present of pigs and potatoes.

[109] Captain William Cornwallis Symonds was the son of Sir William
Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy, and was Deputy Surveyor of New Zealand.
He accompanied Dr. Dieffenbach on some of his exploring expeditions,
and made maps of his observations. He was also an enthusiastic student
of the native language, and collected a vocabulary of 3000 Maori
words. He lost his life in 1841 through his canoe capsizing while
crossing the Manakau Harbour.

[110] Rewa had said at Waitangi that his opposition there had been
inspired by the Bishop.

[111] The Rev. Robert Maunsell (afterwards Archdeacon Maunsell)
arrived in New Zealand in 1835. He was a "ripe and trained scholar,"
and after he had mastered the native language became, next to Mr.
Henry Williams, the leader of the Missionary movement. He rendered an
invaluable service to the cause of Christianity by his translations of
the scriptures and prayer-book into the Maori tongue. In July 1843 his
house was destroyed by fire, and with it were lost the MSS. of his
dictionary, and his revisions of the translated Psalms and Old
Testament. He however courageously set to work again almost before the
burns upon his hands had healed. A fund of £200 subscribed in England
provided him again with a library.

[112] Afterwards massacred at the White Cliffs.

[113] Neither Te Wherowhero nor his brother, Kati, appear to have
signed the treaty.

In the appendix to Kerry Nicholls' _King Country_ appears the
following as a portion of the late King Tawhiao's autobiographical
narrative: "I remember a European coming to ask Te Wherowhero
(Tawhiao's father) to sign the treaty of Waitangi. That European was
Mr. Maunsell. The Maori he had with him was Tipene Tahatika. Te
Wherowhero said he would not sign. Mr. Maunsell remarked to Tipene,
'This ignorant old man, if he had signed, I would have given him a
blanket.' Te Wherowhero was then at Awhitu. Te Wherowhero's name was
afterwards put to the treaty, but it was written by Te Kahawai, and
not by himself."

[114] Mr. Hamlin, though laying no great pretensions to scholarship,
was considered by the Maoris to be the most perfect speaker of their
language in New Zealand.

[115] "Here I may remark that it is impossible to view with unconcern
the injurious tendency of religious dissensions among a people just
emerging from paganism. Between the disciples of the Bishop and those
who have embraced the doctrines of Protestantism there already exists
a feeling which borders on hostility, and it is not unusual to hear
the former taunted by their adversaries as worshippers of wood and
stone, misguided unbelievers, devils, etc. To express sentiments of
severe censure against the Roman Catholic Church and its followers is
not the most efficient means of advancing the interests of the
Protestant Church, and in reply to the illiberal language which is
dealt forth so unsparingly on this subject, we may cite among
innumerable other facts, the life and actions of Fénélon, the most
blameless and virtuous of men, in proof that a Roman Catholic
clergyman is not of necessity either a Jesuit or a hypocrite. But
holding in view the admitted tendency of religious dissensions to
unsettle and weaken the impression of Christianity in the minds of the
natives of New Zealand, and at the same time to foster dissension and
angry feeling it is certainly to be regretted that an attempt has been
made to introduce the doctrines of Rome into a field already
preoccupied by the active and zealous emissaries of the reformed
Church."--Jameson.

[116] "During my residence at the Bay of Islands, on this occasion, I
derived much pleasure from the acquaintance and conversation of M. de
Pompallier, the chief of the French Catholic Mission to the South
Seas, and Bishop of Oceania, who was held in high esteem by every
individual in the settlement, not only on account of his polished and
courteous demeanour, but from his more important merits of learning,
professional zeal, and practical benevolence. Whatever may be said of
his persuasion, it is at least evident that no motives of a worldly or
ambitious nature could have thus induced a man of rank and wealth to
devote himself to the arduous and hazardous duties of a missionary in
the Pacific."--Jameson.

[117] Captain Lavaud mentions that during this interview he had always
addressed the Lieutenant-Governor as "Captain," and not as His
"Excellency." He explains, however, that he did so "more by instinct
than with any intention of being discourteous."

[118] The treaty is here transcribed in the Captain's Despatch.

[119] The Rev. William Williams does not appear to have obtained the
signatures of Te Kani-a-Takirau or Houkamau amongst the chiefs of
Waiapu. It is unlikely that men of importance such as these were
overlooked, and we may therefore conclude that they objected to sign.
Mr. Williams reported that he would require sixty more blankets to
complete the gifts to the chiefs in his district. Mr. Williams was
afterwards first Bishop of Waiapu.

[120] The district now surrounding Napier.

[121] "I desire to impress upon you the anxious wish of the Directors
that you, and all the servants of the Company, should do whatever may
be in your power to promote the success of Captain Hobson's mission,
and to accelerate as much as possible the time when it is to be hoped
that he, as Her Majesty's representative may establish a British
authority and the regular application of English law, not only in the
Company's settlements, but throughout the Islands of New
Zealand."--Extract from a letter written by Mr. John Ward, Secretary
to the Company, to Colonel Wakefield, after the Company had been
advised that its proceedings were illegal.

[122] "On the Wednesday following, while preparing to take my
departure--not being able to obtain the signatures required owing to
the opposition of Colonel Wakefield and others, to the treaty between
the chiefs and Her Majesty--Colonel Wakefield came to me, making a
most ample apology, and expressed his regret that he should have given
way to his hasty feelings on the previous Saturday, and hoped that I
should not leave the port with unfavourable feelings, and that he was
ready, if I wished, to make a public apology. The fact was that
Colonel Wakefield wanted the land, and was willing to make any
sacrifice confined to words."--Carleton's _Life of Henry
Williams_.

[123] This letter, written subsequent to the Colonel's apology, was
first made public through the columns of the London Times, and it was
not for months afterwards that Mr. Williams heard of it. The history
of the land transaction referred to, which excited the indignation
(righteous or otherwise) of Colonel Wakefield, is fully told in that
interesting book, Hugh Carleton's _Life of Henry Williams_, vol. i.
pp. 237-243, and should be read by all impartial students of the
question.

[124] Amongst others, by Te Rauparaha and his niece Topeora, the
poetess, on May 14.

[125] Immediately after his seizure, Captain Hobson had dispensed with
the services of the _Herald_, on account of his personal
differences with her Captain. She then returned to Sydney, but Sir
George Gipps sent her back again, telling Captain Nias that "naval
co-operation was essential to the enterprise at New Zealand, as the
Queen's sovereignty was established over only a small portion of the
Northern Island."

[126] Major Bunbury, K.T.S., and a portion of his regiment (the 80th)
were sent to New Zealand by Sir George Gipps in H.M.S. _Buffalo_,
as the result of a request from Captain Hobson for some military
support. They left Sydney just as the news of Captain Hobson's illness
reached the seat of Government, and Major Bunbury was given a
commission to act as Lieutenant-Governor in the event of Hobson's
death or resignation.

In his _Reminiscences_ the Major states that Captain Hobson
begged him to undertake this Southern mission in order to relieve him
(Hobson) from the necessity of again sailing with Captain Nias, with
whom he had several violent quarrels about the salutes he was to
receive and other similar details. "It was," says the Major, "a
grievous sacrifice to make, the troops not having yet landed or
arrangements been made for their accommodation, but I could not
prevail upon myself to refuse him."

[127] Horeta te Taniwha, the celebrated chief known as "Hook-nose,"
who remembered Cook's visit to New Zealand.

[128] This was what the natives called "making their hearts good."
"Pay us first and we will write afterwards." "Put money in my left
hand and I will write with my right hand," was how they often
expressed it.

[129] _Taihoa_ = delay, postpone, put off, reserve for further
consideration.

[130] Meaning that he was the representative of the central district.

[131] The writing of the treaty.

[132] Major Bunbury left eight blankets with Mr. Stack for
distribution amongst future signatories, but the Missionary mentions
in a subsequent letter: "Several more may be wanting if Tupaea and his
friends sign." Tupaea would not sign, either when approached by Mr.
Stack, or later when he paid a visit to Manakau. The above discussion
explains why.

[133] The dialect spoken by the natives of the South Island of New
Zealand differs in some important respects from that spoken in the
North Island.

[134] Major Bunbury was so impressed with the fertile appearance of
Banks's Peninsula that he recommended it be surveyed as soon as
possible and thrown open for settlement in allotments of convenient
size, in order to put a stop to the "preposterous claims" which were
being urged by the Sydney land speculators. Most of these claims of
"doubtful origin" originated in sales contracted with Taiaroa, the
Otago chief, who had an equally "doubtful" right to sell. Taiaroa went
to Sydney in the _Dublin Packet_ in 1839.

[135] "In some excursions I made I was much pleased with the fertile
appearance of this beautiful island, and although the winter was so
far advanced it was not so cold as I had anticipated from its being so
far south. Indeed the number of parrakeets seen flying about give it
rather the appearance of a tropical island.... The soil appears in
general good, with plenty of timber. There are several varieties of
pine. All the trees, however, appear to be evergreens."--Major
Bunbury's _Despatch_.

[136] Major Bunbury mentions that by this time he had become ashamed
of this sobriquet, which was given to him by the whalers, and disowned
it, preferring to be called by his native name.

[137] Tu Hawaiki had only returned in the previous month of March from
Sydney, where he had been presented with these uniforms by Sir George
Gipps. Shortly after this chief's repulse of Te Rauparaha at Lake
Grassmere, on the coast of Marlborough, he boarded a British
man-of-war, and on being asked who he was, proudly replied: "Me all
the same the Duke of Wellington, Te Rauparaha all the same Napoleon."

[138] Another chief named Taiaroa is also credited with signing. It is
difficult to determine which chief this was, as the great Taiaroa was
at Moeraki at the time. Possibly it was one of his sons.

[139] These were Kaikoura and Taiaroa. The identity of this Taiaroa is
not clear.

[140] There were two American and two French whalers at the anchorage
here at the time.

[141] Major Bunbury mentions that some of these speculators had
already sent a number of cattle over, but the natives resisted the
occupation of their alleged purchases, and the persons who were placed
in charge of the cattle "find themselves in rather an awkward
predicament."

[142] Popularly known amongst the whalers as "Jordy Bolts."

[143] Major Bunbury mentions the eagerness manifested by the natives
of Cloudy Bay for spelling-books and Testaments. On the table in his
cabin was lying a Testament printed in the native language which had
been given to him by Bishop Broughton. This was seen by some of the
Maoris visiting the ship, who importuned him for it, with the result,
he feared, that his refusal gave serious offence.

[144] As the _Herald_ left Cloudy Bay, the Kaikouras, clad in
their winter snow, loomed up in the distance, and Major Bunbury was
deeply impressed with what he calls their "bleak and savage
appearance." The Major took his departure from the Middle Island fully
convinced that it had been greatly underrated by the authorities both
in regard to the fertility of its soil and the intelligence of its
natives.

[145] Te Rauparaha may have laid himself open to this charge of
insincerity by afterwards making light of the fact that he had signed
the treaty, and offering to sign again if they gave him another
blanket. With Te Rangihaeata it was different. Savage that he was, he
had the keenest sense of honour, and he would not have signed the
treaty had he not approved it so far as he understood it. His
subsequent rebellion was not a protest against the establishment of
civil authority so much as it was active resistance towards what he
believed to be the unfair if not the dishonest methods of land dealing
adopted by the New Zealand Company, in whom he lost all confidence
after their attempt to seize the Wairau Valley.

[146] Before the first batch of the Company's emigrants sailed from
the Thames, they were induced by the Directors to sign an agreement
binding themselves to "submit in all things needful to peace and order
until the establishment of a regular Government." This meant that if
any of them committed a breach of the law of England, he should be
punished according to the law of England. This agreement was brought
under the notice of Lord John Russell who challenged the right of the
Company to enforce such a provision. The Company took the opinion of
Serjeant Wilde upon the point, and his advice, given on November 14,
1839, was that (1) the parties will not be justified by law in acting
under the agreement, (2) that those acting under it were liable to
prosecution for so doing, and (3) the agreement should be abandoned.

[147] "Captain Pearson of the brig _Integrity_ was arrested
to-day (April 14) under a warrant issued for illegal conduct towards
his charterer, Mr. Wade, of Hobart Town, and brought before the
District Magistrate, Major Baker. The prisoner refused to recognise
the Court, and was accordingly committed. The ensuing day Captain
Pearson made his escape, and an escape Warrant has accordingly been
issued against him."--Extract from _New Zealand Gazette_ (the
first newspaper published in the Colony), April 18, 1840.

[148] The proclamation itself does not make it clear on what grounds
Hobson took possession of the "Island." Indeed it is so ambiguously
worded that he seems to imply that he claimed it by right of cession.
In his despatch to the Secretary for State, however, he made it clear
that he intended to claim it "by right of discovery," a course which
he had recommended to Lord Normanby before he left England.

[149] "Captain" Cole as he was sometimes called, because he had been
sailing in an East Indiaman, had been one of the early Wellington
settlers, having come out in the _Aurora_. On the arrival of
Captain Hobson he removed to the Bay of Islands, and had succeeded in
getting himself appointed chief constable at Port Nicholson, in which
capacity he now appeared in the Southern settlement.

[150] As sovereignty over only a small portion of the Colony had at this
time been ceded to the Queen, Hobson was claiming a wider jurisdiction
than he was entitled to in describing himself as "Lieutenant-Governor
_of_ New Zealand." He was only Lieutenant-Governor _in_ New Zealand.

[151] This also was a mistake. It should have been South, not North.
On this error Sir George Grey once based the argument that New Zealand
included New Guinea, and was entitled to claim control over it. The
error was corrected and the boundaries so amended as to include the
Chatham Islands.--Vide Letters Patent issued to Captain Hobson, April
4, 1842.

[152] It had been reported that the settlers were starving, which was
quite untrue.

[153] While H.M.S. _Britomart_ (Captain Stanley) was returning
from her historic visit to Bank's Peninsula she put in to Port
Nicholson and took Mr. Shortland on board, leaving Mr. Murphy to
supply his place as the representative of the Government at the
Southern settlement.

[154] This number was subsequently increased to 546.

[155] Mr. Fredarb, who was trading master of the schooner _Mercury_,
added the following note to his copy of the treaty: "The chiefs at
Opotiki expressed a wish to have it signified who were Pikopos
(_i.e._ Roman Catholics) and who were not, the which I did by
placing a crucifix † preceding the names of those who are, as above,
and at which they seemed perfectly satisfied."




CHAPTER VI

THE TREATY


Captain Hobson having now by his own efforts and the agency of those
who were associated with him completed his negotiations with the
native chiefs, it remains for us to examine briefly the nature of the
compact into which the Maori and _Pakeha_ had thus solemnly
entered. The Treaty of Waitangi is a document of few clauses and
precise terms. Yet under the conflicting interests which it was
designed to harmonise few documents have been more generally
misunderstood or more persistently misinterpreted. More than once in
high places its utility has been denied, its simple contracts have
been repudiated, and its existence has been ignored. Lawyers have
repeatedly questioned its legality, courts have discussed its
constitutional force, parliaments have debated its wisdom, but still
it stands to-day--unaltered in text or spirit--the great charter of
Maori rights. Its most virulent enemies have ever been the land
speculators, and there are not wanting signs in these times of
unsatisfied land hunger--of never-ceasing speculation--that the treaty
has either been forgotten by those whose duty it is to remember it, or
that its obligations have ceased to have their old-time moral value.
Lest we forget that the treaty is still in force, and that native
lands are not common plunder for the avaricious _Pakeha_, let us
briefly review the circumstances which made the compact between the
two nations a political virtue, if not a political necessity.

It is a principle recognised by the civilised nations of the Earth
that the discovery of a waste and uninhabited land by a pioneering
country confers on that country a right, as against all other
civilised countries, to colonise its new discovery. In such a case the
discovering nation may in fact go further, by immediately taking
possession of the new-found territory, and assuming sovereignty over
it. In this way Norfolk Island being found devoid of inhabitants by
Captain Cook, his discovery of the sea-girt isle not only entitled
Britain to colonise it, but automatically added it to the possessions
of the Empire. This principle has thus been concisely stated by
Vattel: "All men have an equal right to the things which have not yet
fallen into the possession of any one; and these things appertain to
the first occupant. Wherefore, when a nation finds a country
uninhabited and without a master, it may lawfully seize upon the same,
and after it has adequately denoted its will in this respect another
cannot thereof despoil it. Thus navigators going on their voyages of
discovery, provided with a commission from their sovereign, and
falling in with desert islands, or other desert lands, have taken
possession of them in the name of their nation, and commonly this
title has been respected, provided that thereupon a real possession
has closely followed."

It is equally an acknowledged maxim of the Law of Nations that should
the newly discovered land not prove to be "waste and without a
master," but that it should be inhabited and under government of any
kind, then the mere fact of its discovery by a civilised nation
confers upon the discoverer no title to the soil, but only the prior
right to colonise as against other colonising nations. This is but the
natural reward which belongs to the enterprise displayed in fitting
out ships and expeditions destined to navigate unknown seas or to
travel in unknown lands. Such prior right to colonise is, however,
strictly limited by the important consideration that colonisation can
only take place with the free will and consent of the savage or
semi-civilised inhabitants of the newly discovered country. In no
sense does the act of discovery confer the right of property in the
land, or the right of sovereignty over its people. That is to say, in
the abstract, no nation whatever can under any pretext violate the
rights of any other independent nation. This was clearly the principle
which guided those British Governments to whose lot fell the
establishment of the first colonies in America. In all these cases was
the property of the Indian tribes respected, and no land was acquired
save by purchase, or by some other equitable arrangement made with the
aboriginal owners.[156] Hence in the celebrated case of the Cherokee
tribe against the State of Georgia, tried in 1832, before the late
Chief-Justice Marshall, that eminent judge was able to declare that as
the United States had only inherited its rights from Great Britain
after the War of Independence, the individual States could not assume
rights greater than Britain had claimed to possess prior to that
event. No right in Cherokee lands therefore vested in the State until
the Indian title had been honourably extinguished.

This equitable principle has not always been observed between
so-called civilised nations and semi-barbarous peoples, but that it
has long held a place amongst the ideals of men is suggested to us by
the Phoenician legend, that when the merchant princes of Tyre and
Sidon resolved to establish a trading factory on the site upon which
subsequently rose the city of Carthage, they fairly bought the land
from the natives of Northern Africa, the area being determined by the
length of the thongs cut from a bullock's hide. Such a story, coming
down to us as it does through the hoary mists of time, may or may not
appeal to our practical present-day minds, but the fact that it was
commonly told and commonly accepted amongst the ancients is at least
an indication that the principles which govern the conduct of modern
nations towards their less fortunate brethren are founded upon and
have the sanction of great antiquity.

When we come to apply these principles to New Zealand it is of course
necessary to remember that the first European discoverer[157] of this
Dominion was not Cook, but Abel Tasman. The Dutchman's association
with the country was, however, so cursory, and his nation's subsequent
interest in it so nominal, that to the sailor it appeared only as "a
great land uplifted high," while to his countrymen it was known only
as a vague scrawl upon the chart. That Tasman's discovery of 1642 gave
the Dutch a right to colonise in New Zealand had they been so disposed
is undoubted; but whatever rights they had thus acquired, such were
clearly exhausted by Holland's failure to assert them during the long
period of 135 years that elapsed before Cook came to make a reality of
what to Tasman had only been a shadow.

With his characteristic thoroughness Cook left no weak link in the
claim which he made on behalf of his nation. He landed on our shores,
held intercourse with the natives, he surveyed our coasts, he took
formal possession of both Islands "in the name, and for the use of His
Majesty King George III."

"A philosopher perhaps might enquire on what ground Lieutenant Cook
could take formal possession of this part of New Zealand in the name
and for the use of the King of Great Britain, when the country was
already inhabited, and of course belonged to those by whom it was
inhabited, and whose ancestors might have resided in it for many
preceding ages. To this the best answer seems to be that the
Lieutenant in the ceremony performed by him had no reference to the
original inhabitants, or any intention to deprive them of their
national rights, but only to preclude the claims of further European
navigators, who under the auspices and for the benefit of their
respective States, or Kingdoms, might form pretensions to which they
were not entitled by prior discovery."

So wrote one of the great explorer's most friendly biographers, and in
his dispassionate review of the facts we have a correct summation of
the rights which Cook's discoveries did and did not confer upon our
nation. Clearly New Zealand was not a country in which, or over which,
Britain could, by Cook's act, acquire a _bona fide_ possession, for it
was inhabited by a strong and virile people, living under a system of
government adequate in all respects for their social and military
purposes.

In conferring upon New Zealand her charter of severance from New South
Wales in 1840 Lord John Russell thus conveyed to Captain Hobson his
view of the governmental state to which the Maori had risen: "They are
not mere wanderers over an extended surface in search of a precarious
existence; nor tribes of hunters, or of herdsmen, but a people among
whom the arts of government have made some progress; who have
established by their own customs a division and appropriation of the
soil; who are not without some measure of agricultural skill, and a
certain subordination of ranks, with usages having the character and
authority of law." New Zealand then being an inhabited country and a
country under a system of government at least so efficient as to
subsequently induce the British authorities to recognise the Maori
nation as an independent State, it becomes obvious that this could not
be designated a land which could be lawfully seized upon by
circumnavigators.

But such rights as Cook's discoveries did confer upon the nation, the
Government of that day sought to conserve. Following upon his return
to England with the accounts of his travels in strange waters, his
contact with strange peoples, his finding of new lands, proclamations
were issued which were not contested by other Powers. The Dutch title
to these islands was thereby lawfully extinguished, and New Zealand,
Van Dieman's Land, and Australia became for geographical and
colonising purposes portions of the British Empire.

A laudable effort was made to render the claims of Britain even more
explicit when in 1787 Captain Philip was appointed by Royal Commission
Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the colony of New
South Wales and its dependencies, which were claimed to include all
the discoveries of Cook in the Southern Pacific. The territory over
which the new Governor was authorised to exercise jurisdiction was
described in his Commission as extending "from Cape York, the
extremity of the coast to the northward in the latitude of 11° 37´
south, to the South Cape, the southern extremity of the coast in the
latitude of 43° 30´ south, and inland to the westward as far as 135°
of east longitude, comprehending all the islands adjacent in the
Pacific Ocean within the latitudes of the above-mentioned capes."

Unfortunately, owing doubtless to imperfect geographical knowledge on
the part of those responsible, these boundaries were but loosely
defined, for if they had been strictly adhered to, then Britain was
setting up a claim not only to Cook's valuable discoveries, but to all
the islands eastward of Australia, as far as the western coast of
South America, embracing many Spanish discoveries; while on the other
hand they excluded not only Stewart's Island, but all that part of the
Southern Island of New Zealand south of Bank's Peninsula. Governor
Philip's Commission was therefore faulty, because it asserted
excessive rights in the one direction and made insufficient claims on
the other.

It is true that in later years these boundaries were abandoned and the
position made even more anomalous. During the Governorship of Sir
Thomas Brisbane it was deemed expedient to separate Van Dieman's Land
from New South Wales, and more circumscribed limits were assigned to
the Mother State. In this readjustment, whether by accident or design
it is impossible now to say, not only Van Dieman's Land but New
Zealand were excluded from amongst the dependencies of New South
Wales. Then it became an arguable point whether the word "adjacent"
had ever covered Islands so far distant from the parent colony, and
much legal acumen was expended in the effort to justify the contention
that New Zealand had always been beyond the pale of the dependencies.

Up to this point, however, the official mind had never been troubled
by doubts as to the extent of its jurisdiction. Governor Philip not
only believed that his authority extended to New Zealand, but far
beyond it, and under this belief he actually colonised Norfolk Island
as a part of the territory he had been commissioned to govern. In like
manner the British Government believed it had a right to all that it
claimed in Philip's Commission; and at the Congress of Vienna at the
close of the Napoleonic wars in 1814, when the map of Europe was
recast, it had its claims allowed, New Zealand being acknowledged by
the Great Powers to be a portion of our then infant Empire. Even
earlier in the century Ministers had seriously discussed a
representation made by Lieutenant-Colonel Foveaux, of the New South
Wales Corps, to appoint a Lieutenant-Governor in New Zealand, which
under his scheme was to become a penal settlement subordinate to New
South Wales. Fortunately for New Zealand that baneful suggestion was
not entertained; but Governor Macquarie appointed Justices of the
Peace and exercised the functions of Government within the Islands, as
did his successor, Sir Thomas Brisbane, down to the time of his
proclamation which excluded New Zealand from amongst the dependencies
of New South Wales.

Thus far Britain would seem _prima facie_ to have kept alive her
right to colonise in these Islands as against any other nation,
except, perhaps, in the important particular that she had not
systematically occupied the land. It is not sufficient that discovery
should take place, or that the free will and consent of the native
inhabitants should be obtained to the introduction of colonisation. It
is an essential factor in the acquisition of new territory that the
sanction thus secured should be followed up by speedy emigration and
effective settlement, for obviously no nation could be permitted to
hold idle for an indefinite period vast tracts of waste country to the
exclusion of another nation to whom the inhabitants might also be
willing to concede the right to colonise. The principle upon which
this view is based has thus been stated: "The Law of Nations, then,
will recognise the proprietary rights, and the sovereignty of a
nation over only uninhabited countries which it shall have occupied
really and in fact, in which it shall have formed a settlement, or
from which it shall be deriving an actual use."

In the case of inhabited countries the condition of occupation is no
less exacting. It is, however, hedged about by the additional
restriction that before occupation can take place the right to settle
must be ceded by the inhabitants. Had the point ever become one of
national importance as between ourselves and France, Britain might
have pleaded that her occupation was at least as far advanced as that
of her rival. She might have pointed to her Missionaries, her traders,
and her whalers as evidences of an irregular settlement by no means
inconsiderable. But whatever importance British jurists may have
attached to such a form of occupation in the settlement of an
international dispute, it cannot be denied that it loses much of its
value from the fact that the settlement was irregular, and that
British Ministers would have been put in the anomalous position of
calling to their aid a condition of society which had arisen, not with
the sanction of the Crown, but in spite of the Crown.

If these views be founded on the principles of justice, it will be
seen that it is a popular fallacy to suppose that Britain acquired any
rights of sovereignty in, or over New Zealand by virtue of Cook's
discovery. Her position in 1770 was much less absolute than that, and
whatever rights she had then acquired she subsequently proceeded to
abrogate. In 1817 commenced a period of renunciation during which
successive British Governments appeared only too anxious to absolve
themselves from all further colonial responsibilities. Not only by
neglect, but by direct Act and Ordinance did they repudiate the claim
to New Zealand which their predecessors had been laboriously building
up through all these years. These Acts of repudiation were
specifically enumerated by Lord John Russell in the memorandum which
he prepared for Lord Palmerston in reply to the protest of the New
Zealand Company against the views on sovereignty adopted by Lord
Normanby in his instructions to Captain Hobson, and it was the known
abrogation in these statutes of whatever claim Britain may have had to
New Zealand that led to the Declaration of Maori Independence in 1835.

It cannot be said that this Declaration of Independence was a serious
bar to Britain's colonising scheme, for under the Confederation of
Chiefs which grew out of it, no Government was founded stable enough
to merit recognition by other established administrations. Indeed its
own members were the first to acknowledge its failure in the face of
the difficulties by which it was confronted. As useless and as
harmless as the "paper pellet" to which it has been compared by the
sarcastic Gipps, it was neither government for the Maori nor a
controlling influence for the Europeans. It was therefore not that
which the Maori had done which created difficulty for the Melbourne
Cabinet when they had seriously to face the question of assuming
responsibility in New Zealand--the obstacles to be overcome had,
curiously enough, been raised by the acts of the British Parliament
itself. This was why, at the critical hour, Britain stood in no better
position towards New Zealand than did any of the other nations; why
she had to run the gauntlet of their competition for sovereignty, and
why more astute statesmanship on the part of France or the United
States might have robbed her of "the fairest flower in all the field."

In bidding for the sovereignty of the country two courses were open to
the British Government--force of arms, or honourable negotiation with
the chiefs. It is not to be doubted that had Britain chosen to invade
the country, she might, by pouring her battalions into it, in course
of time have overcome the tribes by the slaughter of the sword. But
who can estimate at what a cost the country would thus have been
won?--while the crime of it would have been even more awful to
contemplate than the sacrifice of blood and treasure. Happily it can
never be suggested that Lord Melbourne's Ministers had ever
contemplated such a mode of securing sovereignty. Their personal view
was that it must be ceded if it was to be acquired at all, while the
House of Commons had made it abundantly clear that it would accept it
on no other terms.

Here then we have the genesis of the treaty. Discovery gave us no
right of sovereignty. Force of arms was incompatible with the spirit
of the times; possibly beyond the resources of the nation. Negotiation
on the other hand had been made easy by the labours of the
Missionaries, and the repeated expressions of good-will which had
passed between the British Sovereigns and the chiefs. It was the line
of least resistance; a mode agreeable to the national conscience, and
approved by the laws of civilisation. For these all-sufficient reasons
then Captain Hobson was despatched to New Zealand, charged with the
mission of securing for the British Crown the sovereignty of the
country by the "free and intelligent consent of the natives, according
to their established usages."

In proceeding to an analysis of the treaty itself it will not be
necessary to refer to the preamble, which is but an abridged recital
of all that has appeared in the previous chapters of this work. It
asserts no principle, and is remarkable only for the fact that it
reflects in dignified terms the spirit of justice and equity in which
its promoters desired to approach the Maori people.

In the first clause the chiefs both within and without the
Confederation were invited to "cede to Her Majesty Queen Victoria
absolutely and without reservation all the rights and powers of
sovereignty which the said Confederation or individual chiefs
respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or
possess, over their respective territories as the sole sovereigns
thereof."

It has been said that this was a condition which the natives never
did, and could not possibly understand, seeing that they had neither
sovereignty amongst themselves, nor any word in their language to
express the idea of sovereignty. Their tribal system, it is true, was
fatal to the principle of sovereignty in its broadest sense, and until
the formation of the Confederation of Chiefs there was no force
amongst them capable of exercising absolute authority over any great
number of the people, the sovereignty of each chief being limited to
his own tribe. No real sovereignty, however, vested even in the
Confederation. From the first it was impotent as a national
Government, because it lacked the requisite cohesion. Mutual tribal
jealousies still prevailed, making it a Confederation only in name;
and so far as is known it did not pretend to exercise any sort of
dominion over the people after the excitement consequent upon the
advent of Baron de Thierry had subsided. The native mind had therefore
learned nothing of what was meant by sovereignty as we understand it,
from the union of their chiefs. All that they knew of a paramount
authority which it was their duty habitually to obey was the
_mana_[158] of their personal chiefs. That they understood perfectly,
and that conveyed to them all that they required to understand. Each
chief was a sovereign over his own people, and the people were not so
lacking in intelligence as not to perceive that the treaty meant the
passing of this _mana_ from the chief to the Queen. It would, of
course, be radically unsound to pretend that every native who signed
the treaty had perfectly grasped its provisions, and knew with even
moderate certainty what he was retaining and what he was conceding. In
many instances, particularly where the land had already been sold, it
might not be incorrect to say that some of the chiefs did not even
attempt to comprehend it. The red blanket[159] or the juicy plug of
tobacco was an irresistible bait to many who felt they had no longer a
"name," and so far as they were concerned, sovereignty and all else
might fly to the four winds so long as their personal wants and their
love of colour were gratified. The predicament in which those natives
found themselves who afterwards alleged they had signed the treaty
without a full appreciation of its terms and its obligations was
poignantly put by Paora (Paul) Tuahaere, who, speaking at the
Kohimarama Conference[160] in 1860, said the treaty had come "in a
time of ignorance," and upbraided the elder chiefs for being caught
thus unwarily. "Blankets were brought by Mr. Williams. These I call
the bait. The fish did not know there was a hook within. He took the
bait and was caught. When he came to a chief Mr. Williams presented
his hook and drew out a subject for the Queen."

In less figurative, but not less pointed speech, Paora was supported
by Heme Parae, who declared that the only law he heard of in 1840 was
the law of God. "As to what is called the Treaty of Waitangi, I have
heard nothing about it. It is true I received one blanket from Mr.
Williams, but I did not understand what was meant by it. It was given
to me without explanation by Mr. Williams and Reihana."

Twenty-three years after the event, when discussing the mental
attitude of the Maori towards the treaty, the Rev. John Warren, one of
the Wesleyan Missionaries, wrote: "I was present at the great meeting
at Waitangi when the celebrated treaty was signed, and also at a
meeting which took place subsequently on the same subject at Hokianga.
There was a great deal of talk by the natives, principally on the
subject of securing their proprietary right in the land, and their
personal liberty. Everything else they were only too happy to yield to
the Queen, as they said repeatedly, because they knew they could only
be saved from the rule of other nations by sitting under the shadow of
the Queen of England. In my hearing they frequently remarked, "Let us
be one people. We had the Gospel from England, let us have the law
from England." My impression at the time was that the natives
perfectly understood that by signing the treaty they became British
subjects, and though I lived among them more than fifteen years after
that event, and often conversed with them on the subject, I never saw
the slightest reason to change my opinion. The natives were at that
time in mortal fear of the French, and justly thought they had done a
pretty good stroke of business when they had placed the British lion
between themselves and the French eagle. We have heard indignation
expressed at the way in which the natives were, in the treaty,
overreached by the Government, especially in the matter of securing to
the Queen the right of pre-emption in the purchase of their lands.
There is a native proverb which says, with reference to a man of great
keenness and sagacity, 'He was born with his teeth,' and in the matter
of making bargains the New Zealanders may be said to be a people who
were born with their teeth. I believe it is a very long time since it
was possible to overreach the natives much in a bargain. I know that
their particular clause of the treaty was there by their own urgent
request, and that it met with the universal and unqualified
approbation of the chiefs."

In adopting this view Mr. Warren is not singular, for we find that his
impression is confirmed by many equally competent authorities. It
would therefore be an undeserved reflection upon the well-established
intelligence of the Maori race to suppose that these indifferents
constituted any large section of the people, there being amongst them
a wide comprehension of the two great principles embodied in the
treaty--that they were surrendering the magisterial control of the
country to the Queen, and retaining the possession of the land to
themselves.[161] The speeches of its opponents were eloquent of this
fact. This was what Te Kemara meant when he exclaimed, "If thou
stayest as Governor then perhaps Te Kemara will be judged and
condemned. Yes, indeed and more than that--even hung by the neck."
This surely was what the great Te Heuheu of Taupo meant when,
addressing some natives who had signed the treaty, he said: "You are
all slaves now. Your dignity and power are gone, but mine is not. Just
as there is one man in Europe, King George, so do I stand alone in New
Zealand; the chief over all others; the only free man left. Look at
me, for I do not hide when I say I am Te Heuheu. I rule over you all
just as my ancestor Tonga-Riro, the mountain of snow, stands over all
this land."

The forms by which our sovereignty was exercised were doubtless new
and strange to them, as witness their amazement at the pains the Crown
took to prove a crime against a prisoner who had already confessed his
guilt.[162] In some instances the degree of authority parted with may
also have exceeded their anticipations, for we are told that it came
as a shock to some of the chiefs when they discovered that they were
not free to kill their slaves under the new regime as they had been
under the old. Failure to comprehend such details is understandable in
the peculiarity of the circumstances. Indeed complete clarity of
mental vision could not have been expected, and would not have been
attained in all particulars had civilised men instead of savages been
concerned. The natives, however, understood clearly enough that for
the advantages they hoped to reap from the treaty they were yielding
much of their existing power to the _Pakeha_ Governor, and
whether it was much or little they were the more willing to surrender
it because they realised that the advent of the European had so
altered their social conditions that rule by the old method was no
longer possible.

To these convictions must be added the indispensable persuasions of
the Missionaries, in whose word and advice the Maoris placed implicit
trust; but the thing which proved the determining influence in the
negotiations--more than the inducements offered by the Crown, or the
persuasions of the Missionaries--was that the chiefs had acquired a
clear grip of the primal fact that whatever it took from them, the
treaty left them in secure possession of their lands.

The sovereignty was the shadow, the land was the substance; and since
the shadow was already passing from them by force of circumstances
over which they were powerless to exercise control, they consented to
its surrender with all the less regret. Once having determined upon
this course, and given effect to their determination, there was no
wavering, even though in its early stages the rule of the
_Pakeha_ must have clashed harshly with their ideas of individual
authority. The Maori people were a people capable of delegating their
sovereign rights, and they did so delegate them. The Treaty of
Waitangi therefore became what it professed to be, a yielding of the
supreme political power in the country to the British Crown,[163] and
when the last signature had been put to it, Britain's right to
colonise and govern in New Zealand was incontestable before all the
world.

That is why it has always appeared to the writer that there was at the
time, and has been for many years since, much beating of the air by
the importance given to the so-called race to Akaroa, between the
British sloop _Britomart_ and the French frigate _L'Aube_,
when, soon after the consummation of the treaty, the sovereignty of the
South Island was supposed to be in danger. As this incident is the
leading historical event which seems to challenge the value of the
clause now under review it will be convenient to discuss it here.

Major Bunbury had returned from his southern mission on July 4, and at
midnight of the 10th the French corvette, _L'Aube_, cast anchor
in the Bay of Islands. From the pilot who went out to bring her in,
Captain Lavaud heard that British sovereignty had been proclaimed over
the country by Captain Hobson, and that the Union Jack was flying over
his residence as an evidence of the fact.

This was serious intelligence for the Frenchman, who saw in it a
circumstance that would render discreet a material modification of the
instructions under which he had sailed from France. He had been
commissioned to hoist the French flag at Akaroa, where a colony of his
countrymen was to be established under his protection. These
instructions had been given to him by the French Ministry in ignorance
of the British Government's intentions, and Captain Lavaud now saw
that to carry them out in their strict and literal sense must
inevitably plunge the two countries into a distressful and useless
war. The French Commander thus found himself in a position of great
delicacy, but fortunately he was an officer blessed with a healthy
frankness of spirit, and he lost no time in communicating to Captain
Hobson the real nature of his mission. So soon as he had satisfied
himself by an examination of the treaty and the proclamations that
British sovereignty had been procured in a manner such as could be
approved by other nations, and was effectual in its operation, he
readily agreed to respect the rights thus acquired without committing
himself so far as to formally acknowledge them until he should hear
further from his own Government. At the same time he undertook, upon
the first opportunity, to communicate with his Minister, and he
entertained little doubt that on his representation of the altered
conditions he would be instructed to recognise British sovereignty,
and honour the British flag. It is at least certain that at the
conferences between the two officers, an amicable arrangement was
arrived at by which the French commander was able to preserve the
honour of his own flag, while avoiding the tragedy of a conflict
between their respective countries. There is even colour for the
suggestion that the subsequent despatch of H.M.S. _Britomart_,
followed by _L'Aube_, was only a part of a preconcerted plan, and that
the much-paraded race to Akaroa between the French corvette and the
British sloop was not a serious contest for sovereignty, but merely a
little piece of theatrical play, promoted for the purpose of saving
the Frenchman's face. Certain it is that before he left the Bay of
Islands, Captain Lavaud had realised that it would be impossible to
carry out his instruction at Akaroa without rupturing the national
peace, and he was equally determined that he would not accept the
responsibility of firing the first shot until he had been further
advised from Paris. When this is understood it is all that is
necessary to explain the conciliatory manner in which he met the
British demands at Akaroa, and participated with our officers in the
preservation of order at the southern settlement.

During their stay at the Bay of Islands the officers of _L'Aube_
were entertained with the utmost cordiality by Captain Hobson, who in
conversation with their Commander learned something of the proceedings
of the Nantes-Bordelaise Company, a colonising corporation organised
in France for the purpose of establishing a settlement of their own
countrymen at Banks's Peninsula, and whose vessel, the _Comte de
Paris_, was now within a few days' sail of the coast. In 1838 a
Captain L'Anglois, as master of a French whaler, had visited Banks's
Peninsula, and there, for some articles of European manufacture valued
at £6, together with some agreeable promises, had secured the
signatures of several chiefs to a deed conveying to him an estate of
30,000 acres of the Peninsula's finest land.[164] This document,
composed in French, provided the basis of a negotiation which
L'Anglois arranged between two mercantile firms in Nantes, two in
Bordeaux, and three Parisian gentlemen, by which they agreed to
promote the Nantes-Bordelaise Company whose purpose was to promote a
French colony in New Zealand. Their project received the sanction and
support of Louis Philippe, who undertook to sustain their enterprise
by the presence of one or two ships of war in the South Pacific.
Meanwhile the French King had repeatedly assured the British Foreign
Office that he had no designs towards territorial aggrandisement in
New Zealand. This, in a qualified sense, may have been perfectly true,
because while it had been agreed that the Nantes-Bordelaise Company
was to cede certain lands to the French Crown in consideration of the
protection afforded them, there is every reason to suppose that the
French colonising design did not extend beyond Banks's Peninsula, and
that there never was any serious intention to annex the South Island.
This position was made clear to Captain Hobson by Captain Lavaud, and
if it was not secretly agreed upon as a means of strengthening the
latter's hands in making his representations to his Government, the
sending of the _Britomart_ south with two Magistrates can only have
been a precautionary measure on the part of Hobson, who hoped by this
means to make the assurance of his former act doubly sure. It has long
been a cherished conviction in our history that by his strategetical
move Captain Hobson cleverly outwitted the French. It is more probable
that he was acting in concert with them, and that what has hitherto
passed as a popular historical fact must now be relegated to the realm
of historical fiction. Be that as it may, it is a fact that on the
night of July 30, while _L'Aube_ lay at her anchors, the old and
weather-worn _Britomart_ sailed for Akaroa, carrying with her
Messrs. Robinson and Murphy, who were instructed to open courts at all
the settlements on the Peninsula, where the British flag was also to
be displayed by Captain Stanley. The manner in which that officer, and
those associated with him, executed their mission, is told in the
Commander's Despatch, written while the Britomart was returning to the
Bay of Islands.

   HER MAJESTY'S SHIP "BRITOMART,"
   _September 17, 1840_.

 SIR--I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that I
 proceeded in Her Majesty's sloop under my command to the port of
 Akaroa, in Banks's Peninsula, where I arrived on August 10, after a
 very stormy passage, during which the stern-boat was washed away, and
 one of the quarter boats stove. The French frigate _L'Aube_ had
 not arrived when I anchored, nor had any French emigrants been
 landed. On August 11 I landed, accompanied by Messrs. Murphy and
 Robinson, Police Magistrates, and visited the only two parts of the
 Bay where there were houses. At both places the flag was hoisted, and
 a court, of which notice had been given the day before, was held by
 the Magistrates. Having received information that there were three
 whaling stations on the Southern side of the Peninsula the exposed
 positions of which afforded no anchorage for the _Britomart_, I
 sent Messrs. Murphy and Robinson to visit them in a whale boat. At
 each station the flag was hoisted and a court held. On August 15 the
 French frigate _L'Aube_ arrived, having been four days off the
 port. On the 16th the French whaler _Comte de Paris_, having on
 board 57 French emigrants, arrived.[165] With the exception of Mr.
 Bellegui, from the Jardin des Plantes, who is sent out to look after
 the emigrants, and who is a good botanist and mineralogist, the
 emigrants are all of the lower order, and include carpenters,
 gardeners, stone-masons, labourers, a baker, and a miner, in all 30
 men, 11 women, and the rest children. Captain Lavaud, on the arrival
 of the French emigrants, assured me on his word of honour that he
 would maintain the most strict neutrality between the British
 residents and the emigrants, and that should any difference arise
 between them he would settle matters impartially. Captain Lavaud also
 informed me that as the _Comte de Paris_ had to proceed to sea,
 whaling, that he would cause the emigrants to be landed in some
 unoccupied part of the Bay, where he pledged himself he would do
 nothing that could be considered as hostile to our Government; that
 the emigrants would merely build themselves houses for shelter, and
 clear away what little land they might require for gardens. Upon
 visiting the _Comte de Paris_ I found that she had on board, besides
 agricultural tools for the settlers, six long 24-pounders, mounted
 on field carriages. I immediately called upon Captain Lavaud to
 protest against the guns being landed. Captain Lavaud assured me he
 had been much surprised at finding the guns had been sent out in the
 _Comte de Paris_, but that he had already given the most positive
 orders that they should not be landed. On August 19 the French
 emigrants having landed in a sheltered, well-chosen part of the Bay,
 where they could not interfere with any one, I handed over to Messrs.
 Murphy and Robinson the instructions entrusted to me by Your
 Excellency to meet such a contingency. Mr. Robinson, finding that he
 could engage three or four Englishmen as constables, and having been
 enabled through the kindness of Captain Lavaud to purchase a boat
 from a French whaler, decided upon remaining. Captain Lavaud
 expressed much satisfaction when I informed him that Mr. Robinson was
 to remain, and immediately offered him the use of his cabin and table
 as long as _L'Aube_ remained at Akaroa. Mr. Robinson accepted Captain
 Lavaud's offer until he could establish himself on shore. On August
 27 I sailed from Akaroa for Pigeon Bay, when finding no inhabitants I
 merely remained long enough to survey the harbour, which, though
 narrow and exposed to the northward, is well sheltered from every
 other wind and is much frequented by whalers, who procure great
 numbers of pigeons. From Pigeon Bay I went to Port Cooper, where Mr.
 Murphy held a Court; several chiefs were present, and seemed to
 understand and appreciate Mr. Murphy's proceedings in one or two
 cases that came before him. Between Port Cooper and Cloudy Bay I
 could hear of no anchorage whatever from the whalers who frequent the
 coast. I arrived at Port Nicholson on September 2, embarked Messrs.
 Shortland and Stuart, and sailed for the Bay of Islands on September
 16.

Much has been said and written concerning this incident, and in the
discussion it has been invested with an importance which it does not
deserve. In no sense can it rightly be elevated into the crisis of a
great international dispute, for the simple and sufficient reason that
no dispute existed. Whatever Captain Hobson may have understood as the
result of his conversation with Captain Lavaud, the amiable manner in
which that officer complied with every request made by Captain
Stanley, together with his conciliatory despatch to his own immediate
Minister in France, indicate that he at least had no views in the
direction of taking forcible possession of any territory in New
Zealand, since British sovereignty over it had been officially
declared. The pleasure he expressed when he learned that the British
Magistrate had determined to remain amongst the settlers; the ready
hospitality he extended to him; his refusal to allow the master of the
_Comte de Paris_ to land the artillery brought in that vessel; and his
promise to do even-handed justice to both English and French should
disputes arise, were not the acts of a man who felt that he had been
forestalled and worsted in a race involving the sacrifice of new
territory and the loss of national prestige.

That Captains Hobson and Lavaud understood each other perfectly is
abundantly clear from the letter which the latter wrote to the former
over twelve months (September 17, 1841) after the events just
narrated. In the month of October 1840 Mr. Robinson, the Magistrate
stationed at Akaroa, had intimated his intention of hoisting the
British flag, against which Captain Lavaud had successfully protested,
as being, in the peculiar circumstances, calculated to inflame the
prejudices of the colonists, and to destroy his influence as a keeper
of the peace between his own people and the whalers. When Governor
Hobson paid his first official visit to Akaroa in September 1841,
Captain Lavaud interviewed him and subsequently wrote to him,
explaining the incident, and asked that his action might be sustained.
During the course of his communication he said:

 You have been good enough to promise me that you will give orders to
 Mr. Robinson that nothing shall be changed in the already established
 position at Akaroa, upon which we were agreed at the Bay of Islands,
 until I should receive fresh instructions. I have received nothing
 since my arrival in New Zealand, but I learned when you arrived that
 the corvette _L'Allier_ was being fitted out at Brest in
 February last, to come to relieve me, and would consequently bring
 the instructions which I now await with so much impatience. This
 vessel must now soon arrive, and any day I ought to see it make its
 appearance. From the note of our _chargé d'affaires_ at London,
 which you were good enough to send to me, I have no doubt as to the
 recognition by the French Government of British sovereignty over
 these Islands, and that is all the more reason why I should appeal to
 Your Excellency to maintain the position we are in to-day, until the
 arrival of the vessel which will take the place of _L'Aube_ in
 the protection of the fisheries. My conduct at Akaroa should have
 sufficiently proved to the British Government that I have no idea of
 opposing the rights of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain to the
 sovereignty, or in any way impeding it, upon the land. There has been
 no act on my part, other than with the idea of maintaining order in
 this place, and preventing friction between the two races. It is not
 without some trouble and firmness that I have been able, up to the
 present, to maintain order and satisfy the colonists. I have told
 them that I have taken all the responsibility upon myself until I
 receive fresh instructions, and that then I would inform them
 definitely as to the position in which they would be placed with
 regard to the British Government. If so soon before the time when my
 promise should be fulfilled some aggressive action on the part of the
 British Government were to take place my honour would be seriously
 compromised. The authority which I exercise over my countrymen has,
 up to the present, been as advantageous to the interests of Great
 Britain as to the colonists, seeing that it has only been used for
 the maintenance of order. More than once I have been asked by the
 Magistrate appointed by Your Excellency to interfere in a quarrel
 between some Englishmen and the police who had been driven back and
 beaten by the first named. The corvette which I command, in giving
 its protection to the authorities, detained the law-breakers for a
 few days, and since it was proved that the war-ship was a protection
 for British authority, order has been maintained. Last October,
 however, this influence which has been exercised only for good by me,
 was on the point of being destroyed, when Mr. Robinson announced that
 he was going to hoist the British flag. Upon representations from me
 he consented to postpone these proceedings. The following were the
 grounds upon which I based my objection: The hoisting of the flag in
 the present state of affairs would add nothing to British rights, the
 flag having already been hoisted and saluted by the corvette
 _Herald_ before my arrival. The proclamations in the name of the
 Queen had quite another effect, as also had the acts and presence of
 the Magistrate to enforce the British sovereignty. Nothing on my part
 could have caused the English authorities to doubt in any way the
 purity and sincerity of my intentions, and of the arrangements
 between myself and Captain Stanley, to whom I promised that no arms
 or projectiles of war should be landed. If the British flag were to
 be hoisted at Akaroa so shortly before the day when I shall doubtless
 receive orders from my Government to recognise the British
 sovereignty, the authority which I exercise over my countrymen would
 come to an end. I should be unable to interfere in any manner
 whatever on land for the maintenance of peace and order. I should
 confine myself to my functions as captain of my ship, and should
 regard myself merely as the protector of my nation's subjects in case
 of trouble or judicial proceedings, as in the case of all foreign
 countries where there is no Consul. From such a state of affairs
 serious evils might result, and before long, so you may be assured
 from the experience of my fourteen months' sojourn here,
 consternation and disgust would take possession of the colonists;
 work would not be proceeded with; there would be widespread
 drunkenness, and most complete disorder. If on the other hand you may
 think fit to order Mr. Robinson to await the arrival of my
 instructions, which certainly cannot fail to be in agreement with the
 spirit of the note of our _chargé d'affaires_, in London, you will at
 the same time prevent the colony being placed in the undesirable
 position which I have shown you is possible, and you will give me the
 pleasure of according to your flag, the day it is hoisted, the
 honours which are due to it, without any disturbance taking place, as
 I shall inform the colonists that my Government, having recognised
 the Queen's sovereignty, they must, like myself, submit to the orders
 I have received.

This letter Captain Hobson acknowledged with becoming courtesy, and
promised that as, under existing circumstances, no question could
arise respecting the sovereign rights of Her British Majesty over
every part of the colony of New Zealand, he would willingly forego the
exhibition of any authority that could have a tendency to weaken
Captain Lavaud's influence over the minds of his countrymen. He would
therefore not display the British flag or publish any proclamation at
Akaroa, unless some pressing and unforeseen event should render such
measures necessary.[166]

Fortunately no such exceptional circumstances did arise before the
formal acknowledgment was made by France, and in the following
November Hobson, when penning his despatch to the Home authorities,
was able to assure them that Captain Lavaud's attitude had been
consistent throughout; that he had frankly disclaimed any national
intentions on the part of his Government, but had vigilantly supported
the claims of the French emigrants as private individuals. As a matter
of fact, since he had satisfied himself as to the validity of Britain's
pretensions, Captain Lavaud had taken up the position that he was in
these waters for no other purpose than to see his countrymen peaceably
settled on the estate of 30,000 acres to which the Nantes-Bordelaise
Company believed they had secured a title by one of those loose
transactions so common in the history of New Zealand. He was
determined to preserve the peace until he should be instructed to make
war.

But had his intentions been other than peaceable, Captain Hobson's
precautions in sending Magistrates to Akaroa could not have made the
British title more secure than it already was. The Treaty of Waitangi
was a compact such as no civilised nation could, or would ignore, and
when Major Bunbury, by virtue of that treaty, hoisted the British flag
at the Cloudy Bay _pa_ on June 17, 1840, he put the sovereignty
in the South Island beyond all question of doubt until it could be
wrested from Britain by force of arms.

The most that can be said for the sudden despatch of the _Britomart_
to Akaroa, and the proceedings of her Captain and his associates
there, is that the presence of British authority on the Peninsula may
have prevented the growth of any false ideas concerning national
interests in the minds of the emigrants, and so obviated possible
friction at a later date. In no sense did it give anew to Britain a
right that had already been ceded to her by the only people who were
capable of ceding it--the natives. That the official mind of France
had no delusions on this point was demonstrated during the discussion
which engaged the Chamber of Deputies after the receipt of Captain
Lavaud's despatch, when M. Guizot, as Foreign Minister, maintained in
the face of the sharpest opposition that the British proclamation read
at Cloudy Bay determined by the highest principles known to nations in
whom the right of sovereignty lay.

It is both interesting and instructive to observe that during this
debate M. Guizot declined to seriously discuss the proclamation issued
by Captain Hobson on May 21, declaring the Queen's sovereignty over
the South Island, "by right of discovery," although the point was
warmly pressed by MM. Billault and Berryer. Captain Hobson had always
favoured this mode of dealing with the South Island, he being under a
grave misapprehension both as to the number and character of the
natives residing there. Before he left England he felt that his
instructions were meagre in this regard, and in seeking more explicit
direction from the Chief Secretary of State he drew the attention of
Lord Normanby to what he regarded as a material distinction between
Britain's position in the two Islands. In August (1839) he wrote to
his Lordship:

 The first paragraph (of the original instructions) relates to the
 acquisition of the sovereign rights by the Queen over the Islands of
 New Zealand. Under this head I perceive that no distinction is made
 between the Northern and Southern Islands, although their relations
 with this country, and their respective advancement towards
 civilisation are essentially different. The Declaration of
 Independence of New Zealand was signed by the United chiefs of the
 Northern Island only (in fact only of the Northern part of that
 Island) and it was to them alone that His late Majesty's letter was
 addressed on the presentation of their flag; and neither of these
 instruments had any application whatsoever to the Southern Islands.
 It may be of vast importance to keep this distinction in view, not as
 regards the natives, towards whom the same measure of justice must be
 dispensed, however their allegiance may have been obtained, but as it
 may apply to British settlers, who claim a title to property in New
 Zealand as in a free and independent State. I need not exemplify here
 the uses that may hereafter be made of this difference in their
 condition; but it is obvious that the power of the Crown may be
 exercised with much greater freedom in a country over which it
 possesses all the rights that are usually assumed by first discoverers,
 than in an adjoining State which has been recognised as free and
 independent. In the course of my negotiations, too, my proceedings
 may be greatly facilitated by availing myself of this disparity, for
 with the wild savages in Southern Islands, it appears scarcely
 possible to observe even the form of a treaty, and there I might be
 permitted to plant the British flag in virtue of those rights of the
 Crown to which I have alluded.

[Illustration: A SECTION OF THE TREATY SIGNATURES.]

To this Lord Normanby replied that Captain Hobson had correctly
interpreted his instructions when he limited his Lordship's remarks
concerning the independence of the New Zealanders to the tribes
inhabiting the Northern Island. His knowledge respecting the Southern
Island was too imperfect to allow of his laying down any definite
course of action to be pursued there. If it were really as Captain
Hobson supposed, uninhabited, or peopled only by a small number of
tribesmen in a savage state, incapable from their ignorance of
entering intelligently into any treaties with the Crown, then the
ceremonial of entering into any such engagements with them would be a
mere illusion and pretence which ought to be avoided, and discovery
might be made the basis of the Crown's claim. Still he had a marked
predilection in favour of a treaty as the only means of affording an
effective protection to the natives; "but," he continued, "in my
inevitable ignorance of the real state of the case I must refer the
decision in the first instance to your own discretion, aided by the
advice you will receive from the Governor of New South Wales."

The frankness with which Lord Normanby admitted his "inevitable
ignorance" of native conditions in the South Island is in striking
contrast to Hobson's confident assurance that they were "wild savages
with whom it was scarcely possible to observe even the form of a
treaty," for at this time his intercourse with the southern tribes was
as limited as that of the Chief Secretary's. Nor was his knowledge of
them any more complete when he issued his proclamation on May 21. He
was then clearly under the impression that the southern tribes were a
people physically, intellectually, and socially much inferior to those
whom he had met in the North; in fact, so much inferior that he did
not believe them capable of understanding the spirit or the letter of
a treaty. Such an opinion could only have been founded upon
information conveyed to him at the Bay of Islands, and that by chiefs
who, glorying in the pride of conquest, were no doubt wont to look
upon their southern enemies as the siftings of the race; as "the
remnant of their meal." It is therefore open to doubt whether Hobson
ever anticipated any great measure of success when he despatched Major
Bunbury to the South, and it is conceivable that the results achieved
by that ambassador were as pleasing to the Lieutenant-Governor as the
information was surprising that the Southern Island and the southern
people had been much misunderstood. The falsity of the impression
under which Captain Hobson acted, together with all that had gone
before, completely undermines the value of his proclamation of May 21,
and M. Guizot was only stating the fact when in answer to his critics
he declared in the Chamber of Deputies that "this method of taking
possession (by right of discovery) has never had any serious
consequences. It could not be regarded as having constituted rights,
and that is so true that the English Government has been the first to
proclaim it."

The second clause of the treaty proved to be the storm centre of the
compact. By those natives who took the trouble to reason out the
purpose and effect of the negotiation it was unanimously approved; by
the land-jobbers it was as unanimously condemned. Guaranteeing as it
did to the tribes the full and complete possession of their lands,
fisheries, and forests, it complied with the one condition that made
the treaty tolerable to them; yet by reserving to the Crown the right,
by pre-emption,[167] to become the medium of purchase between the
natives and the settlers, it provided the contentious point upon which
all who were interested in the acquisition of land concentrated their
attacks. Nor was this opposition shown merely because by a broad sweep
of the pen the speculator's sphere of operations had been materially
limited for the future, but the hostility became the more vehement
because by an equally bold assertion of a great principle of law, the
treaty called under review all that they had done in the past. The
acknowledgment by the British Crown of the native title to all the
land in New Zealand, whether waste or cultivated, was in the opinion
of many a blunder grievous enough; but that the Crown should claim the
right to scrutinise all titles which had been acquired before
sovereignty was declared, was an excess of zeal which they regarded as
nothing short of preposterous.

This feeling of indignation was rampant amongst those who were deeply
implicated in land speculations when the proclamations were issued at
Sydney and the Bay of Islands, declaring null and void all titles
which were not derived from the Crown; and their ideas of British
enterprise were even further outraged when on May 28, 1840, Sir George
Gipps introduced to his Legislative Council, "A Bill[168] to empower
the Governor of New South Wales to appoint Commissioners to examine
and report on claims to grants of land in New Zealand."

In addition to the gigantic pretensions put forward by the New Zealand
Company there were 1200 claimants whose demands upon the soil of the
country varied from a single rood to over 20,000,000 acres. Three of
these exceeded 1,000,000 acres each; three others were claiming
1,500,000 acres between them; three others comprised more than 25,000
acres each, while upwards of thirty persons expected to be placed in
possession of more than 20,000 acres each, the aggregation of alleged
purchases amounting to 45,976,000 acres. "Some of these claimants,"
says one writer, "had nothing more to show for their purchases than an
ornamental scrawl on a deed which was so phrased as to be unintelligible
to the chiefs who signed it." To reduce these wholesale purchases to
some principle regulated by justice was the purpose of the Government;
to let the dead past bury its dead was the fervent wish of all
those who had entrenched themselves behind Maori signatures.

By the following June 25 the provisions of the Bill had been widely
circulated, on which date a spirited protest against its enactment was
received from a number of gentlemen claiming to be landowners in the
new colony. This document, which was presented to the Legislative
Council by Mr. H. H. Macarthur, set out that the petitioners having
perused certain proclamations in the New South Wales Government
_Gazette_ of January 22, as well as the Bill introduced by the
Governor, they submitted that their rights and privileges as subjects
of the Queen and as landowners in New Zealand would be unwarrantably
and unconstitutionally invaded by the provisions of the said measure.
They therefore prayed that they might be heard by the Council in
protest against such unjust legislation.

So reasonable a request was readily acceded to by the members of the
Legislature, and on June 30 Mr. Busby, the former British Resident,
Mr. William Charles Wentworth, Mr. A'Beckett, and Mr. Darvall,
barristers-at-law, were introduced to the Council, and on that and
several subsequent days addressed the members in opposition to the
Bill.

The burden of Mr. Busby's contention in defence of his claim to 50,000
acres, including the site of a township, was that the Bill sought to
legalise confiscation, and that therefore the principles which it was
designed to enact were at variance with and in excess of all that was
sanctioned by the British constitution.[169] No doubt, he said, there
were many claims to land in New Zealand which would not bear
investigation; but contrariwise there were many respectable settlers
on the banks of the rivers and shores of the harbours who would be
deeply injured were the proposed Bill to become law. This injury
would be all the more ruthless because no attempt had been made by the
Government, now become so paternal, to prevent British subjects
acquiring property in New Zealand, as had been done in the case of
those settlers who had come over from Van Dieman's land to originate
the settlement at Port Philip. No sooner did it become known that
these speculators had purchased extensive tracts of country from the
aborigines than a proclamation was issued declaring the illegality of
their proceedings. No such prohibition had, however, been put upon the
acquisition of property in New Zealand, where the settlers, relying
upon certain acts of repudiation by the British Government, had
purchased from the natives in the belief that they were negotiating
with an independent people. Mr. Busby proceeded to review the various
stages of New Zealand's history in order to emphasise the events by
which the independence of the chiefs and people had been repeatedly
acknowledged, and concluded by asking why the chiefs had been induced
under the Treaty of Waitangi to surrender the pre-emptive right of
purchase to the Queen if they had never had the right as an
independent people to dispose of their lands as they pleased?

Mr. Busby was followed by Mr. Wentworth, one of the local Magistrates,
who was claiming 100,000 acres in the North Island, and practically
the whole of the South Island except some 3,000,000 acres which he
magnanimously conceded had been already sold to other purchasers. The
history of Mr. Wentworth's claim, which to say the least, was one of
the most scandalous in the long list of extraordinary transactions
with the natives, is thus told by Sir George Gipps in his despatch to
the Chief Secretary for the Colonies,[170] in which he intimated that
in consequence of the part Mr. Wentworth had played in this flagrant
attempt to flout the Government, he desired to withdraw a recommendation
he had previously made in favour of this gentleman's appointment to
the Legislative Council.

 "In the month of February last" (1840), wrote Sir George, "seven[171]
 chiefs from the Middle Island of New Zealand happening to be in
 Sydney, it was suggested to me by the persons who had brought them
 here, and under whose protection they were living, that they should
 be invited to sign a declaration of willingness to receive Her
 Majesty as their sovereign, similar in effect to the declaration
 which Captain Hobson was then engaged in obtaining from the chiefs of
 the Northern Island. The chiefs in question were accordingly brought
 to the Government house, and, through the medium of an interpreter,
 the nature of the document they were required to sign was fully
 explained to them in the presence of myself, the Colonial Secretary,
 and several persons who claimed to have purchased land in the Middle
 Island; and amongst other things it was expressly declared to them
 that only such purchases of land as should be approved by Her Majesty
 would ultimately be confirmed. At the conclusion of this conference a
 present of ten sovereigns was made to each of the chiefs, and they
 all promised to attend on the next day but one to sign the paper
 which was to be prepared for them. On the day appointed, however,
 none of them appeared; and in reply to a message that was sent to
 them, a short answer was received by one of the Englishmen, under
 whose protection they were, that they had been advised to sign no
 treaty which did not contain full security for the possession by the
 purchasers of all lands acquired from the natives.

 "It subsequently appeared that it was by the advice of Mr. Wentworth
 that they adopted this course of proceeding; and Mr. Wentworth, when
 before the Council, acknowledged that he had not only given the
 advice, but also that he had subsequently and after the issue of my
 proclamation, in conjunction with four or five persons, purchased the
 whole of the Middle Island (or all the unsold portion of it) from
 these very natives, paying them for it £200 in ready money, with a
 promise of a like sum as long as they should live.[172]

 "Such was the origin of Mr. Wentworth's claim to twenty millions of
 acres in the Middle Island," continued Sir George, "and it was the
 legality and validity of this transaction that he appeared before the
 Council to defend."

The magnitude of the property at stake naturally excited Mr. Wentworth
to his most eloquent effort, and in an address of considerable length
and subtlety he argued that before the proclamations issued by Sir
George Gipps and Captain Hobson, nullifying all titles to land not
derived from the Queen, could be binding upon British subjects, they
must be founded upon some law previously existing; and if they were so
founded then it was the duty of those who had issued them to satisfy
the Council what that law was. The principle contained in the preamble
of the Bill--that no chiefs, or other individuals of tribes of
uncivilised savages had any right to dispose of the lands occupied by
them--was, he contended, at variance with British law and with the Law
of Nations. Numerous authorities were marshalled in support of this
view, and also to prove that it mattered nothing whether the New
Zealanders were an independent nation or only a few errant tribes
scattered over the country; they still possessed the demesne of the
soil to do with as they pleased. This being so, those who purchased
land from them were only acting in accordance with the natural rights
of the natives and in compliance with the Law of Nations. According to
Vattel--one of the world's most eminent authorities upon the relation
of one nation to another--individuals landing in an uninhabited
country might not only establish colonies, but also erect a government
and an empire, and he argued that if such a proceeding was permissible
in an uninhabited country, it resulted _a fortiori_, that it
might be done in a country that was peopled, provided the natives of
that country gave their consent thereto. The story of the first New
England Settlement under Davenport and others, in 1620, was urged as
conclusive proof that British subjects, unsupported by a Royal
Charter, might form colonies and erect governments, as had been done
in Connecticut, where the government so established had lasted for
over two centuries. He denied that there was any merit in the official
assumption that the Crown had derived sovereignty over the Islands of
New Zealand by right of discovery. Discovery gave no right of
occupation in an inhabited country, nor would the Law of Nations
acknowledge the property and sovereignty of any nation unless its
possession were real, unless its settlements were actual, or it had in
some way made practical use of the soil. The Bill rested upon the
principle that the native was incompetent to sell his own land, and
the British subject was incompetent to buy--a principle which he
thought he had clearly disproved. Confiscation was the key-note of the
measure. It was a Bill designed to take away property, annul grants,
and to forfeit all landed possessions acquired by British subjects in
New Zealand. He condemned the Bill absolutely, because he claimed to
have established on incontestable grounds, and by the aid of
indisputable authorities, the right of British subjects to buy land
from the New Zealanders, a right which could not be taken away until
the Council passed an Act to restrain it. Under these circumstances it
was highly illegal to proceed to divest parties of their possessions
without adequate compensation, such as was given in England when land
was required for public purposes. The compensation to be given in such
cases must always be awarded by a jury; therefore the proposed Bill
was clearly repugnant to the laws of England. Only a few days
previously the Council had passed an Ordinance, making all the laws of
England and of the colony of New South Wales applicable to New
Zealand. Amongst these was the right of trial by jury of which the
proposed Bill was completely subversive; it took away the right of
trial by jury; and therefore, declared Mr. Wentworth, the Council
could not pass it, or if they did, the Judges could not certify to it.

These arguments were reiterated and amplified by the two barristers,
Messrs. A'Beckett and Darvell, and on July 9 their official refutation
was placed before the Council by Sir George Gipps, who on that day
delivered in reply a speech remarkable for its broad grasp of
constitutional history, as well as for its fearless declaration of the
attitude adopted by the Crown. It was during the development of this
smashing rebuttal that the objectors were enlightened as to the three
great principles of law upon which the second clause of the treaty was
founded; "principles, which, until I heard them here controverted,"
said Sir George, "I thought were fully admitted, and indeed received
as political maxims." Briefly these were:

 1. That the uncivilised inhabitants of any country have but a
 qualified domain over it, or a right of occupancy only; and that,
 until they establish amongst themselves a settled form of government,
 and subjudicate the ground to their own uses by the cultivation of
 it, they cannot grant to individuals, not of their own tribe, any
 portion of it, for the simple reason that they have not themselves
 any individual property in it.

 2. That if a settlement be made in any such country by a civilised
 power, the right of pre-emption to the soil, or in other words, the
 right of extinguishing the native title, is exclusively in the
 Government of that power, and cannot be enjoyed by individuals
 without the consent of the Government.

 3. That neither individuals nor bodies of men belonging to any nation
 can form colonies, except with the consent and under the direction
 and control of their own Government, and that from any settlement
 which they may form without the consent of their Government they may
 be ousted. That is, so far as British subjects are concerned, they
 cannot form colonies without the consent of the Crown.

It is not necessary to closely analyse the first of these declarations,
as whatever may be said of it as a principle of law it was not in any
sense applicable to New Zealand. Logicians may amuse themselves
discussing why a people who are capable of granting titles to
individuals of their own tribes are yet incapable of granting similar
rights or concessions to individuals of other nations; or how the
Government of another nation can acquire from those natives a title to
land which it has already declared the natives do not possess and have
no power to give. In other words, it may form sport to the mental
speculator to discover how a Government can extinguish a native title
which that Government has affirmed does not exist, for that is what
this declaration of principle means if it is to be invested with any
meaning at all.

Such reasoning is at this juncture foreign to our purpose, because,
however true it may be that the native lands of New Zealand being held
in common, it was not competent for individual natives to grant titles
to Europeans, seeing that no individual interests had been
ascertained, the right of the tribes of New Zealand to dispose of
their lands as they pleased was incontestable. As has already been
pointed out, they were by no means in such an uncivilised state as to
be devoid of a form of government adequate in all respects for their
primitive purposes. Especially was their occupancy and ownership of
land highly systematised. It may be true that they had not
"subjudicated the ground to their own uses by the cultivation of it,"
as the term cultivation is freely understood by us, but the waste
spaces were just as valuable, just as necessary to them as the garden
patches. Their forests, their open plains, their wild mountain sides
were as much the sources of their food-supply as were their _kumara_
fields, the streams, or the open sea, and so definitely was this
understood amongst them that every hill and valley was known, named,
and owned under one of their various tenures. There was, in fact, no
side of his tribal life about which the Maori held such clear
conceptions, or was so fixed and determined as the occupancy and
ownership of the soil, for which in olden days, as in _Pakeha_ days,
he was ever ready to fight and, if necessary, to die.

If then Sir George Gipps desired to convey to his Council the
impression that the New Zealanders were incompetent to deal with their
own lands, he was setting up an entirely false hypothesis, an error
into which he was no doubt led through not being clearly seized of all
that Maori land tenure implied, the full meaning of which was
afterwards to be debated on many a hard-fought field.

That the right of extinguishing the native title rested solely with
the Crown was a sounder contention, based upon principles deep set in
constitutional law, and supported by the practice of all colonising
nations. It was the endeavour of Mr. Wentworth, and those associated
with him, to depreciate the principle of pre-emption by casting at it
the cheap sneer that it was "American law," and so it was. But it was
British law before it was American law, and has only been heard of in
American courts more frequently than in English tribunals, because
questions incidental to the settlement of the New World have called it
more frequently into prominence there. Broadly put the principle rests
upon the assumption, dating from feudal times, that the King was the
original proprietor of all the land in the kingdom, and the true and
only source of title. Therefore all valid individual titles must be
derived from the Crown. With the development of constitutional
government the personality of the King has disappeared, but still no
nation will suffer either its own subjects or the subjects of another
nation to set up a title superior to its own. It has thus become a
right exclusively belonging to the Government in its sovereign
capacity, to extinguish the native title to a country which it may be
colonising, "to perfect its own domain over the soil, and to dispose
of it at its own good pleasure."

Once admitting that the natives of New Zealand had a valid title to
the soil of the country, and were competent to deal with that title,
the prerogative of the Crown in exercising the pre-emptive right to
extinguish it under the terms of an equitable treaty was not difficult
to maintain. But the buttress[173] behind the attitude which the
Government adopted towards the New Zealand land purchasers was to be
found in the third declaration of principle enunciated by Sir George
Gipps. Here it was laid down "that neither individuals nor bodies of
men belonging to any nation can form colonies, except with the
consent, and under the direction and control of their own Government."

The fundamental reason which induces nations to hedge its subjects
about with this restriction, was thus concisely stated by the Select
Committee of the House of Commons in 1844. Although this Committee
roundly condemned the Treaty of Waitangi as "a part of a series of
injudicious proceedings," it was yet as hostile to the New Zealand
Company in seeking to set up a settlement independent of Imperial
authority, thereby imperilling their own position and prejudicing that
of the Crown.

 When large numbers of British subjects have established themselves in
 distant regions, inhabited only by barbarous tribes, it is impossible
 for Her Majesty's Government to leave them exposed without protection
 to the dangers which their own rashness may draw down upon them, or
 to allow them to exercise, without control, and perhaps to abuse the
 power which their superior civilisation gives them over the rude
 natives of the soil. Hence every new establishment of this kind
 involves a new demand upon the naval and military resources of the
 Empire, but the undue anticipation of such demands must occasion a
 very heavy burden upon the nation, and it therefore follows that the
 enterprises of colonisation should only be entered upon with the
 sanction and under the authority of the Government.

On this ground and on this ground alone the British Government was
justified in calling a halt in the irregular settlement of New
Zealand, and if a mistake was made it was not in that the Government
now interposed their authority,[174] but in that they had not asserted
their rights at a much earlier period. In support of this portion of
his argument Sir George Gipps quoted the opinions of four of the most
eminent lawyers in England of that day, Mr. William Burgh, Mr. Thomas
Pemberton, Sir William Follett, and Dr. Lushington. He was even
uncharitable enough to use against the New Zealand Company the opinion
of their own legal adviser, Sergeant Wilde, the crushing nature of
these authorities completely breaking down the pretensions of his
opponents.

"I leave the Honourable Members of this Council," declared Sir George,
"to say whether they will take the law from the authorities which I
have produced or from the learned gentlemen who have been heard at
their table; remembering, moreover, that the former were giving their
opinions against their clients, the latter arguing, as they were bound
to do, in favour of them."

Sir George also claimed for the British Government the right to
intervene in New Zealand affairs, so far as land titles were
concerned, on the ground of its immediate contiguity to the colony of
New South Wales, in support of which claim he quoted an opinion
expressed by a Committee of the House of Commons in 1837, and in
further appeal he might have advanced the fact that in the previous
fifty years Great Britain had expended no less a sum than £8,000,000
upon colonisation in the South Pacific, a fact which was surely
substantial enough to create the peculiar rights which are inseparably
associated with those intimate relations which grow out of
neighbourhood. Finally, he thus summarised the powers which were
sought for in his measure and those which it did not seek:

 The Bill, gentlemen, is not a Bill of spoliation as it has been
 described; it is not a Bill to destroy titles, but rather to bestow
 titles on persons who at present have none, and who cannot get any
 but from the Crown. It is not a Bill to take away any man's
 _tenementum_, but to give him a _tenementum_, provided he
 can show that he has a fair and equitable claim to it, though not
 indeed a _tenementum_ to any one in the lands which were
 purchased, or pretended to be purchased, after the issue of my
 proclamation and in defiance of it, for not one acre of such land
 shall any one ever acquire under it. Nor is it, gentlemen, a Bill to
 give Her Majesty any power that she does not already possess; for her
 power to disallow these titles is vested in her by virtue of her
 prerogative, and of that principle of English law which derives all
 landed property from the gift of the Crown. Her Majesty's prerogative
 in this matter is about to be exercised, not for the love of power,
 not for the lust of patronage, but for the good of her subjects, for
 which alone it is given to her; and the exercise of it in this case
 will be an additional proof that the prerogative is what it was
 elegantly described to be in the course of the pleadings in the
 Grenada case, of which we have heard so much, the _decus et tutamen
 regni_, the grace, the ornament, the safeguard, not _regis_,
 of the King, but _regni_, of the realm. I have not heard one
 reasonable and disinterested person object to the main purpose of
 this Bill. Of all the witnesses examined before the Committee of the
 House of Lords in 1838, no one was so wild as to say that all
 purchases from the natives of New Zealand were to be acknowledged; no
 one pretended, because the Narraganset Indians sold Connecticut, as
 we have been told they did, for a certain number of old coats and
 pairs of breeches, or because they sold Rhode Island (as I find they
 did), for a pair of spectacles, that therefore Her Majesty is bound
 to acknowledge as valid purchases of a similar nature in New Zealand.
 The witnesses to whom I have alluded all considered the New
 Zealanders as minors, or as wards of Chancery, incapable of managing
 their own affairs, and therefore entitled to the same protection as
 the law of England affords to persons under similar or analogous
 circumstances. To set aside a bargain on the ground of fraud, or of
 the incapacity of one of the parties to understand the nature of it,
 or his legal inability to execute it, is a proceeding certainly not
 unknown to the law of England; nor is it in any way contrary to the
 spirit of equity. The injustice would be in confirming any such
 bargain; there would indeed be no excuse for Her Majesty's advisers,
 if, by the exercise of her prerogative, she were to confirm lands to
 persons who pretend to have purchased them at the rate of 400 acres
 for a penny; for that is, as near as I can calculate it, the price
 paid by Mr. Wentworth and his associates for their twenty millions of
 acres in the Middle Island. A great deal was said by this gentleman,
 in the course of his address to the Council, of corruption and
 jobbery, as well as the love which men in office have for patronage.
 But, gentlemen, talk of corruption! talk of jobbery! Why, if all the
 corruption which has defiled England since the expulsion of the
 Stuarts was gathered into one heap, it would not make up such a sum
 as this; if all the jobs which have been done since the days of Sir
 Robert Walpole were collected into one job, they would not make so
 big a job as the one which Mr. Wentworth asks me to lend a hand in
 perpetrating; the job, that is to say, of making to him a grant of
 twenty millions of acres at the rate of 100 acres for a farthing! The
 Land Company of New South Wales has been said to be a job; one
 million of acres at eighteen pence per acre has been thought to be a
 pretty good job, but it absolutely vanishes into nothing by the side
 of Mr. Wentworth's job. In the course of this gentleman's argument,
 he quoted largely from Vattel and the Law of Nations to prove the
 right of independent people to sell their lands; and he piteously
 complained of the grievous injustice which we should do to the New
 Zealanders if we were to deny them the same right; and the Council
 may recollect that when I reminded him that he was here to maintain
 his own rights and not those of the New Zealanders, he replied, not
 unaptly, that as his was a derivative right, it was necessary for him
 to show that it had previously existed in the persons from whom he
 had derived it; it was, in fact, necessary for him to show that the
 right existed in the nine savages, who were lately in Sydney, to sell
 the Middle Island, in order to show his own right to purchase it from
 them at the rate of 400 acres for a penny! Lastly, gentlemen, it has
 been said that the principles on which this Bill is founded are
 derived from the times of Cortez and Pizarro--times when not only the
 rights of civilised nations, but the rights also of humanity, were
 disregarded. To this I answer, that whatever changes (and thank
 Heaven they are many) which the progress of religion and
 enlightenment have produced amongst us, they are all in favour of the
 savage, and not against him. It would be indeed the very height of
 hypocrisy in Her Majesty's Government to abstain, or pretend to
 abstain, for religion's sake, from despoiling these poor savages of
 their lands, and yet to allow them to be despoiled by individuals
 being subjects of Her Majesty. It is in the spirit of that
 enlightenment which characterises the present age, that the British
 Government is now about to interfere in the affairs of New Zealand.
 That it interferes against its will, and only under the force of
 circumstances, is evident from Lord Normanby's despatch; the objects
 for which we go to New Zealand are clearly set forth in it, and
 amongst the foremost is the noble one of rescuing a most interesting
 race of men from that fate which contact with the nations of
 Christendom has hitherto invariably and unhappily brought upon the
 uncivilised tribes of the earth. One of the gentlemen who appeared
 before you did not scruple to avow at this table, and before this
 Council, that he can imagine no motive Her Majesty's Ministers can
 have in desiring the acquisition of New Zealand but to increase their
 own patronage. The same gentleman is very probably also unable to
 imagine any other reason for the exercise of Her Majesty's
 prerogative than the oppression of her subjects. These, gentlemen,
 may be Mr. Wentworth's opinions. I will not insult you by supposing
 they are yours. You, I hope, still believe that there is such a thing
 as public virtue, and that integrity is not utterly banished from the
 bosoms of men in office. To your hands, therefore, I commit this
 Bill. You will, I am sure, deal with it according to your
 consciences, and with that independence which you ought to exercise,
 having due regard for the honour of the Crown and the interests of
 the subject; whilst for myself, in respect to this occupation of New
 Zealand by Her Majesty, I may, I trust, be permitted to exclaim, as
 did the standard-bearer of the Tenth Legion when Caesar first took
 possession of Great Britain, _Et ego certe officium meum Reipublicae
 atque Imperatori praestitero_, fearlessly alike of what people may
 say or think of me, I will perform my duty to the Queen and to the
 public.

This forceful presentation of the case for the Crown left the Council
but one course open to it, and on the following August 4 the Bill had
passed through all its stages and became a colonial statute. Under
its provisions Commissioners in the persons of Messrs. Francis Fisher,
William Lee Godfrey, and Matthew Richmond were appointed and commenced
their investigation of land claims at the Bay of Islands. The
separation of New Zealand from the colony of New South Wales in April
1841, however, put an end to the functions of the Commissioners under
the measure, and it became necessary to revive their powers under a
New Zealand statute. In his instructions covering the granting of a
new Charter to New Zealand as an independent colony, Lord John
Russell, the new Chief Secretary, had sustained the attitude adopted
by his predecessor, Lord Normanby, on the land question. Accordingly,
on June 9, 1841, under advice from Lord John, an ordinance was passed
by the Legislative Council assembled at Auckland, repealing the
previous Act of New South Wales and furnishing Captain Hobson, the now
Governor of New Zealand, with the requisite power to appoint their
successors. Intelligence had also been received in the meantime that
Mr. Spain, an English lawyer, had been appointed Chief Commissioner of
land claims; and under the New Zealand statute only two of the
original Commissioners were reappointed, Mr. Fisher having accepted
the office of Attorney-General to the colony.

With the deliberations and adjustments of this Commission we are not
particularly concerned. What is of importance is that its proceedings
led to a voluminous, and at times acrimonious correspondence between
the New Zealand Company and Lord Stanley, who, in 1841, succeeded Lord
John Russell as Secretary of State for the Colonies in Sir Robert
Peel's cabinet. During the course of this correspondence the Company
boldly maintained that, under an arrangement made with his
predecessor,[175] they were so situated as to be beyond the pale of
the Commission's enquiries which they said would shake every title in
their settlements. They declared that the circumstances in which they
had acquired the land they were now claiming were such as could not be
affected by the Treaty of Waitangi, they even repudiated the validity
of the treaty itself. On January 24, 1843, Mr. Joseph Somes, as
Governor of the Company, despatched that celebrated letter to Lord
Stanley in which occurred this significant passage: "We have always
had very serious doubts whether the Treaty of Waitangi, made with
naked savages by a Consul invested with no plenipotentiary powers,
without ratification by the Crown, could be treated by lawyers as
anything but a praiseworthy device for amusing and pacifying savages
for the moment."

On the 15th of the following month a further letter was received from
Mr. Somes, in which he specifically denied the application of the
treaty to the particular possessions of the Company; and in order to
give a verisimilitude of truth to his argument deliberately made light
of the historical facts connected with the signing of the treaty:

 "We have not," he wrote, "thought proper, hitherto, to advert to the
 Treaty of Waitangi except incidentally. But as we observe that it has
 occasionally been dwelt upon by your Lordship as being of some
 importance to the view taken by you in opposition to our claims, it
 is well that we should not quit the subject without remarking that
 your Lordship appears always to speak of that treaty as bearing on
 the entire claim of the Company. Now, your Lordship ought to be
 apprised of the fact that the Treaty of Waitangi itself applies to no
 part of the vast extent of country over which we claim the right of
 selection. The chiefs who signed the treaty neither could, nor did,
 pretend to cede anything but the northern corner of the Northern
 Island. Subsequently, it is true, Captain Hobson procured the
 accession to the treaty of chiefs further south. But the alleged
 accession of the chiefs within the limits of the Company's
 possessions in the Northern Island rests merely on evidence far too
 slight and loose to be taken as establishing a fact of such grave
 public character; at any rate, half at least of the 20,000,000
 affected by our claim lie in the Middle (South) Island; and the
 Middle and Stewart's Islands, it is obvious, cannot be affected by
 the Treaty of Waitangi, inasmuch as Her Majesty's title to them was
 'asserted' on the grounds of discovery without pretence to any treaty
 or cession."

This attempt to mislead the Minister by a flagrant disregard for the
proceedings of Major Bunbury and all that those proceedings implied,
was unfortunately but too characteristic of the methods pursued by the
Company at this time, whose officers had now developed a dexterity in
conjuring with facts against the subtlety of which the Minister could
not too jealously guard the public interests.

To the equivocal attitude adopted by the Company Lord Stanley replied
through his Under-Secretary, Mr. Hope, in one of the noblest passages
ever penned by a British Minister,--a passage in which he sternly
refused to sacrifice official integrity to mere commercialism or
national honour to ambitious personal ends:

 "Lord Stanley," wrote Mr. Hope, "is not prepared, as Her Majesty's
 Secretary of State, to join with the New Zealand Company in setting
 aside the Treaty of Waitangi, after obtaining the advantages
 guaranteed by it, even though it might be made with 'naked savages,'
 or though it might be treated by lawyers as 'a praiseworthy device
 for amusing and pacifying savages for the moment.' Lord Stanley
 entertains a different view of the respect due to the obligations
 contracted by the Crown of England, and his final answer to the
 demands of the New Zealand Company must be that, so long as he has
 the honour of serving the Crown, he will not admit that any person,
 or any Government acting in the name of Her Majesty, can contract a
 legal, moral, or honorary obligation to despoil others of their
 lawful and equitable rights."

Foiled in their efforts to induce the Colonial Minister to award them
the full measure of their enormous claim without question or enquiry,
the Company then preferred a claim for compensation against the State
on the grounds that the policy of the Colonial Office and the
proceedings of the Government in New Zealand had brought them to the
verge of financial ruin. Still powerful in the House of Commons they
were able to exert considerable influence there, and in April 1844 a
Select Committee was set up, with Lord Howick, now one of the
Company's warmest friends, as Chairman, and an order of reference
which authorised them "to enquire into the State of the Colony of New
Zealand, and into the proceedings of the New Zealand Company."

The Committee sat until July, taking voluminous evidence from many
persons who had some previous knowledge of the country, and when they
met to formulate their report it was found that they were sharply
divided on material points. A section of the Committee, led by Messrs.
Cardwell and Hope, Lord Stanley's Under-Secretary, endeavoured to so
frame the report as to make amongst others the following acknowledgments:

 That from the time of the discovery by Captain Cook to the beginning
 of the year 1840, the independence of New Zealand had never been
 questioned by this country, and in 1832 was recognised by the British
 Government in a very peculiar and formal manner.

 That the urgent applications made by private individuals from time to
 time to the Colonial Office for the adoption of these islands as a
 British colony, were reluctantly acceded to by the British Government
 in 1839, with a view to preventing the evils arising and apprehended
 from irregular and unauthorised settlement.

 That this adoption was effected in the early part of 1840 by an
 agreement called the Treaty of Waitangi, made by Captain Hobson with
 upwards of 500 chiefs and other natives, claiming and admitted on the
 part of this country, to represent the whole population, so far as
 regarded the Northern Island; while the other islands, which
 contained no population capable of entering into anything resembling
 a civil contract, were assumed to the British Crown by the right and
 title of discovery.[176]

 That this treaty was made by Captain Hobson in pursuance of
 instructions previously received from Home, and that his proceedings
 obtained the subsequent approbation of the Government.

 That the natives ceded to the Queen the sovereignty of the Northern
 Island, and the Crown secured, in return, to the chiefs and tribes of
 New Zealand, and to the respective families and individuals thereof,
 the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and
 estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties, which they may
 collectively and individually possess, so long as it is their wish
 and desire to retain the same in their possession.

 That this treaty is binding, in conscience and policy, on the British
 Government and is highly valued by the native tribes.

 That although the laws and usages of the natives with regard to the
 possession of and title to land are very obscure and complicated, yet
 evidence has been adduced to the Committee showing that these laws
 and usages are in some sense recognised by the natives, as well among
 themselves as in reference to European purchasers, and many instances
 have been proved in which they have voluntarily and fully recognised
 European titles.

 That while it appears highly probable that much of the soil of New
 Zealand will ultimately rest in the British Crown, as land to which
 no proprietary title of any kind can be established by an individual,
 or by any tribe, yet it is impossible, by any fair construction of
 the treaty, to limit the native claims either to the _pas_ or to
 the grounds in actual cultivation by the natives at any particular
 time.

 That any attempt to carry out in practice any such construction must
 alienate the natives from every feeling either of confidence or
 affection towards the British Government, and would probably lead to
 conflicts of a sanguinary character, or even to an exterminating
 warfare between the races, for which the British power in these
 Islands is at present wholly inadequate and unprepared.

 That it is not expedient to increase the military force in the
 colony, at great expense, for a purpose unjust in itself, and tending
 to retard the peaceful settlement of the colony and the civilisation
 of the native race.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN HOBSON'S SIGNATURES TO THE TREATY.

These signatures to the various copies of the Treaty used indicate in
a pathetic way the progress of Captain Hobson's illness. The final
copy he was not able to sign, and it was signed by Lieut. Shortland on
his behalf.]

These recommendations of Mr. Cardwell, which also largely reflected
the opinions of the Government, were energetically opposed by Lord
Howick and his friends, who put forward a counter series of
suggestions, which just as strongly reflected the views and
aspirations of the New Zealand Company, particularly upon the crucial
point that no acknowledgment should be made of any proprietary rights
on the part of the natives in the unoccupied lands of New Zealand.
They affirmed amongst other things:

 1. That the conclusion of the Treaty of Waitangi by Captain Hobson
 with certain natives of New Zealand, was a part of a series of
 injudicious proceedings which had commenced several years previous to
 his assumption of the local Government.

 2. That the acknowledgment by the local authorities of a right of
 property on the part of the natives of New Zealand in all wild lands
 in those Islands, after the sovereignty had been assumed by Her
 Majesty, was not essential to the true construction of the "Treaty of
 Waitangi," and was an error which has been productive of very
 injurious consequences.

 3. That means ought forthwith to be adopted for establishing the
 exclusive title of the Crown to all land not actually occupied and
 enjoyed by natives or held under grants from the Crown, such lands to
 be considered as vested in the Crown for the purpose of being
 employed in the manner most conducive to the welfare of the
 inhabitants, whether natives or Europeans.

When the Committee was asked to determine which of these two rival
reports it would adopt, it was found that opinion was evenly divided,
but on a division being taken Lord Howick succeeded in defeating his
opponents by the narrow majority of one vote, the voting being as
follows upon the question proposed by Mr. Roebuck: "That the Committee
now proceed to the consideration of the resolutions proposed by the
chairman as the basis of the report."

  Ayes--7.

  Mr. Milnes.
  Mr. Roebuck.
  Mr. Hawes.
  Mr. Aglionby.
  Mr. Charteris.
  Lord Francis Egerton.
  Lord Ebrington.

  Noes--6.

  Mr. Hope.
  Mr. R. Clive.
  Mr. Cardwell.
  Lord Jocelyn.
  Sir Robert Inglis.
  Mr. Wilson Patten.

In vain did Mr. Hope endeavour by moving amendments to induce the
Committee to adopt a view of the Treaty of Waitangi more favourable to
the natives, but through the divisions of several days the Company
held its majority, and on July 23 the Committee agreed to the draft
report proposed by Lord Howick, and which was based on the resolutions
previously approved. When this report was laid before the House of
Commons it was found that the Committee had traversed the policy
adhered to by the Melbourne and the Peel Governments in its
interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, and that they had taken the
responsibility of declaring that:

 The evidence laid before your Committee has led them to the conclusion
 that the step thus taken (the promotion of the Treaty of Waitangi),
 though a natural consequence of previous errors of policy, was a
 wrong one. It would have been much better if no formal treaty
 whatever had been made, since it is clear that the natives were
 incapable of comprehending the real force and meaning of such a
 transaction, and it therefore amounted to little more than a legal
 fiction, though it has already in practice proved to be a very
 inconvenient one, and is likely to be still more so hereafter. The
 sovereignty over the Northern Island might have been at once assumed
 without this mere nominal treaty, on the ground of prior discovery,
 and on that of the absolute necessity of establishing the authority
 of the British Crown for the protection of the natives themselves,
 when so large a number of British subjects had irregularly settled
 themselves in these Islands, as to make it indispensable to provide
 some means of maintaining good order amongst them. This was the
 course actually pursued with respect to the Middle and Southern
 Islands, to which the Treaty of Waitangi does not even nominally
 extend, and there is every reason to presume that, owing to the
 strong desire the natives are admitted to have entertained for the
 security to be derived from the protection of the British Government
 and for the advantages of a safe and well-regulated intercourse with
 a civilised people, there would have been no greater difficulty in
 obtaining their acquiescence in the assumption of sovereignty than in
 gaining their consent to the conclusion of the treaty, while the
 treaty has been attended with the double disadvantage: first, that
 its terms are ambiguous, and in the sense in which they have been
 understood highly inconvenient; and next, that it has created a doubt
 which could not otherwise have existed, which, though not in the
 opinion of your Committee well founded, has been felt and has
 practically been attended with very injurious results, whether those
 tribes which were not parties to it are even now subject to the
 authority of the Crown.

 Your Committee have observed that the terms of the treaty are
 ambiguous, and in the sense in which they have been understood, have
 been highly inconvenient; in this we refer principally to the
 stipulations it contains with respect to the right of property in
 land. The information that has been laid before us shows that these
 stipulations, and the subsequent proceedings of the Governor,
 founded upon them, have firmly established in the minds of the
 natives notions which they had but then very recently been taught to
 entertain, of their having a proprietary title of great value to land
 not actually occupied, and there is every reason to believe that, if
 a decided course had at that time been adopted, it would not have
 then been difficult to have made the natives understand that, while
 they were to be secured in the undisturbed enjoyment of the land they
 actually occupied, and of whatever further quantity they might really
 want for their own use, all the unoccupied territory of the Islands
 was to vest in the Crown by virtue of the sovereignty that had been
 assumed.

The findings of the Committee were thus so radically opposed to the
established views of Lord Stanley upon the construction to be placed
upon the treaty, that the Minister refused to countenance them in any
way, or to ask the House of Commons to become a party to a policy
which, had it been enforced, would inevitably have led Britain into
one of her little wars, as inglorious as it would have been unjust.[177]

In transmitting a copy of the Committee's report to Governor Fitzroy,
the Chief Secretary stressed in his Despatch of August 13 (1844) the
narrow margin of votes by which the report had been adopted, and
emphasised the high moral principle that it was still the duty of both
the Governor and himself to administer the affairs of the colony "with
a due regard to a state of things which we find, but did not create,
and to the expectations founded, not upon what might have been a right
theory of colonisation, but upon declarations and concessions made in
the name of the Sovereign of England." The power of Parliament was,
therefore, not invoked to aid the Company in evading its just
obligations to the natives. Their land claims were still to be the
subject of searching enquiry by the Chief Commissioner, Mr. Spain, and
for the moment the Treaty of Waitangi was vindicated by the
steadfastness of the Colonial Minister. But the battle was not
over, the scene of the conflict only was changed. On June 17, 1845,
Mr. Charles Buller, then representing Liskeard, and whose long
association with Lord Durham and Mr. Gibbon Wakefield had more than
once brought him into prominence in New Zealand affairs, sought to
induce the Commons again to discuss both the policy and administration
of the colony on the floor of the House. Then ensued the historic
debate, during which New Zealand achieved the distinction of claiming
the exclusive attention of Parliament for three consecutive nights.

It would be superfluous to recapitulate here the speeches delivered
during this memorable discussion, embodied as they are in the records
of the nation; it is, however, worthy of passing remark that for the
sake of some party advantage several prominent members, notably Lord
John Russell, chose to reverse all their previous professions on the
subject of the Treaty of Waitangi, and threw the weight of their
influence into the scale against the just recognition of the rights of
the New Zealand natives. Well might Rusden exclaim: "On what plea
could the Whigs abandon the construction put upon the treaty by their
own leaders who made it?"

A division being taken, Mr. Buller's motion was defeated, and on
receipt of this intelligence Governor Fitzroy[178] wrote with
perfectly natural elation to Henry Williams: "Let me congratulate you
on the result of the three nights' sharp debate in the House of
Commons on New Zealand. The Company were beaten by fifty-one votes,
the integrity of the Treaty of Waitangi being thus secured against all
their infamous endeavours, for _that_ was the point at issue."

While the events thus far narrated in this chapter had been evolving
from the lap of time, Governor Hobson had died,[179] and had been
buried at Auckland. Lieutenant Shortland's brief term of
administration had been darkened by the Wairau Massacre, the first
fruit of the contempt shown by the Wakefields for the landed rights of
the natives. His successor, Governor Fitzroy, had long since been
driven to distraction by the machinations of the Company and the
failure of the Home authorities to give him needful support in either
men or money. The crowning disaster of his administration was the
attack upon the town of Kororareka at daylight on March 11, 1845, by
Heke and Kawiti. The House of Commons had been ignorant of this
happening when it had debated Mr. Buller's motion in the previous
June, but when the ominous tidings reached England in July, that wary
gentleman sprang once more alertly to the attack by moving: "That this
House regards with regret and apprehension the state of affairs in New
Zealand; and that those feelings are greatly aggravated by the want of
any sufficient evidence of a change in the policy which has led to
such disastrous results."

This debate was not less acrimonious than its predecessor, for not
only was Lord Stanley attacked, but Mr. Stephen, the permanent head of
the Colonial Department, was assailed with equal virulence. Stanley
had ere this removed to the House of Lords, and Stephen was precluded
by virtue of his position from defending himself. But for these two
men, as well as for the honour of the nation, Sir Robert Peel stood in
stalwart defence. He told the House that he was not enamoured of the
policy which had resulted in the consummation of the Treaty of
Waitangi. For his part he candidly admitted that in his opinion it was
a mistake, but since the treaty was an indisputable political fact,
its obligations must not be violated. Lord Melbourne's Government, he
said, had with a full sense of their responsibility, entered into the
compact and England was unquestionably bound by it.[180]

In vindication of Lord Stanley he declared that the real purpose
behind Mr. Buller's motion was an insidious desire to unjustly censure
his Minister for avowing his determination to carry honourably into
effect the treaty made by his predecessor. Then reverting to the land
question he continued: "After all the volumes of controversy which
have appeared, the question really resolves itself into this: Shall
the Government undertake to guarantee in this country, within certain
limits in New Zealand, a certain amount of land without reference to
the rights to that land vesting in the natives? This I tell you
distinctly we will not do, and if the House entertains a different
opinion, it is but right that it should give expression to it. We will
not undertake, in the absence of surveys and local information as to
the claims of the natives, to assign to you a million, or any other
number of acres, and dispossess the natives by the sword."

In concluding he again entered upon a vigorous defence of his Colonial
Minister, declaring his continued confidence in Lord Stanley in the
following resolute words: "I will not do that which the New Zealand
Company seem to think I might do--undertake to supersede a Minister
who I believe has discharged his official duties with almost
unexampled ability, and with a sincere desire to promote the interests
of every colony over which he now presides."

Influenced by the Premier's strenuous advocacy, the House again
rejected Mr. Buller's motion on July 23, but the friends of the
Company derived some comfort from the knowledge that a despatch had
been sent recalling Governor Fitzroy, who, in his anxiety to restore
the bankrupt finances of the country, had disregarded the Royal
instructions, and instituted a local currency as well as having taken
the more serious responsibility of varying the inflexible policy of
the Government by waiving the pre-emptive right of the Crown[181] to
purchase land from the natives, in the hope of removing the growing
discontent and of enhancing the revenue from increasing sales.

Defeated in Parliament, the Company's next proceeding was almost
humorous in its hysteria. They procured an opinion from Mr. William
Burge, in which that gentleman averred, on his reputation as a lawyer,
that the British occupation of New Zealand was from the beginning
unlawful, and based upon no sound constitutional foundation. This
remarkable document they transmitted to Lord Stanley on July 7, in the
hope that he would be so awed by it as to cause him to considerably
modify the instructions which they were convinced he would, in his
normal frame of mind, most certainly tender to Captain Grey, whom he
had selected to succeed Governor Fitzroy. Lord Stanley was made of
different stuff. He suffered no particular trepidation from Mr.
Burge's startling discovery, but merely sent his opinion on to Fitzroy
Kelly, Attorney-General, Sir Frederick Thesiger, Solicitor-General,
and to Sir Thomas Wilde, who had been the Attorney-General in Lord
Melbourne's Cabinet when Captain Hobson was sent out to negotiate the
Treaty of Waitangi. These gentlemen averred with equal confidence that
neither the reasons advanced by Mr. Burge, nor any other considerations
which had occurred to them, furnished them with any well-founded doubt
upon the question of Britain's sovereignty in New Zealand.

Reinforced by the opinion of this eminent trio, Lord Stanley sent a
copy to the new Governor, telling him to be guided by it in his
conduct, at the same time instructing him that if the Company
attempted to make capital in the colony out of Mr. Burge's
pronouncement, he was to counter the move by giving equal publicity to
the joint opinion of the three legal advisers of the Crown.

When Captain Grey reached New Zealand on November 14, he found the
country seething with discontent. The European population now numbered
approximately 12,000, scattered over widely separated settlements, the
natives probably numbered not less than 110,000, many of whom were in
open revolt under Heke and Kawiti; many more were holding their
allegiance in the balance.

The mischievous resolutions passed by the Select Committee of the
House of Commons in the previous year had ere this percolated to the
colony, and fired the doubts of the natives as to the sincerity of the
Crown. Governor Fitzroy had used his best endeavours to reassure them,
and in offering terms of peace to Heke he made it the first stipulation
that the covenants of the Treaty of Waitangi should be binding upon
both parties. To these advances Heke had sullenly refused to reply.
With the rebels unyielding, obviously Grey's first duty was to
ascertain where he stood with the friendlies and the neutrals. For
this purpose he summoned a meeting at the Bay of Islands, and amidst
the ruins of the wrecked town of Kororareka he delivered to the
assembled chiefs one of his characteristic addresses, in which, after
warning the people against treacherously assisting the rebels, he said:

 In the meantime, I assure the whole of the chiefs that it is the
 intention of the Government, most punctually and scrupulously to
 fulfil the terms and provisions of the treaty which was signed at
 Waitangi on the arrival of Governor Hobson. I have heard that some
 persons, evil disposed both towards the Queen of England and the
 Chiefs of this country, have told you that by your signing that paper
 you lost your lands. This I deny. By that treaty the protection of
 the Queen and your possessions are made sure to you. Your lands shall
 certainly not be taken from you without your consent. You can sell
 your lands to the Crown, or not sell them, just as you think proper,
 but, remember, that when once you do sell them, they must be promptly
 and justly given up.

The professions of the Government's good-will to the natives were
renewed, they were told of the Queen's solicitation for their material,
moral, and religious welfare, and once more assurances were given that
equal justice would be meted out to both Maori and European, to which
Tamati Waaka Nēne replied: "It is just."

As the result of this conference Grey felt that he could rely upon the
loyalty of the friendly natives, and that this adhesion to the Crown
grew out of the fact that they were, as the Governor expressed it in
his Despatch, "Unanimous in desiring protection and support from the
Government; that they were quite aware of the advantages conferred
upon them by the annexation of New Zealand to the British Empire, and
that the large mass of the inhabitants sincerely desired to see peace
and tranquillity restored, so that the Government might be invested
with that weight and authority which is essentially necessary to
enable it properly to perform its functions."[182]

With the position of parties both in England and in the colony thus
firmly determined, it appeared that the Treaty of Waitangi would now
be accepted as the basis of a settlement of the colony's affairs; but
these sanguine expectations were speedily doomed to disappointment. By
one of those inexplicable revolutions which not infrequently occur in
the wheel of political fortune, Sir Robert Peel's Ministry was ousted
from office in the latter part of June. Lord John Russell came back to
power, and Lord Howick, who in the meantime had succeeded his father
as Earl Grey, became Chief Secretary for the Colonies in the new
administration.

As Lord John Russell had so recently modified his views upon the
subject of the Treaty of Waitangi as to admit of his saying that Maori
rights in land narrowed down to territory "in actual occupation by
them," the way had been cleared by which his Secretary for the
Colonies might put into operation his pet theories for the
nullification of the Treaty of Waitangi.[183] This opportunity came to
him when it fell to his lot to prepare a new Constitution for the
youngest of Britain's possessions.

New Zealand had now been a colony independent of New South Wales for
the better part of five years, during which time, under the advantages
of a more or less settled government, she had made phenomenal
progress. So rapid had been her development, so steadily had her
population increased, that in the opinion of many of her most
influential Colonists the time had arrived when they should be
invested with all the privileges of responsible government. With this
democratic movement the Governor was in entire sympathy and aided the
aspirations of the people by the weight of his influence. The implicit
confidence which the Home authorities at this period placed in Grey's
discretion doubtless led them to more readily acquiesce in the
liberalisation of the Charter granted in 1840, and in conveying to the
Governor the determination of Parliament, the Colonial Secretary
explained that the necessity of a fundamental change from the position
created when Captain Hobson was appointed had been insisted on by all
parties to the discussion, there being an almost equally unanimous
concurrence among them that the change should be in the direction of
calling the settlers to participate much more largely in the business
of legislation and local self-government. He accordingly enclosed on
December 23 (1846) the Imperial Act, and the Royal Instructions which
were to give effect to this determination.

The functions of a governor in a Crown Colony are many and various,
and Grey's receipt of this Despatch was perhaps as picturesque as any
event in his romantic life. There was insurrection at Whanganui--a
reflex of Heke's rebellion in the north--whither Grey had gone to aid
in its quelling, and he was watching from a hill-side a skirmish
between the troops and the insurgents when the Chief Secretary's
communication was handed to him. He sat down upon the grassy bank, and
with the crack of rifles and the hiss of bullets ringing in his ears
he calmly read the fateful document. What the Governor's feelings were
when he perused the Charter we need not stay to enquire. Fortunately
he had been given a discretionary power as to when it should take
effect, and he did not wait long before he determined that its
indefinite suspension was inevitable. Grey's brief experience in New
Zealand, as well as his innate love of justice, had taught him to
regard the Treaty of Waitangi as the sheet-anchor of the colony's
settlement, upon the faithful observance of which it was alone
possible to maintain peace with the Maori.

In two vital particulars the new Charter fatally traversed the treaty,
and one can only marvel, in the face of the obvious meaning which
attaches to the plain words of the compact, how any British Minister
could satisfy himself with the sophistry indulged in by the Colonial
Secretary. A cardinal omission was detected by the Governor in the
fact that no provision was made for the representation of the Maori
race in the contemplated Parliament, to which, as British subjects,
they were entitled; but worse than all, Earl Grey had again
promulgated his strangely perverted opinions upon the subject of
native ownership of lands. The Charter was covered by a lengthy
Despatch in which the Chief Secretary elaborated his views, and in
order that those views may not suffer by condensation they are here
quoted at length. After adverting to the manner in which the various
heads of his instructions had been classified, he proceeds:

 Believing that the instructions, as thus prepared,[184] will be found
 to convey their meaning perspicuously and completely, I abstain from
 any attempt to recapitulate or explain their provisions. I turn to
 other topics on which it seems indispensable that on the present
 occasion I should convey to you explanations, for which, of course,
 no appropriate place could be found in the legal instruments already
 mentioned. I advert especially to what relates to the aborigines of
 New Zealand and the settlement of the public lands in those Islands.
 I cannot approach this topic without remarking that the protracted
 correspondence to which it has given rise, the public debates and
 resolutions which have sprung from it, and the enactments and
 measures of your predecessors in the Government, have all contributed
 to throw into almost inextricable confusion the respective rights and
 claims of various classes of individuals amongst the inhabitants of
 New Zealand, to render very embarrassing the enquiry in which you
 must doubtless be engaged respecting the line of conduct which Her
 Majesty's Government expect you to pursue, and at the same time to
 make it almost impossible for us to determine with any confidence
 what that conduct ought to be, and how far, in a state of affairs so
 complicated, it is possible now to act upon the principles to which,
 in the absence of these difficulties, I should have prescribed your
 adherence. I will not attempt any retrospect of those documents and
 proceedings; I should be but adding to the perplexity which I
 acknowledge and regret. It will be my attempt rather to explain, as
 briefly as the nature of the subject admits, what is the policy
 which, if we were unembarrassed by past transactions, it would be
 right to follow, and which (so far as any freedom of choice remains
 to us) ought still to be adopted, regarding the right of property in
 land which should be acknowledged or created, more especially as
 affecting the aborigines of New Zealand.

 I enter upon this topic by observing that the accompanying statute,
 9th & 10th Vict., ch. 104, sec. 11, repeals the Australian Land Sales
 Act, as far as relates to the lands situate in New Zealand. Thus
 there is a complete absence of statutory regulation on the subject.
 The Queen, as entitled in right of her Crown to any waste lands in
 the colony, is free to make whatever rules Her Majesty may see fit on
 the subject. The accompanying Charter accordingly authorises the
 Governor to alienate such lands. The accompanying instructions direct
 how that power is to be used. I proceed to explain the motives by
 which those instructions have been dictated.

 The opinion assumed, rather than advocated, by a large class of
 writers on this and kindred subjects is, that the aboriginal
 inhabitants of any country are the proprietors of every part of its
 soil of which they have been accustomed to make any use, or to which
 they have been accustomed to assert any title. This claim is
 represented as sacred, however ignorant such natives may be of the
 arts or of the habits of civilised life, however small the number of
 their tribes, however unsettled their abodes, and however imperfect
 or occasional the uses they make of the land. Whether they are
 nomadic tribes depasturing cattle, or hunters living by the chase, or
 fishermen frequenting the sea-coasts or the banks of rivers, the
 proprietary title in question is alike ascribed to them all.

 From this doctrine, whether it be maintained on the grounds of
 religion or morality, or of expediency, I entirely dissent. What I
 hold to be the true principle with regard to property in land is that
 which I find laid down in the following passage from the works of Dr.
 Arnold, which I think may safely be accepted as of authority on this
 subject, not only on account of his high character, but also because
 it was written, not with reference to passing events, or to any
 controversy which was at that time going on, but as stating a
 principle which he conceived to be of general application:

 "Men were to subdue the earth: that is, to make it by their labour
 what it would not have been by itself; and with the
 labour so bestowed upon it came the right of property in it. Thus
 every land which is inhabited at all belongs to somebody; that is,
 there is either some one person, or family, or tribe, or nation who
 have a greater right to it than any one else has; it does not and
 cannot belong to anybody. But so much does the right of property go
 along with labour that civilised nations have never scrupled to take
 possession of countries inhabited by tribes of savages--countries
 which have been hunted over, but never subdued or cultivated. It is
 true, they have often gone further, and settled themselves in
 countries which were cultivated, and then it becomes a robbery; but
 when our fathers went to America, and took possession of the mere
 hunting grounds of the Indians--of lands on which man had hitherto
 bestowed no labour--they only exercised a right which God has
 inseparably united with industry and knowledge."

 The justness of this reasoning must, I think, be generally admitted,
 and if so, it can hardly be denied that it is applicable to the case
 of New Zealand, and is fatal to the right which has been claimed for
 the aboriginal inhabitants of those islands to the exclusive
 possession of the vast extent of fertile but unoccupied lands which
 they contain. It is true the New Zealanders, when European settlement
 commenced amongst them, were not a people of hunters: they lived, in
 a great measure at least, upon the produce of the soil (chiefly
 perhaps its spontaneous produce) and practised to a certain extent a
 rude sort of agriculture. But the extent of land so occupied by them
 was absolutely insignificant when compared with that of the country
 they inhabited; the most trustworthy accounts agree in representing
 the cultivated grounds as forming far less than one-hundredth part of
 the available land, and in stating that millions of acres were to be
 found where the naturally fertile soil was covered by primeval
 forests or wastes of fern, in the midst of which a few patches
 planted with potatoes were the only signs of human habitation or
 industry. The islands of New Zealand are not much less extensive than
 the British Isles, and capable probably of supporting as large a
 population, while that which they actually supported has been
 variously estimated, but never, I believe, as high as 200,000 souls.
 To contend that under such circumstances civilised men had no right
 to step in and take possession of the vacant territory, but were
 bound to respect the proprietary title of the savage tribes who dwell
 in but were utterly unable to occupy the land, is to mistake the
 grounds upon which the right of property in land is founded. To that
 portion of the soil, whatever it might be, which they really
 occupied, the aboriginal inhabitants, barbarous as they were, had a
 clear and undoubted claim; to have attempted to deprive them of their
 patches of potato-ground, even so to have occupied the territory as
 not to leave them ample space for shifting, as was their habit, their
 cultivation from one spot to another, would have been in the highest
 degree unjust; but so long as this injustice was avoided, I must
 regard it as a vain and unfounded scruple which would have
 acknowledged their rights of property in land which they did not
 occupy; it is obvious that they could not convey to others what they
 did not themselves possess, and that claims to vast tracts of waste
 land, founded on pretended sales from them, are altogether untenable.
 From the moment that British dominion was proclaimed in New Zealand,
 all lands not actually occupied in the sense in which alone
 occupation can give the right of possession, ought to have been
 considered as the property of the Crown in its capacity of trustee
 for the whole community, and it should thenceforward have been
 regarded as the right, and at the same time the duty of those duly
 authorised by the Crown, to determine in what manner and according to
 what rules the land hitherto waste should be assigned and
 appropriated to particular individuals. There is another
 consideration which leads to the same conclusion. It has never been
 pretended that the wide extent of unoccupied land, to which an
 exclusive right of property has been asserted on behalf of the native
 inhabitants of New Zealand, belonged to them as individuals, it was
 only as tribes that they were supposed to possess it, and granting
 their title as such to have been good and valid, it was obviously a
 right which the tribes enjoyed as independent communities--an
 attribute of sovereignty, which, with the sovereignty, naturally and
 necessarily was transferred to the British Crown. Had the New
 Zealanders been a civilised people this would have been the case--if
 these islands, being inhabited by a civilised people, had been added
 either by conquest or by voluntary cession to the dominions of the
 Queen, it is clear, that according to the well-known principles of
 public law, while the property of individuals would have been
 respected, all public property, all rights of every description which
 have appertained to the previous sovereigns, would have devolved, as
 a matter of course, to the new sovereign who succeeded them. It can
 hardly be contended that these tribes, as such, possessed rights
 which civilised communities could not have claimed.

 Such are the principles upon which, if the colonisation of New
 Zealand were only now about to begin, it would be my duty to instruct
 you to act; and though I am well aware that in point of fact you are
 not in a position to do so, and that from past transactions a state
 of things has arisen in which a strict application of these
 principles is impracticable, I have thought it right that they should
 be thus explicitly stated in this Despatch (as they are in the Royal
 instructions to which it refers), in order that you may clearly
 understand that, although you may in many respects be compelled to
 depart from them, still you are to look to them as the foundation of
 the policy which, so far as it is in your power, you are to pursue.

 The imperfect information which alone at this distance I can hope to
 obtain as to the actual state of affairs in New Zealand, renders it
 impossible for me to venture to prescribe to you how far you are to
 go in attempting practically to act upon the principles I have laid
 down. I should infer from your own Despatches, as well as from those
 of your predecessors, that the right of the Crown could not now be
 asserted to large tracts of waste land which particular tribes have
 been taught to regard as their own. It appears that you have found it
 expedient to admit these pretentions to a considerable extent; and
 having done so, no apparent advantage could be suffered to weigh
 against the evil of acting in a manner either really or even
 apparently inconsistent with good faith. While, however, you
 scrupulously fulfil whatever engagements you have contracted, and
 maintain those rights on the part of the native tribes to land which
 you have already recognised, you will avoid as much as possible any
 further surrender of the property of the Crown. I trust also that the
 evil which would otherwise arise from the concessions already made,
 may to a great degree be neutralised by your strictly maintaining the
 exclusive right of the Crown to purchase land from the native tribes
 to which it has been assumed that it belongs. This right, resting as
 it does not only upon what has been called the "Treaty of Waitangi,"
 but also upon the general and long-recognised principles of national
 law, is one so important that it ought almost at all hazards to be
 strictly enforced. To suffer it to be set aside would be to acquiesce
 in the ruin of the colony, since it would be fatal to the progressive
 and systematic settlement of the country. It is by the sale of land
 at more than a nominal price that its appropriation to individuals in
 allotments in proportion to their power of making use of it can alone
 be secured. It is the mode by which, with least inconvenience and
 difficulty, funds can be raised for emigration and for executing
 those public works which are necessary for the profitable occupation
 of the soil; in short, it is the very foundation on which systematic
 colonisation must be based. But if the native tribes are permitted to
 sell large tracts of land to individuals for a mere nominal
 consideration, it is obvious that so much land will be thrown upon
 the market as entirely to defeat the attempt to sell such lands as
 the Crown may still retain, at a price sufficient to answer the
 objects of the policy I have described.

 The first and most important step which you will have to take with
 the view of introducing a regular system with respect to the disposal
 of land, will be to ascertain distinctly the ownership of all the
 land in the colony. The extent and limits of all which is to be
 considered as the property either of individuals, of bodies politic
 or corporate, or of the native tribes, must in the first instance be
 determined, and the whole of the remainder of the territory will then
 be declared to be the Royal demesne. The results of this enquiry
 must be carefully registered, and a regular record henceforth
 preserved, showing to whom all lands in New Zealand belong. This
 measure has been repeatedly and earnestly inculcated on your
 predecessors, and I cannot too strongly repeat the same injunction.

Chapter XIII. of the Royal Instructions was devoted to placing into
legal phraseology the Minister's policy for "the Settlement of the
waste lands of the Crown" and Clause 9 of that Chapter more
particularly dealt with the method by which the native titles were to
be ascertained and recognised.

 (9) No claim shall be admitted in the said land Courts on behalf of
 the Aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand to any lands situate within
 the said islands, unless it shall be established, to the satisfaction
 of such Court, that either by some Act of the Executive Government of
 New Zealand as hitherto constituted, or by the adjudication of some
 Court of competent jurisdiction within New Zealand, the right of such
 aboriginal inhabitants to such lands has been acknowledged and
 ascertained, or those from whom they derived the title, have actually
 had the occupation of the lands so claimed, and have been accustomed
 to use and enjoy the same, either as places of abode or tillage, or
 for the growth of crops, or for the depasturing of cattle, or
 otherwise for the convenience and sustentation of life, by means of
 labour expended thereon.

The newspapers in England which supported the New Zealand Company
published with undisguised exultation Earl Grey's Despatch, and hailed
him as a Daniel come to judgment.[185] The Maoris regarded the matter
in quite a different light. Here they were being asked to submit for
ratification, by an extraneous authority, their lands which they and
their forefathers had fought for, and which they had ever guarded with
a jealous care that only death itself could terminate; lands which
they had been told by Captain Hobson and the Missionaries were to be
theirs to loose or to hold as they pleased; lands of which the Treaty
of Waitangi had solemnly recognised them as already the indisputable
owners. Was this then the much vaunted honour of the Queen? was this
to be the unhappy end of all her high-sounding promises? The fire of
indignation ran through the Maori veins as they contemplated the
deception; the rumble of discontent grew as the tidings spread; the
breath of battle was in the air.

The position of the Governor was delicate in the extreme, and probably
only two things stood at this critical juncture between the colony and
war--the Maori confidence in Grey, and Grey's confidence in himself.
"What was I to do indeed?" he afterwards said. "My instruction was not
alone that of the Colonial Office; but the Constitution had been
sanctioned by Parliament. A man's responsibility in the larger sense
is, after adequate deliberation, to proceed as he determines to be
just and wise. If he has to decide, not for himself only but for
others, unto future generations, there lies his course all the more.
There was one clear line for me, simply to hang up the Constitution,
and intimate to the Home authorities my ideas about it." In accordance
with this decision he wrote on August 20 (1847) to his chief, describing
with that directness of which his pen was capable the ferment into
which this impossible statesmanship had thrown the country.

 I have to state to Your Lordship that within the last few days I have
 received alarming accounts from various quarters of the island
 regarding the excitement created in portions of the country most
 densely inhabited by natives, upon the subject of the introduction of
 the new Constitution into this country, and the steps that may be
 taken regarding the registration of their lands. I am not yet in a
 position that would enable me to state whether actual insurrection,
 upon an extensive scale is to be immediately apprehended; but I
 cannot entertain any doubt that the country is in a very critical
 state. I will lose no time in taking such measures as are in my power
 to quiet the apprehensions which at present exist, and I will also
 delay for some time the introduction of the proposed Constitution,
 but I beg again earnestly to press upon your Lordship the advantages
 which would result from in so far modifying the proposed Constitution
 as to leave the Governor the power of being able certainly to promise
 the natives that he will enact any measures which they may request as
 essential to their interests, and which the Governor may also
 consider to be absolutely requisite to secure the tranquillity of the
 country.

A portion of the Governor's measures to "quiet the apprehensions" of
the Maoris was to despatch Captain Sotheby, then in command of H.M.S.
_Racehorse_, to visit the northern chiefs, and aided by the ever
loyal Waaka Nene he assured them, "on the authority of His Excellency
the Governor, that there was no truth in the report that the
Government claimed all land not under tillage." Subsequently this
officer invited Earl Grey to reflect upon the rapidity with which this
report had spread through the North Island, and the dissatisfaction
which it had excited, "even in the minds of those chiefs who had
hitherto been friendly to the British and who had fought on our side."

From old Te Wherowhero, of the Waikato, came the following
characteristic protest to the Queen, whose honour he would not impugn,
whose word he would accept:

 O Madam the Queen, hearken to our words, the words of all the chiefs
 of Waikato.

 May God grant that you may hold fast our word, and we your word for
 ever. Madam listen, news are going about here that your Ministers are
 talking of taking away the land of the Native without cause, which
 makes our hearts dark. But we do not believe this news, because we
 heard from the first Governor that the disposal of the land was with
 ourselves. And from the second Governor we heard the same words, and
 from this Governor. They have all said the same. Therefore we write
 to you that you may be kind to us, to your friends that love you.
 Write your thoughts to us, that peace may prevail amongst the natives
 of these Islands.[186]

In this dignified appeal the chief was joined by Bishop Selwyn,
Archdeacon Maunsell, and Chief Justice Martin in the colony, and by
the Wesleyan Mission Committee in England, who employed the searching
pen of Dr. Beecham to voice their protest.

How the Bishop regarded the proposals of the Chief Secretary may be
judged from the following passage in a letter which he subsequently
wrote to his friend, the Rev. E. Coleridge, in England: "If Lord
Grey's principles had been avowed by the Governor as the rule of his
policy, the safety of the English settlements could not have been
guaranteed for a single day."

Archdeacon Maunsell, who in 1840 had informed Captain Hobson that the
Missionaries had committed themselves to the promotion of the Treaty
of Waitangi only because of their unshaken faith in the integrity of
the British Government,[187] was at least entitled to point out that
ever since the treaty was signed the conduct of the Maori towards the
British had been marked by a spirit of chivalry, of friendship, and of
good faith. "Why, then," he asked, "does the statesman of a mighty
nation seek to confiscate the guaranteed possessions of our friends
and allies?" If such should ever happen, his letter concluded, there
could be no alternative but for the Missionaries in sorrow to leave
the country, broken and discredited men.

Nor was the kindly, conscientious Martin less emphatic. In a pamphlet,
"England and the New Zealanders," he discusses the danger of thus
shattering the native confidence in Britain's honour. "In particular,"
he states, "those who have received Christianity are disposed to look
up to us for guidance and government. But let the plan of confiscation
or seizure be once acted on, and all this will be at an end. The worst
surmises of the natives will have become realities. To them we will
appear to be a nation of liars."

The Wesleyan Mission Society embodied their views in a memorial, which
they subsequently deemed worthy of publication,[188] wherein they
justified their right to question the propriety of Earl Grey's policy,
not only because of the prestige and influence of their Mission, but
because that prestige and influence had been solicited in the
interests of the Treaty of Waitangi by Captain Hobson, at a time when
his success without it was impossible. They explained that their
solicitude upon the subject had been greatly increased, if not wholly
produced by the flood of letters they had received from their
Missionaries in New Zealand, expressing the state of alarm into which
they had been thrown by the publication of his Lordship's Despatch and
Instructions, and which in their opinion affixed a meaning to the
Treaty of Waitangi very different from that in which it was understood
by the parties principally concerned in its execution. Being
apprehensive that any attempt to carry what they regarded as a new
interpretation of the treaty into effect, would result in the most
disastrous consequences, they were constrained to make such
representations upon the subject as they had reason to hope would
avert the evils which they feared. They then proceeded to set out that
at the commencement of the proceedings adopted by Her Majesty's
Government for founding a colony in New Zealand, they distinctly
understood that the previous recognition of the independence of New
Zealand by the British Government having taken the country out of the
category of barbarous tribes and people without a national character
or national rights, the ordinary course pursued in colonisation would
not be adopted in its case, but that New Zealand would be negotiated
with as an Independent State, and that the British Crown would not
take anything from the Aboriginal proprietors which was not ceded on
their part by fair and honourable treaty. In support of this view,
they quoted at length from Lord Normanby's instructions to Captain
Hobson, in 1839 and from the subsequent correspondence with him, when
that officer sought a greater amplification of important points. On
the authority, then, of the noble gentleman formerly at the head of
the Colonial Department, they claimed that they were not deceived when
they understood that the cession of sovereignty in New Zealand was not
to involve the surrender of territory, either in whole or in part;
that the cession to the Crown of such waste lands as might be
progressively required for the use of the settlers should be
subsequently obtained by fair and equal contracts with the natives,
and that no lands were to be claimed for the Crown in New Zealand,
except such as might be obtained by purchase from the natives, or by
their own free consent. They detailed the overtures which Captain
Hobson made to their Missionaries in 1840, when, "in accordance with
instructions he had received from the highest authority in the realm,"
he requested their assistance in effecting the negotiation with which
he had been entrusted. The Missionaries at this time, the Committee
pointed out, had not read Captain Hobson's instructions, for they had
not then been published, but they fully understood the claims of the
natives upon the soil of New Zealand, and the point upon which they
had to satisfy themselves was whether the proposed treaty was designed
to admit and confirm those claims in the full and unqualified sense in
which they were made. The Missionaries knew that the Maoris claimed
the _entire_ soil of New Zealand.[189] They knew that the entire
country was divided amongst the several tribes, that the boundaries of
every property were accurately defined, and the proprietorship so
vested in each tribe that all the members of the tribe had a
beneficial interest therein. They therefore knew that at the time the
Treaty of Waitangi was signed there was no land in New Zealand without
an owner, and which would under the principles of public law, be
automatically transferred to the Crown.

 "In the view, therefore, of both the Missionaries and the natives,"
 they said, "the sovereignty and the land were two entirely distinct
 things, and to preserve the latter intact, while they surrendered the
 former, was the great solicitude of the natives. From Captain Hobson
 the Missionaries received the most satisfactory explanation of the
 terms of the treaty. It dwelt explicitly on both the sovereignty and
 the land, and the interpretation which the Missionaries were
 authorised to give of it was that, while the _entire_
 sovereignty should be transferred to the British Crown, the
 _entire_ land should be secured to the natives. Most certainly
 the Missionaries received the fullest assurance that, in surrendering
 the sovereignty, the natives would not by that act surrender their
 original claims upon any part of the soil. In this sense the chiefs
 themselves understood the treaty, as it was propounded to them. They
 clearly comprehended its two main features as explained in their own
 figurative style, that 'the shadow of the land,' by which they meant
 'the sovereignty,' would pass to the Queen of England, but that the
 'substance,' meaning the land itself, would remain with them."

But the Missionaries were not alone the source from which the
Committee proved the correct interpretation of the treaty. The
witnesses who had given evidence before Earl Grey's own Committee in
1844 were marshalled to their support, the official Despatches were
quoted to the same end, even those of Lord John Russell being referred
to as "warranting the conclusion that his Lordship designed the treaty
should be faithfully observed, in the sense in which it was understood
by the natives and Missionaries of both the Church and Wesleyan
Societies." To these was added the invaluable testimony of Lieutenant
Shortland, who had been in closest association with Captain Hobson
during the treaty negotiations, who had been privileged to administer
the affairs of the colony under it, and who from his close official
connection with it was peculiarly the man able to say what it meant
and what it did not mean. Shortly before his return to England, the
Select Committee of the House of Commons had issued their report upon
"the State of New Zealand and the proceedings of the New Zealand
Company," and so completely did that report misrepresent, in Mr.
Shortland's opinion, the true position of affairs, so harmful did he
deem the resolutions which accompanied that report, that he felt in
duty bound to protest to Lord Stanley against the needless perversion
of the facts. During a lengthy and dispassionate statement of the
circumstances surrounding the procuration of the treaty--than whom no
one knew them better--Mr. Shortland, writing from his quiet retreat at
Torquay, dealt with especial emphasis upon the relation of the
sovereignty to the land:

 Respecting the cession of the sovereignty to the Crown by the
 aborigines without a reciprocal guarantee to them of the perfect
 enjoyment of their territorial rights, I do not hesitate to say, such
 a proposition would not for a moment have been entertained by the
 natives, who, during the whole proceedings of the Government at the
 first establishment of the colony, manifested a feeling of great
 anxiety and mistrust in regard to the security of their lands. Of
 this I could produce many instances did space permit, but will
 content myself with noticing that the Church and Wesleyan Missionaries
 possessing, as they deservedly did before the assumption of
 sovereignty by Her Majesty, the unlimited confidence of the natives,
 incurred by their aiding the local Government to effect the peaceable
 establishment of the colony, the suspicion of the aborigines, who
 frequently upbraided the Missionaries with having deceived them,
 saying, "Your Queen will serve us as she has done the black fellows
 of New South Wales; our lands will be taken from us, and we shall
 become slaves." How then could the colony have been founded with the
 free and intelligent consent of the native owners of the soil, on any
 other terms than those laid down by the Treaty of Waitangi, viewed in
 the light in which it has always been understood and acted on by the
 local Government.

With these and many similar pieces of unimpeachable evidence did the
Committee press upon the Colonial Secretary the conviction that their
reading and understanding of the treaty was the only one which its
"large words," as Lord Stanley had termed them, would bear. Earl Grey
relied upon the astute pen of Mr. Herman Merivale, his new
Under-Secretary to release him from the horns of the dilemma upon
which the cold reasoning of the Committee had impaled him. This he did
by referring the memorialists back to an obscure phrase in the Royal
Instructions, which provided that no native claim to land would be
recognised unless the title had previously been acknowledged and
ascertained, "by some act of the Executive Government of New Zealand
as then constituted or by the adjudication of some court of competent
jurisdiction." The Treaty of Waitangi was now admitted, and even
asserted by the Under-Secretary to be "unquestionably an act of the
Executive Government," and therefore it followed that nothing that was
guaranteed by the treaty was imperilled by the Instructions. With a
wealth of argument upon phases of the issue which were not directly
raised by the Memorial,[190] Mr. Merivale was at least able to assure
the Committee that the Government intended and always had intended to
recognise the treaty, as they believed, in the same sense in which the
Committee recognised it. "They recognise it in both its essential
stipulations, the one securing to those native tribes, of which the
chiefs have signed the treaty, a title to those lands which they
possess according to native usage (whether cultivated or not) at the
time of the treaty, the other securing to the Crown the exclusive
right of extinguishing such title by purchase." Considerable unction
was claimed for his chief by the Under-Secretary, in that he had
directed Governor Grey to proceed with all circumspection in giving
effect to the instructions of the Department, but he failed to observe
that even in his widened interpretation of the treaty, he still
limited the rights in native lands to those tribes whose chiefs had
signed the treaty. Those who like Te Heuheu, and Te Wherowhero had
maintained their independence might still have been subject to
spoliation had this view become the accepted interpretation of the
Department, and those who were keenly interested in the fate of the
colony were not slow to place this construction upon it. The immediate
necessity for anxiety upon this point was, however, obviated by the
prompt suspension of the Charter by Governor Grey, and upon the
submission by him to Downing Street of a more liberal and flexible
Constitution, drafted upon the slopes and amidst the snows of Ruapehu.

[Illustration: EARL DERBY.

Formerly Lord Stanley.]

Ere the brewing storm in New Zealand had burst, the crisis had come in
the life of Lord John Russell's Ministry, who were defeated on their
Militia Bill. They were succeeded by the Stanley of old, who in the
person of Lord Derby, became Premier, with Sir John Pakington as his
Colonial Secretary. To him fell the duty of giving legislative effect
to the more workable and equitable Constitution drafted by Governor
Grey, and when the Wesleyan Committee again approached the Colonial
Office with the regretful assurance that the reply vouchsafed to them
by the noble gentleman who had just vacated the Chief Secretaryship
"was less satisfactory to the people of New Zealand than it had
appeared to themselves," Sir John was able to convey to them through
the Earl of Desart the gratifying intelligence that in the Bill then
before the House there was every provision for the full and complete
recognition of the principles for which they had so resolutely
contended.

Concerning the Third Clause of the treaty, little need be said. By
this covenant the Queen undertook, in consideration of the cession of
sovereignty and the granting of the pre-emptive right of purchase of
land, to extend to the Maori race her Royal protection, and impart to
them all the rights and privileges of British subjects. Of the manner
in which this undertaking has been fulfilled, the Maoris have never
complained, and they have never had just grounds for complaint. There
is no colour line drawn against the New Zealander in New Zealand. Our
courts are as open to him as to anyone, and whether he be plaintiff or
defendant, the same even-handed justice is meted out to him. He
travels upon our railways, he rides upon our cars, he sits in our
theatres on equal terms with his _Pakeha_ friend. His children
are educated in our schools and his sons are absorbed into our Civil
Service, his chiefs sit at the Governor's table, and his elected
representatives sit in Parliament, where their voice is respected and
their vote is valued. The professions are open to him, and there is
no position in Church or State which he may not fill. No more is
demanded of a Maori than of a European. His passport to society is his
good behaviour, his participation of civil rights is governed by his
disposition to become a law-abiding citizen.

Only one question now remains to be discussed. In what relation did
those chiefs stand to the Treaty of Waitangi who refused to sign it?
It has never been contended that all the chiefs were invited to meet
Captain Hobson at Waitangi, nor that all were solicited by his agents
to sign the treaty, nor that all who were so solicited agreed to affix
their signatures to the document. There was a residuum, which included
some of the most powerful chiefs in the land, who either had no
opportunity of subscribing their allegiance to the Crown, or who for
reasons of their own held aloof. How were these non-participants
affected by the compact?

This question was first raised in its practical application by Taraia,
a Tauranga chief, who in December 1842 committed what is believed to
have been the last act of cannibalism perpetrated in New Zealand.
Taraia was not a signatory to the treaty, and the Government were
sorely exercised as to whether they were justified in claiming
jurisdiction over him. An effort had been made by the Aborigines'
Protection Society in London to define the status of these independent
chiefs, by submitting the question to Mr. Joseph Phillimore, an
eminent English lawyer, and Mr. Phillimore had given them a qualified
opinion that if there were any chiefs who had preserved their
independence by refusing to become parties to the treaty, then such
chiefs _may_ not be bound by its obligations, and _may_ be
entitled to distinct and separate consideration. But clearly, in an
abstract sense, there could be no such qualification to the unaltered
status of these men. They were still chiefs of an Independent State so
far as they were concerned, retaining inviolate their _mana_, and
refusing to be compromised by the concessions made by their fellow
chiefs.

The Government, then controlled by Captain Hobson, did not share even
the qualified view entertained by Mr. Phillimore and those who thought
with him. They presumed all natives of New Zealand now to be British
subjects and determined that Taraia must be punished. This valiant
determination was not, however, given final effect, not because the
authorities were dubious of its justice, but because they had become
uncertain as to its practicability; so much so that they subsequently
deemed it prudent to limit their interference to a warning to that
chief, that he might expect to incur the anger of the Governor upon a
repetition of his offence. In Taraia's case this reprimand was
sufficient to quiet him, but only a few months later Tongoroa, another
Tauranga chief, made war upon his neighbours, and the sore which
looked as though it had healed was suddenly reopened. Lieutenant
Shortland, who had now assumed the post of Acting-Governor, proceeded
to Tauranga to arrest the disturber of the peace, but before the
apprehension could be effected his accumulating difficulties were
further increased by an unexpected communication from Mr. Clarke, the
chief Protector of the Aborigines, and Mr. Swainson, the Attorney-General.
Both these gentlemen had previously endorsed the contemplated arrest
of Taraia, but to the amazement of the Acting-Governor they informed
him that more mature reflection had caused them to reverse their
opinion, and that they now considered the arrest of Tongoroa would be
illegal.

Hurrying back to Auckland, Shortland called a meeting of his Council,
and there sought some enlightenment as to this new view-point of the
Maori status under the treaty. Amongst those consulted was necessarily
Mr. Clarke, the erstwhile Missionary, and now Chief Protector of the
Aborigines, whose close and constant intercourse with all the tribes
gave him the most favourable facilities for gauging the strength and
direction of the native aspirations. In the course of his examination
Mr. Clarke was asked:

 (1) Do the natives who signed the Treaty of Waitangi acknowledge
 themselves to be British subjects?

 To which he replied:--The natives who signed the Treaty of Waitangi,
 having been solemnly assured by Her Majesty's representative, the
 late Captain Hobson, that they should in the fullest sense of the
 term be entitled to all the privileges of British subjects, consented
 to be considered as such, with a full understanding that their
 allegiance depended upon the British Government fulfilling their
 engagements in that treaty.

 (2) How far, and to what extent, do the various tribes in New Zealand
 acknowledge the Queen's sovereignty?

 To this Mr. Clarke's answer was:--The natives alone who signed the
 treaty acknowledge the Queen's sovereignty, and that only in a
 limited sense. The treaty guaranteeing their own customs to them,
 they acknowledge a right of interference only in grave cases, such as
 war and murder, and all disputes and offences between themselves and
 Europeans, and hitherto they have acted on this principle. The
 natives who have not signed the treaty consider that the British
 Government, in common with themselves, have a right to interfere in
 all cases of dispute between their tribes and Europeans, but limit
 British interference to European British subjects.

 (3) In your communications with the natives, have you asserted that
 they are British subjects, and the right of the Government to
 interfere with them as such? and (4) On making that assertion how far
 has it been acquiesced in?:--In all my communications with the
 natives I have been instructed to assert, and have always asserted,
 that they are British subjects, and amenable to British authority, in
 which very few, even those who signed the treaty, would acquiesce,
 save in matters relating to disputes or depredations upon each other
 (viz. differences between Europeans and natives).

 (5) If the Government were to admit that any tribe or tribes of New
 Zealanders were not British subjects, and were not amenable to the
 laws, what effect do you think that admission would have on the peace
 and future colonisation of the colony?:--The admission that the
 tribes of New Zealanders were not amenable to British law, would, I
 am apprehensive, be destructive to the interests of the natives and
 the prosperity of the colony. It would be made use of by designing
 men to embarrass the Government, to embroil the natives with each
 other and with the Government, which must be alike injurious to both.
 Her Majesty's Government having seen fit to colonise New Zealand, it
 is now an act of humanity to both natives and Europeans to consider
 the whole of the tribes of New Zealand as British subjects, and to
 use every honourable and humane means of getting the tribes
 universally to cede the sovereignty where it has not been ceded.

 (6) Supposing that we should treat as British subjects, by force,
 those tribes, who have uniformly refused to cede the sovereignty to
 Great Britain, should we be keeping faith with the principles we
 professed when we originally negotiated for the cession of the
 sovereignty?:--In treating those tribes as British subjects by force
 who have refused to cede the sovereignty to Great Britain, would not
 only be considered by the natives as a breach of faith with the
 principles originally professed when negotiating for the sovereignty,
 but would, I am apprehensive, lead to a destructive war, and although
 the result would be destructive to the native race, it would be
 inglorious to the British Government, and at variance with the
 designs of Her Most Gracious Majesty in adding this interesting
 people and country to her Dominions.

From the Protector of the Aborigines who only pretended to interpret
Maori opinion as he gleaned it in his progress through their _pas_ and
settlements, the Executive turned to their Attorney-General, Mr.
Swainson, for his more recent interpretation of the position as it
appealed to the trained mind of a jurist, and Mr. Swainson only put
into less direct language the pronouncement of Wiremu Tamihana, the
King Maker, who during the hey-day of the King movement scorned the
authority of the Queen over his land: "I am chief of Ngati-Haua, which
is an independent tribe. My father, Te Waharoa, was chief before me.
Neither he, I, or any of my people signed the treaty, therefore we are
not bound by it." Mr. Swainson's opinion was as follows:

 From the evidence given before the Council by the Protector of the
 Aborigines (Mr. Clarke), it appears that, as I have already stated,
 there are numerous tribes who have not ceded their sovereign rights
 to the Queen, and who do not yet acknowledge her sovereign authority.
 For the reasons already given, I think it would be consistent neither
 with justice nor with the principles we professed, viz. that we came
 here to treat for and not to assume sovereignty, to treat those
 tribes in all respects as British subjects, and to impose upon them
 our penal code; in this opinion, also, the Protector's opinion
 coincides. I am also of opinion that so numerous are these tribes,
 and many of them so distant, that were we disposed to do so we have
 not the power. At the same time, I am persuaded that the benefits of
 British protection, and the laws administered by British judges,
 would far more than compensate the natives for the sacrifice of their
 independence. These benefits, however, I am equally persuaded, can
 only be obtained on the voluntary surrender by them of their own
 sovereign rights, and on their "free and intelligent" submission to
 British authority. To subjugate them would require a large armed
 force; but by the employment of persuasion, the influence of example,
 and the general spread of civilisation among neighbouring tribes,
 there is ground to expect that they will gradually submit themselves
 to the operation of British laws. To constantly point out to them the
 benefits they will derive from doing so, and to impress upon them, to
 use the language of the Secretary of State, the impossibility of Her
 Majesty's extending to them an effectual protection unless the Queen
 be acknowledged as the Sovereign of their country, or at least of
 those districts within, or adjacent to which Her Majesty's subjects
 may acquire land or habitations "is the course, I believe, to be most
 calculated to effect the object of establishing an absolute
 sovereignty over the whole country."

Though doubtless giving to these expressions of opinion the respectful
consideration which was their due, the Acting-Governor decided to
assume the responsibility of setting them aside, and following the
dictates of his own judgment. To him it seemed that it would be
fatally weak to admit in the practical administration of the country
the nice line of distinction drawn by the Attorney-General or
subscribe to the opinion expressed by Mr. Clarke, "that every
honourable and humane means should be used to prevail on tribes to
cede the sovereignty where it has not been ceded," as in his judgment
this would have been an over-ready admission that they were beyond the
pale of the British Crown, and no more effectual means could have been
adopted of disseminating the harmful acknowledgment. The troops were
accordingly sent to Tauranga, but no arrests were made. Here prudence
again prevailed and the officer in charge was instructed only to
employ the soldiers "in the general preservation of peace." When these
proceedings were reported in due course to Lord Stanley, he warmly
endorsed the view adopted by Lieutenant Shortland[191] and as warmly
censured Swainson, who was told in the plainest terms that he could
not be permitted to entertain the views to which he had given
expression, and hold a public office at the same time.

As a matter of abstract reasoning, Lord Stanley was probably wrong, as
a matter of practical administration he was probably right, but the
correctness of his attitude depended for its success upon the
tactfulness of its application. Fortunately New Zealand has, in the
main, been blessed with administrators of wide sympathies, and a
paternal parliament has generally, though not always given the native
race the most indulgent exposition of the treaty. Mistakes may have
been made, misapprehensions may have occurred, even technical breaches
of the treaty may have been committed, but since the administration of
native affairs was handed over to the Colonial Government in 1863
there have been but few instances of flagrant violation of native
rights. Prior to this date the care and control of the Maori still
vested in the Imperial authorities, even after representative
institutions had been granted to the country; and while that condition
lasted there was, unhappily, an all too frequent clashing of the two
races. With one or two exceptions these conflicts had a common origin
in an over-anxious desire on the part of the Europeans to become
possessed of native land, as opposed to the deep-founded pertinacity
with which the chiefs clung to their ancestral domains. The first of
these exceptions was the insurrection of Hone Heke in 1845, which was
not in its inception a dispute regarding land, but an undisguised
protest against the exercise of the Queen's sovereignty. Land did
ultimately play its complicating part in the disruption, but in its
initial stages it was the revolt of a volatile man who felt the treaty
had carried him further than he intended it should lead him; it was
the protest of an ambitious chief who loved notoriety as much as he
loved his independence. Heke fell upon what now appears to have been
the weak point in Hobson's negotiations; that while he may have, and
doubtless did, convey to the natives a clear enough idea of what was
meant by the sovereignty of the Queen, he does not appear to have
taken sufficient care to explain with any detail what its possible
effects might be. Assuredly he was not endowed with such a mental
vision as to foresee all that was to happen, nor to conjure up within
his mind all the changes that were inevitable in evolving a State from
a condition of barbarism to one of civilisation. One thing, however,
must have been obvious both to him and to those who were associated
with him, that no government could be organised and carried on in a
new country without a revenue adequate for all its varied purposes.
Under Lord Normanby's instructions funds were to be temporarily
provided from New South Wales, but the permanent revenue was to be
raised within New Zealand itself, of which a large part, it was hoped,
would be derived from the sale of land. Other sources of income in the
way of customs duties and taxation in varied forms must also have been
in contemplation, but we have no evidence that Captain Hobson ever
took occasion to explain to the people that sovereignty would cost
them something; that revenue which had been falling into the hands of
the chiefs would be diverted into the coffers of the State, and that
with the surrender of their independence they must also surrender the
levies which they had been making upon the whalers.

It is conceivable that had this surrender of a means to opulence been
clearly contemplated by the chiefs as a part of the colonising scheme
those at the Bay of Islands would have been the more easily reconciled
to it by the natural expectation that even larger sums would be
flowing in to them from the sales of land. If these anticipations ever
existed they were doomed to disappointment, for instead of entering
upon an active campaign of land-buying the Governor suspended the
purchases he should have made, and wasted his money on a site for a
town, while the rigid enforcement of the pre-emptive right acquired by
the Crown closed the market against the buyers of open country lands.
This restriction was felt to be not without its element of injustice;
for upon a more critical examination of the terms of the treaty it was
found that though the Crown claimed the exclusive right to extinguish
the native title, nothing had been determined as to the price to be
paid or as to the time within which the purchase should be made. Thus,
chiefs like Heke, who had been in receipt of substantial sums by way
of anchorage money from the shipping found their perquisites
appropriated by the State, while they derived no compensating benefit
from the sale of land.

The first flush of disappointment which surged within the breast of
Heke as he contemplated the unexpected effects of the new power was
fed by the angry adventurers and thwarted speculators, who, in their
chagrin at the interception of their schemes, had no compunction in
inciting him to a course which ultimately led to a declaration of
hostility against the Queen and to open war against the Crown.

Not so the Waitara war of 1860, which found its origin not so much in
a desire to violate the treaty, as in a blundering endeavour to
observe its most important provision. The taking up of arms by Wiremu
Kingi was not in its spirit rebellion against the Queen's sovereignty,
but a reply to the Governor's attempt to divest him of his rights by
insisting upon purchasing land from one whom Wiremu contended could
not by any application of native law be constituted the owner. There
was on the part of the natives the greatest reluctance to resort to
arms, their desire being to test the disputed point of ownership
before a properly constituted Commission; but when these overtures
were rejected and the Governor held on his headstrong way, they felt
there was no course compatible with their high-strung sense of
dignity, but to refer the momentous issue to the final arbitrament of
war. The story of the Waitara campaign is too well known to need
recapitulation here, but in the opinion of many of those skilled in
the intricacies of Maori land tenure it was a blunder of the first
magnitude, for which Governor Gore-Browne, and not the Colonial
Parliament was wholly responsible. If, then, the war was unjust, the
confiscation of native land which followed upon the suppression of
what was called rebellion was branded with the same injustice.

And just as one wrong perpetuates itself in the form of others, this
confiscation has ever since burned deep into the hearts of the
Taranaki natives, and led in the early eighties to what is known as
the Te Whiti movement. Like his predecessor, Wiremu Kingi, Te Whiti
was a much-misunderstood man. For this state of misconception he may
have himself been largely accountable, for as a concession to the
Maori love of the mysterious he so combined religion with his
politics, and dealt so freely in the mystic, that it was frequently
difficult to separate intangible prophecy from the things that really
mattered in his material policy. But shorn of all its grotesqueness
the movement which centred round the Parihaka prophet and his uncle
Tohu was not a repudiation of the Treaty of Waitangi, nor was it a
revolt against the authority of the Queen. At its base lay the
grievance, or the fancied grievance, which was before them every day
in the shape of the confiscated lands. There upon the wide Waimate
Plains they saw European homesteads whose occupancy was in their eyes
a crime against Maori rights. Te Whiti felt he had two things to do.
He had to assert his right to those lands, and he had to agitate for
justice. He accordingly sent his faithfuls to plough up the fields of
the farmers and the lawns of the settlers, in the mistaken hope that
he would be able to force the issue before a competent tribunal and
there determine who had broken the treaty--the Maori or the _Pakeha_.

The Government of that day saw things differently. They had no desire
to exhume the remains of past mistakes with a possibility of being
called upon to repair them at a cost of much treasure and more
dignity. They preferred to stand upon the settled policy of their
predecessors, and instead of sending a Commission to discover what was
at the back of the prophet's mind, they sent troops and took him
prisoner. Te Whiti may have been a dreamer, he may have been a babbler
of vain things, but he was never a rebel, nor the maker of rebels; but
for saying "I love my land" he was legislated into rebellion, and made
to appear as a criminal.

In the same way the King movement of 1857 only became rebellion when
the Crown made it so. Two primary causes operated to call into
existence this political power, the creation of Wiremu Tamihana's[192]
genius, which for over fifty years was a potent influence in the Maori
life of the Waikato. For upwards of fifteen years the colony had been
following with more or less exactitude the terms of the treaty, and
during this time the State had exercised its power of pre-emption in a
manner which the more enlightened Maoris now began to regard with
disfavour. When Lord Normanby despatched Captain Hobson to found the
colony he anticipated no opposition to the practice of buying land
from the natives at a low price and selling it again to the colonists
at a large advance on what the Crown had paid. For a time these
anticipations were confirmed by results, but now the fathers of the
race, jealous of the rapid increase of the Europeans, and alarmed at
the equally rapid diminution of their lands, began to adopt a
different view. Rather than part for a few shillings with property
which they knew would be sold for as many pounds, they determined to
exercise their right under the treaty, and refuse any longer to
sanction the large transactions in which they had been engaged with
the Crown.

Their eyes, too, had been opened by the Waitara war. Here a single
individual had embroiled the whole of the Ngati-Awa tribe in a
sanguinary conflict with the Government, by insisting upon selling
land to which his title was contested. These unauthorised sales, said
the chiefs, must cease, and no individual should, by his avarice, have
the power to involve the people in war. To crystallise this
determination into a practical act of statesmanship Wiremu Tamihana
conceived the idea of a Maori King, who was to be, not antagonistic
to, nor a substitute for the Queen, but the arbiter and judge in all
internal disputes, as well as the mouthpiece as to land which the
tribes as a whole were or were not prepared to sell. "I do not desire
to cast the Queen from this Island, but from my piece of land. I am
the person to overlook my piece" was how Wiremu Tamihana once publicly
stated his attitude towards the Crown. The King movement was thus a
Land League and not a rebellion, and as the Maoris had the right to
withhold their land from sale if they so pleased, their adherence to
this restrictive policy was no more illegal than the establishment of
a Trades Union or a Political Association. The movement did not become
militant until after the invasion of the Waitara by the British
troops, when many of the Waikato natives rose in sympathy with Wiremu
Kingi, and the battle followed them back to their gates. Then the
authorities began to realise what a compelling truth there was in the
maxim of Bishop Selwyn: "Nothing is easier than legally and peacefully
to extinguish a native title; nothing is harder than to extinguish a
native war."

Worsted, though not disgraced, in the field, the dissatisfied Maoris
have since sought to secure the full measure of political justice to
which they believe themselves entitled by more constitutional methods.
Amongst their dreams has been a native Parliament sitting in the
Treaty House, at Waitangi, to approve measures for the betterment of
the race, which measures would be afterwards adopted by the Government
and given the effect of law. This, however, has been nothing more than
a dream. Little better was the _Kotahitanga_, or union, in 1892,
of all the tribes in the north, exclusive of the Kingites who still
remained loyal to their monarchal authority. The policy upon which
this new union was founded was that of inducing the Government to
cease purchasing native lands, and to set aside as a reserve for the
benefit of the present and all future Maori generations the
considerable areas of native land still unsold. Nor was this all.
Legislation had been passed, not specially directed against, but not
excepting the native race, placing restrictive conditions upon the
oyster fisheries of the country, and this the leaders of the movement
held to be a breach of the second clause of the treaty, which
guaranteed to them not only the free use and control of their lands
and their forests, but of their fisheries also. The deprivation of
their right to freely gather food from the sea and the sea-shore was,
together with other grievances, sufficient to galvanise them into
political activity, and the _Kotahitanga_ was formed with the meteoric
Hone Heke[193] at its head. The Native Rights Bill was introduced by
him and rejected by Parliament, but the movement was not without its
fruits, for in 1900 part of their purpose was achieved in the
concessions made by the Government in the Native Land Administration
Act and the Maori Councils Act.

With the accomplishment of these aims, and the early death of Heke,
the _Kotahitanga_ has failed to preserve its former vitality; but
brief as was its career, it must be recorded of it that in its
inception and activities it was, as most Maori movements have been,
not an organisation designed to aid in the evasion of the treaty, but
rather to insist upon the due observance of its contracts.

Few Legislatures in the world have had a more difficult task than has
fallen to the lot of that of New Zealand in legislating for the Maori
so as to preserve his nationality, his rights, his liberties, and yet
not bar the progress of the European state. That it has been
embarrassed times without number by the treaty is undoubted, and
therefore it is the more to its credit that the diplomatic bargain
which has now held good for the better part of a century should have
been so little violated. The treaty has been the broad foundation upon
which the intricate structure of native legislation has been reared
through all these years; and if there has ever been as there must have
been under changing conditions trespass upon the strict letter of the
compact, it is safe to assert that this variation has only occurred
when Parliament has been honestly satisfied that the wider interests
of the State as a whole demanded the departure. At no time has the
Legislature been callously unmindful of the true spirit of the treaty,
or careless of the great trust imposed upon it as the guardian
of native rights.[194] This commendable endeavour to observe that
"justice which is the paramount interest of all men and all
Commonwealths" has finally led to a universal acceptance of the treaty
by the native race as the basis of their civil and political
privileges. So far is this the fact, that to-day the Maori is more
insistent upon a due observance of its covenants than is the European.
The present generation of natives accept it unquestioningly; and long
before the "Old Guard" of objectors had passed away they, too, were
beginning to realise that the sacrifice of their independence was more
than compensated for by the protection of the British flag. They felt
the irresistible sweep of the white tide that had surged upon their
shores, and much as they might regret the passing of their ancient
_mana_, they were compelled to acknowledge the force of truth in
the figurative statement of their diminishing power once propounded to
them by Mr. Busby: "How can the little pebble dam the stream? how can
the single tree stand against the storm?"

[156] "One cannot but laud the moderation of the English Puritans who
first established themselves in New England. Although provided with a
charter from their Sovereign, they purchased of the savages the land
they required to occupy. This praiseworthy example was followed by
William Penn, and the colony of Quakers which he conducted into
Pennsylvania."--Vattel.

[157] The real discoverer of New Zealand was probably a Polynesian.

[158] Stowell in his _Maori-English Tutor_ thus defines
_mana_:

  I speak of potency, the right
  To order things as I may deem;
  I, nothing wanting, have the might
  Which clothes authority supreme.

Surely as much power as is possessed by any crowned head, and more
than is possessed by some.

[159] For some years after the treaty was signed the red blanket was
considered amongst the Maoris the hall-mark of distinction, and no
chief who had not received the "treaty blanket" was admitted to the
select circle of their counsels.

[160] The Kohimarama Conference was summoned at Auckland in July 1860,
by Governor Gore Browne, "to afford an opportunity of discussing with
him various matters connected with the welfare and advancement of the
two races dwelling in New Zealand." It was attended on the opening day
by 112 chiefs from all parts of the country, and next to the meeting
at Waitangi in 1840 is the most important native conference ever
held.

[161] "When casuists afterwards strove to qualify the terms accorded
to the Maoris, the words _tino rangatiratanga_ foiled them.
_Tino_ is an intense expression of fulness, comprehension, and
precision, and _rangatiratanga_ included all the rights of
chieftainship."--Rusden.

[162] In 1841 a Mrs. Robertson, her two children, and a half-caste
were murdered at the Bay of Islands by a native named Maketu. The case
was heard at the first Criminal sitting of the Supreme Court in New
Zealand, presided over by Chief-Justice Martin, and was watched with
the keenest interest by the natives.

[163] Writing on this point to Lord Stanley in a letter dated Torquay,
January 18, 1845, Lieutenant Shortland remarks: "I was present at the
several meetings of the natives at Waitangi, Hokianga, and Kaitaia for
the purpose of considering the treaty, and the impression on my mind
at the time was, that the subject was fully understood by them, and
they were quite aware of the nature of the transaction in which they
were engaged. I was so impressed with this idea, and so struck with
the shrewdness and intelligence of many of their remarks at the first
meeting at Waitangi, that at the subsequent ones I noted down the
speeches of the chiefs, which all serve to show that the natives not
only understood the treaty, but that they were peculiarly sensitive
with regard to every question affecting their lands."

[164] The question of the title to the lands claimed by the
Nantes-Bordelaise Company was not dealt with by the New Zealand Land
Claims Commissioners, and became the subject of protracted diplomatic
negotiations with the French Government. Finally, in 1845, Lord
Stanley directed the issue of a grant for 30,000 acres. This area was
afterwards sold to the New Zealand Company, and on the surrender of
its charter the unsold portion became the property of the Crown.

[165] These two vessels were crossing the line when Captain Hobson
took possession of the North Island by virtue of the Treaty of
Waitangi.

[166] _Vide_ his letter to Captain Lavaud, September 20, 1841.

[167] In his judgment in the case, Regina _v._ Symonds, delivered
in 1847, the late Mr. Justice Chapman laid it down that the
pre-emptive right to buy was not limited to the "first refusal," but
consisted in the right to buy before all others: _i.e._ that the
Crown enjoyed the exclusive right of extinguishing the native title.

[168] The Bill was passed on August 4. It enacted that all titles to
land in New Zealand were to be absolutely null and void except such as
were, or might be, allowed by the Queen. The Governor was to appoint
commissioners to examine and report on all claims to grants of land
which might be referred to them by him. They were to be guided by the
real justice and good conscience of the case. Certain lands, those
reserved for the site of a town or village, for purposes of defence,
or any other public purpose, were not to be recommended by the
Commissioners for grants, but compensation in the shape of other lands
might be arranged. The claimant had to prove that he had made a
purchase, and there was to be some relation between the quantity of
land granted and the sum expended on its purchase, but as a general
rule no claimant was to receive more than 2560 acres.

[169] Mr. Busby laid off a portion of his property on the bank of the
Waitangi River as a township, which he dignified by the name of
Victoria. Here he marked off streets, squares, and reserves for public
buildings, the lots being sold to Sydney speculators and settlers at
Kororareka at the rate of from £100 to £400 per acre. Over seventy
years have elapsed since then, but the great city which was to be is
still unsubstantial, rude boulders are its cathedrals, and the cabbage
palms wave over its empty market-place.

[170] Despatch to Lord John Russell, August 16, 1840.

[171] Amongst these was Tu Hawaiki, the Otago chief, who afterwards
signed the treaty at the request of Major Bunbury.

[172] "In consequence of the animadversions made by me in Council on
this proceeding of Mr. Wentworth, and particularly of my having said
that he had, in my opinion, exposed himself to a prosecution for a
conspiracy, Mr. Wentworth has thought proper to resign his commission
as a Magistrate, and (to use his own expression) to separate himself
entirely from any official connection with my Government."--_Vide_
the above Despatch, August 16, 1840.

[173] "The more completely Lord Normanby admits the right of the
chiefs to the sovereignty and soil of New Zealand the more fully must
he rely on the third principle upon which I have said this Bill is
founded, namely, that Englishmen cannot found colonies without the
consent of the Crown, and can obtain no titles to lands in colonies
but from the Crown."--Extract from Sir G. Gipps' speech.

[174] For a further exposition of this point the reader is referred to
what has been called the "classic" judgment of the late Mr. Justice
Chapman in Regina _v._ Symonds, 1847.

[175] In November 1840 Lord John Russell entered into an agreement
with the Company, by which they were to become entitled to select out
of the extensive domain claimed by them one acre for every 5s. they
could prove they had expended upon colonisation in New Zealand. A Mr.
Pennington, a London accountant, was appointed to discover what the
Company's expenditure had been. He reported that they had expended, as
far as could be ascertained, the sum of £200,000, which on the basis
of the arrangement entered into would have entitled them to select,
approximately, 1,000,000 acres. This the Company asserted to Lord
Stanley was a final determination of their rights, and that they were
_ipso facto_ entitled to the land. Lord Stanley, however, held
that the Company still had to show that they had lawfully and
equitably extinguished the native title over this area, and that for
this purpose their land must come under investigation by the
Commission. The correspondence is embodied in the Parliamentary papers
of the period.

[176] Both sides of the Committee appear to have disregarded Major
Bunbury's proceedings, not because they had no constitutional value,
but probably because they were not sufficiently posted in the facts.

[177] In October 1845, Governor Fitzroy wrote to Lord Stanley: "I
cannot believe that those most dangerous resolutions of the House of
Commons (Committee) in 1844 respecting unoccupied land, can be adopted
by Her Majesty's Government, but if such should be the fatal case, the
native population will unite against the settlers and the destruction
of the colony as a field for emigration must result."

[178] _Vide_ his letter to Archdeacon Henry Williams, November
11, 1845.

[179] Governor Hobson died at 12.15 A.M. on September 10,
1842, at Auckland. Amongst a large section of the Northern Maoris the
belief was current that he had been _makutaed_ (bewitched) by an
old _tohunga_ (priest) at a banquet, the _tohunga_ being
instigated by the section of natives who were opposed to the treaty.

[180] In the previous debate Sir Robert had said: "If ever there was a
case where the stronger party was obliged by its position to respect
the demands of the weaker it was the engagements contracted under such
circumstances with these native chiefs."

[181] _Vide_ his Ordinance of March 26, 1844. For an able
justification of this measure the reader is referred to Mr. George
Clarke's _Final Report_, 1846, the manuscript of which is in the
Hocken Collection at Dunedin. The pre-emptive right was finally
abrogated in the Native Land Act of 1862.

[182] _Vide_ his Despatch to Lord Stanley, December 10, 1845.

[183] In this he was further assisted by the fact that Mr. Hawes, who
had been prominent with him in the interests of the New Zealand
Company, became his Under-Secretary, and Mr. Buller became Lord-Advocate.

[184] For a critical analysis of Earl Grey's policy at this period,
the reader is referred to L. A. Chamerovzow's work, _The New Zealand
Question_, 1848.

[185] One writer declared that, "by Earl Grey's Constitution the
humbug Treaty of Waitangi is very properly laid on the shelf." Another
referred to it as "sweeping away all the Treaty of Waitangi nonsense."

[186] Te Wherowhero, who had refused to sign the Treaty of Waitangi,
was greatly influenced by Governor Grey, and this petition is
interesting as showing that the chief was beginning to recognise the
sovereignty of the Queen as the accepted order of things.

[187] "As was anticipated, the chiefs would not enter into the treaty
without the advice of their religious instructors. The Wesleyan chiefs
said, in effect, to their Missionaries: 'We do not know the Queen of
England, but we know you, and can trust you. If you say that the British
Government speaks true about the land, we will believe you, for we
know you will not deceive us.' The Society's Missionaries, understanding
that the primary object of the British Government was to throw the
shield of protection over the New Zealand people, and believing that
the measure proposed was the best for preserving the natives from the
evils by which they were threatened, could not hesitate to assure
their people, that, when once the faith of the British Government was
pledged, it would be maintained inviolate."--_Vide_ Wesleyan Mission
Committee's Letter to Earl Grey, 1848.

[188] Correspondence between the Wesleyan Missionary Committee and the
Right Hon. Earl Grey, 1848.

[189] In a letter received at the Mission House after the Committee's
Memorial had been prepared, the Rev. Thomas Buddle, writing from
Auckland, on July 3, 1847, remarked in reference to lands having no
native claimants: "No such lands have yet been discovered in this
Island. I question much whether there is an acre that has no owner."
The testimony of other Missionaries in the same direction, was, the
Committee asserted, "clear and express."

[190] It is instructive to observe that the treaty is no longer
described as "what has been called the Treaty of Waitangi," as it was
in Earl Grey's Despatch, but is now spoken of with respect by Mr.
Merivale as "The Treaty of Waitangi."

[191] "I do not think it necessary or convenient to discuss with Mr.
Swainson the justice or the policy of the course which the Queen has
been advised to pursue. For the present purpose it is sufficient to
say Her Majesty has pursued it. All the territories comprised within
the Commissions for the Government of New Zealand, and all persons
inhabiting those territories, are and must be considered as being to
all intents and purposes within the dominions of the British
Crown."--_Vide_ Lord Stanley's Despatch to Acting-Governor
Shortland.

[192] William Thompson, son of Te Waharoa, known as the King-maker.

[193] A grand-nephew of the chief who led the war of 1845.

[194] The confiscation of Taranaki lands following upon the Waitara
war might be held by some to be an exception to this rule, but that
would depend upon the view taken of the justification for the war. The
breaches of the treaty, real or alleged, which have occurred in
connection with the Waitara war and since, have been vigorously stated
by Mr. G. W. Rusden in his _Aureretanga_, published in 1888.




APPENDIX


The following petitions to the late Queen are interesting as being the
more recent protests of the Maoris against what they regard as
breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Memorandum and correspondence
which follow may be taken as the official answers to the grievances as
alleged in the petitions.

The subjoined judgment of the Chief Justice, and the extracts from the
other judgments delivered in the Court of Appeal in the case of
Tamihana Korokai, October 1912, are of value as affording us the most
recent judicial interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.


PETITION FROM MAORIS TO THE QUEEN

_The Earl of Kimberley to His Excellency Sir A. H. Gordon, G.C.M.G._

DOWNING STREET, _August 8, 1882_.

SIR--I have the honour to transmit to you, to be laid before
your Government, a copy of a memorial to the Queen, which was handed
to me by certain Maori chiefs, complaining of alleged breaches by the
New Zealand Government of the Treaty of Waitangi, with a printed
translation of the same, which I received in a letter from the Rev. P.
Walsh of Parnell, Auckland. I also enclose a newspaper extract, which
gives a brief but fairly accurate account of an interview which I held
with these chiefs and several members of Parliament, and others who
accompanied them on the occasion.

I request that you will lay these papers before your Government. You
will invite them to favour me with any observations they may wish to
make in regard to the memorial.--I have, etc.,

KIMBERLEY.

The Hon. Sir A. H. Gordon.


To Her Majesty VICTORIA, the Good Queen of England, and the
Empress of India, Greeting.

Go forth, O our messenger, on the soft airs of affection to remote
lands, across the ocean that was trodden by Tawhaki,[195] to Victoria,
the Queen of England, whose fame for graciousness has extended to all
the kingdoms of the world, including New Zealand. O Mother, the
receiver of the sentiments of the great peoples and the small peoples
under the shade of your authority, Salutations! May the Almighty
preserve you on your Throne, and may men applaud you for your goodness
to your peoples living in these Islands, who are continually directing
their eyes toward you, the mother who is venerated by them.

O Mother, the Queen! on account of the desire to protect these
Islands, your father sent hither, in 1840, Captain Hobson. At that
time the enlightened administration of England was discovered by us,
and the Maori chiefs came to the conclusion that England, in
preference to other countries, should be the protector of New
Zealand--to protect and cherish the Maori tribes of New Zealand. The
conclusion brought about the treaty of Waitangi, and the appointment
of the first Governor, Captain Hobson.

In consequence of the ignorance of some tribes, including Hone Heke,
the flagstaff was cut down at Maiki, Bay of Islands, for the tribes in
question imagined that the flag was the symbol of land confiscation.
Nevertheless, there was no blood in the flagstaff which had been cut
down, making it needful to raise armies to fight the Maoris. If the
Native chiefs had been summoned to a conference at that time, and
matters had been explained to them, there would have been no war; but
the Europeans flew as birds to make war against Heke, which brought
about the blood-shedding of both Europeans and Maoris.

In the year 1860 another evil was brought upon the Maori tribes by the
Governor himself, who, without any grounds, drove Wiremu Kingi from
his own lands at Waitara, and this war about land renewed the shedding
of both European and Maori blood. On this occasion, O Mother, the
Queen! the grievous lamentation of this Island was raised, and you
recalled, in consequence, Governor Gore-Browne, whose administration
closed here. It was said by the Europeans that William King did wrong
in opposing the Governor; that if William King and party had appealed
to the Supreme Court, the Government act in that case would have been
condemned. Hence the knowledge of the Taranaki tribes taking up that
opinion, and retaining it up to the capture of Te Whiti and others,
who did not oppose in fight the Government when it went with an army
to Parihaka, to enkindle Maori strife, thereby endeavouring to find a
basis to make the Maoris do wrong, and then confiscate their lands.

In the year 1862, you, O Queen, sent hither Governor Grey to calm down
the rain and the wind,[196] so that the sea of both races should be
still. Governor Grey possessed much wisdom: he understands the Maori
language, also the Maori customs. Notwithstanding, when he came the
second time as Governor of these Islands, he rushed hastily away to
Taranaki, and gave instructions for road-making on Maori territory,
thereby bringing about a war and the slaying of many of both races. In
the year 1863 the war was carried into Waikato, and the Maoris
throughout the Island were unaware as to the reason why war had been
made on the Waikato. Now, O Queen, the Waikatos had formed a land
league, in accordance with the Treaty of Waitangi, to preserve their
native authority over the land, which principle is embodied in the
treaty.

O, the Queen! you do not consider that act of retaining their land to
be unjust; but the Government of New Zealand held it to be wrong,
inasmuch as war was declared against the Waikatos, and the
confiscation of their land followed, although the Waikatos had no
desire to fight--the desire came from the Governor and his council.
When the Waikatos were overpowered, armies of soldiers went forth to
engender strife against the Maoris at Tauranga, at Te Awa-o-te Atua at
Whakatana, at Ohiwa, at Opotiki, at Turanganui, at Ahuriri, at
Whanganui, at Waimate, and various other places. The motive impelling
the projectors of these deeds to execute this work was a desire to
confiscate the Maori lands, and to trample under the soles of their
feet the Treaty of Waitangi. While these proceedings were being
carried out, the weeping people wept, the lamenting people lamented,
the agonised people were in agony, the saddened people were in
sadness, while they held the Treaty of Waitangi as a basis on which
the voice of the Maoris could be made known to you, O Queen.

But the people of New Zealand declared that the fighting and the
confiscation of land which brought calamity, and made your Maori
children orphans, were sanctioned by you, O Queen. We did not believe
the utterances of the Europeans as to the wrongs we suffered, that
they were brought upon us by your queenly authority; but our decision
was that such acts were not sanctioned by you, O Queen, whose
benevolence towards the Maori people is well known. The disorderly
work referred to has been carried into practice, so that a path might
be opened up to Europeans to seize Maori lands.

In the year 1881, a new plan was devised by the Government to enkindle
strife in respect to the Maoris. Armies were sent to Parihaka to
capture innocent men that they might be lodged in prison; to seize
their property and their money, to destroy their growing crops, to
break down their houses, and commit other deeds of injustice. We pored
over the Treaty of Waitangi to find the grounds on which these evil
proceedings of the Government of New Zealand rested, but we could find
none. Some of the European inhabitants of this Island disapproved of
these injurious doings to Maori men; and it was vaguely rumoured that
Sir Arthur Gordon, the Governor, refused to approve of these acts.
Many other evils have been discovered by our hearts, therefore have we
considered right, O Mother, the Queen, to pray that you will not
permit increased evils to come upon your Maori children in New
Zealand, but to graciously sanction the appointment of a Royal English
Commission to abrogate the evil laws affecting the Maori people, and
to establish a Maori Parliament, which shall hold in check the
European authorities who are endeavouring to set aside the Treaty of
Waitangi; to put a bridle also in the mouth of Ministers for Native
Affairs who may act as Ministers have done at Parihaka, so that all
may be brought back to obey your laws; and to prevent the continued
wrongs of land matters which are troubling the Maori people through
days and years; and to restore to the Maoris those lands which have
been wrongfully confiscated according to the provisions of the Treaty
of Waitangi; and to draw forth from beneath the many unauthorized acts
of the New Zealand Parliament the concealed treaty, that it may now
assert its own dignity.

In this year, 1881, we, O the Queen, built a House of Assembly at the
Bay of Islands, and the great symbol therein is a stone memorial, on
which has been engraved the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi, so
that eyes may look thereon from year to year. Two invitations were
sent to the Governor, requesting him to unveil the stone Treaty
Memorial. He did not accede to the request. Perhaps his disinclination
arose from the fact that the Europeans had disregarded the principles
embodied in the treaty, because in you, O Queen, is vested the sole
authority affecting the Waitangi Treaty. Should you authorize, O
Mother, the Queen, the appointment in England of a Royal English
Commission, under your queenly seal, to investigate the wrongdoings of
both races, then will you rightly be informed, O Mother, as to what is
just and what is false.

It is believed by us, O Queen, that you have no knowledge as to the
deeds of wrong that gave us so much pain, and which create lamentation
among the tribes; but if, in your graciousness, a Maori Parliament is
set up, you will, O Queen, be enabled clearly to determine what is
right and what is wrong, what is evil and what is good, in the
administrations of the two races in these Islands.

O Mother, the Queen, there are no expressions of disaffection towards
you by the Maori tribes, including the tribes of the King; but they
revere, only revere your Majesty; and the search after you, O Queen,
has induced us to send this petition to England by the hands of the
persons appointed by our Committee, who will see your very countenance
and hear your words.

O Mother, the Queen, do not suppose that the sufferings under which we
labour are light. Many wrongs are felt by various tribes, but the
following are some which have come under our own notice:--(1) The
fighting between the Maoris and the New Zealand Company in the year
1841-42 was brought about by land disputes, and Mr. Wakefield fell in
the strife. (2) The war against Te Rangihaeata in the year 1842-1843:
a land dispute also was the origin; and some of Rangihaeata's people
were wrongly executed, their deaths being opposed to the English law,
and contrary to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. (3) The war
against Heke and Kawiti in 1844-45, caused by land sales and the
withholding of the anchorage money at Bay of Islands, was contrary to
the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi. (4) The fighting between
the chiefs Te Hapuku and Te Moananui in 1848-1849 brought about by
land purchasing on behalf of the Government. (5) The war against
Wiremu Kingi on account of the block of land named Waitara, at
Taranaki. (6) The war against the Waikatos in 1863, extending to the
year 1870. (7) The fight among the Ngatitautahi tribe in 1879, four
Natives killed, the strife being occasioned by the land purchases of
Government, a portion of £700,000 having been scattered over our lands
by Government Agents in 1875. (8) The capture of two hundred innocent
men of Te Whiti in 1879-81. (9) The incarceration of Te Whiti and his
people in 1881-82, who were guiltless of any crime.

The following, O Queen, are references to New Zealand Ordinances put
forth and said to be against the principles contained in the Treaty of
Waitangi: (1) The making of unauthorized laws relating to Maori
lands--namely, the Land Acts of 1862, 1865, 1873, 1880--which Acts
were not assented to by the Native chiefs in all parts of the Island.
Nor is there any basis in the Treaty of Waitangi for these laws, which
continuously bring upon our lands and upon our persons great wrongs.
(2) The Immigration and Public Works Act, and the borrowing of
£700,000 expended here and there to confuse the Maoris and their
titles to land.

O Mother, the Queen, these other things, and many of the laws that are
being carried into effect are, according to Maori ideas, very unjust,
creating disorder amongst us, giving us heart-pangs and sadness of
spirit to your Maori children, who are ever looking towards you, most
gracious Queen; and it is averred by men of wisdom that these matters
which weigh so heavily upon us are in opposition to the great and
excellent principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

May you be in health, O Mother, the Queen! May the Almighty bring down
upon you, upon your family, and upon the whole of your people the
exalted goodness of Heaven, even up to the termination of your sojourn
in this world, and in your inheritance in the home of sacred rest!

May you live, is the prayer of your children in the Island of New
Zealand.

  PARORE TE AWHA,
  HARE HONGI HIKA,
  MAIHI PARAONE KAWITI,
  KINGI HORI KIRA,
  MANGONUI REWA,
  HIRINI TAIWHANGA,
  WIREMU PUHI TE HIHI,
  HAKENA PARORE.

  For the Native people of New Zealand.


MAORI CHIEFS IN LONDON

Yesterday afternoon, a deputation of Maori chiefs, accompanied by
numerous friends of the Aborigines' Protection Society, waited upon
the Earl of Kimberley (Secretary of State for the Colonies) at the
Colonial Office, for the purpose of seeking redress of grievances
under which Native tribes, it is alleged, suffer in New Zealand. The
Maori chiefs, three in number, were attired in English dress. They
appeared intelligent men, one of them having his face much tattooed.
Their names were Wiremu Puhi te Hihi, Hirini Taiwhanga, and Hakena
Parore. There were present Sir T. Fowell Buxton; Mr. W. H. James,
M.P.; Mr. T. Fry, M.P.; Sir Wilfred Lawson, M.P.; Sir D. Wedderburn,
M.P.; Mr. W. Rathbone, M.P.; Mr. A. M'Arthur, M.P.; Mr. Alderman
Fowler, M.P.; Mr. Brogden, M.P.; Mr. Cropper, M.P.; Mr. Thomasson,
M.P.; the Bishop of Nelson, the Rev. T. Grace (late of New Zealand),
Mr. Froome Talfourd, Mr. C. Hancock, Mr. W. Wilson, Mr. G. W. Rusden,
Mr. Da Costa, Mr. F. W. Chesson (Secretary of the Aborigines'
Protection Society).

Mr. F. W. Chesson read a letter from Bishop Abraham (the late Bishop
of Wellington) in which he stated that in 1852, Sir John Packington,
being the Colonial Minister, framed a Constitution for New Zealand
absolutely ignoring the 60,000 Natives, who then outnumbered the
English, and who were by the Treaty of Waitangi proclaimed to be as
much subjects of the Queen as the English. No Native could vote unless
he chanced to have a Crown grant, which only a very few had, and this
was a direct violation of the treaty. It was not till about the year
1865 that four or five Natives were admitted into the Houses of
Parliament.

The Bishop of Nelson then explained the objects the deputation had in
view. He said the three Maori chiefs present had brought with them a
petition to the Queen, signed by Native chiefs, asking for the
investigation and redress of grievances under which they laboured, and
they were desirous of presenting it to Her Majesty, at the same time
requesting the acceptance of some presents, according to the Maori
custom. They complained of the incarceration of Te Whiti and his
people, who, it was alleged, were guiltless of any crime, and also
that the reserve of land promised had not been properly secured to
them. The treatment of Te Whiti was the more extraordinary considering
how much had been condoned in the case of disloyal Natives, while
throughout the whole of the disturbances he had never been in arms
against the Government, but had prevented war, in the full confidence
that his legal position and claim would be gone into.

The petition addressed to "The Good Queen of England and the Empress
of India," and which saluted Her Majesty, "whose fame for graciousness
had extended to all the nations of the world," as Mother of the Maori
tribes, was then handed to Lord Kimberley.

Lord Kimberley asked whether the petition had been presented to the
Governor or the Government of New Zealand.

The Bishop of Nelson--"I think it has not been so presented."

Lord Kimberley pointed out that the memorial ought to have been
presented to the Governor and the Government of New Zealand in the
first instance, in order to enable him to have their views on the
question; and he remarked that under the present circumstances he
could give no definite answer to the petition.

The three Maori chiefs then spoke in their own language, their
statements being interpreted by the Rev. Mr. Grace. One of the chiefs
(Hirini Taiwhanga) apparently understood a little English, although
declining to converse in that tongue. Firstly, they complained that
the Treaty of Waitangi had not been upheld, and urged that it should
be maintained, and the English and Native races governed according to
it; secondly, they desired that steps should be taken to unite more
closely the English and the Native race, instead of the latter being
treated by the former as a horse treated his enemy--kicking him away;
and, thirdly, they were much concerned at the treatment to which their
fellow-countryman, Te Whiti, was subjected, and they wished him to be
set at liberty.

In reply to a question put by Lord Kimberley as to the reason why the
petition had not been presented to the New Zealand Government--

Wiremu Puhi te Hihi said the omission was due to the haste the chiefs
made to present the Petition to the Queen, as they had heard reports
that her life had been attempted by assassins. He added that he was
perfectly aware that Her Majesty had given the New Zealand Government
power to deal with its domestic affairs, but he thought the Government
at New Zealand had not acted as the Queen would have done under
similar circumstances. He further stated that the Native grievances
extended throughout the Island.

Lord Kimberley requested the interpreter to tell the chiefs that to
pass over the Colonial Government, and to endeavour to induce the
Imperial Government to act independently, would not tend to the union
of the English and Native races.

One of the chiefs (Hakena Parore) said the chiefs had no wish to
ignore the New Zealand Government, and they were doing their utmost to
diminish drunkenness among the Native tribes by means of total
abstinence societies.

Mr. Wilfrid Wilson (of New Zealand) said there was reason to believe
that some of the Native chiefs who signed the Treaty of Waitangi were
not the owners of land, and there was a large number of chiefs who
owned land that did not sign the treaty.

Sir T. Fowell Buxton, having observed that a good deal might turn on
the question whether the treaty was obsolete or not--

Lord Kimberley said the treaty was very simple, and provided that the
possession of land was to be respected. It was not the duty of the
Colonial Office to advise the Queen in reference to local matters like
the present. The management of the land of New Zealand was absolutely
handed over to the New Zealand Government, and the Queen was advised
by the Ministers of the colony with regard to these matters, and not
by himself, as there could not be two governments for one country. It
had been decided, as more likely to conduce to the peace of the
country, that the affairs of New Zealand should be managed at the
colony rather than in Downing Street. He had a strong conviction that
the course was right. The question now raised by the deputation
appeared to be connected with confiscations arising out of wars, and
the treaty would not be concerned in such confiscations, but the point
was whether they were just. Having received the petition, he should
transmit it to the Colonial Government, and ask them to state their
views with regard to it. It might be thought desirable to issue
another Royal Commission, but that step rested with the Colonial
Government.

At the request of His Lordship, the Interpreter told the chiefs that
the Queen took a great interest in the welfare of the Native
population of New Zealand, and it was a matter of great satisfaction
to Her Majesty that of late years there had been no wars or bloodshed
between the two races, which was a happy omen for the future.

The deputation then retired.


_The Premier to His Excellency the Administrator_

Ministers have had under consideration the despatch from the Secretary
of State, dated the 8th August last, enclosing copy of a memorial to
the Queen from certain Maori chiefs of New Zealand, and inviting this
Government to favour him with any observations they may wish to make
thereupon.

The memorial professes to be signed "For the Native people of New
Zealand." After full enquiry, Ministers have ascertained that but few
Maoris were aware that such a memorial was to be presented; and that
several of those who knew what was intended have no sympathy with the
proceedings of Hirini Taiwhanga, from whom the memorial emanated.

Taiwhanga belongs to Nga-Puhi, the principal tribe in the northern
part of the North Island. He is not a man of any rank; and he has no
importance beyond what he has gained in consequence of his abilities
and education. As an intelligent boy, he was educated under the
direction of the late Bishop Selwyn; and, subsequently it being
desired to push forward Native youths of promise, he was after due
instruction appointed by the Government a licensed surveyor. The
appointment was not a success; and in June 1872, his license was
revoked, in consequence of malpractices, reported by the Inspector of
Surveys and two Judges of the Native Land Court.

The Government had for several years been making efforts to establish
schools in Native districts for the education of Maori children, and
in 1877 Taiwhanga was appointed master of such a school at his native
settlement Kaikohe. His remuneration was a capitation allowance; but
his conduct in this position was so bad that the school had to be
broken up. He neglected his work, absented himself from the school and
from the settlement, and, by rendering grossly false returns of the
number of children attending the school, he obtained money not due to
him for capitation. Taiwhanga's conduct in other transactions has been
equally open to condemnation.

The other two members of the deputation also belong to Nga-Puhi. One
is a grandson and the other a nephew of Parore, a Nga-Puhi chief of
high family and of great respectability. He is upwards of ninety years
of age, and was induced by Taiwhanga to provide the money to take his
relatives as a deputation to England to see the Queen. The men
themselves are respectable, but have not taken a leading position in
their tribe.

The only object in giving these particulars is to enable the Secretary
of State to form an opinion as to the weight that should attach to the
statements and proceedings of the deputation.

With regard to the "wrongs" detailed in the memorial, Ministers desire
to point out that the first six have reference to transactions during
the time Native affairs in New Zealand were under the control and
management of the Imperial Government, through their officer, the
Governor of the colony. A full history of these transactions will no
doubt be found in the Parliamentary papers, Imperial and Colonial, in
the Colonial Office; and on reference to such papers, it will be seen
how little reason the Maoris have to complain.

The "wrong" standing as No. 7 in the memorial, has relation to a
dispute between two tribes in reference to land, with which the
Government of the colony had no connection, and for which they were
not in any way responsible.

Nos. 8 and 9 refer to recent transactions, for which the Colonial
Government were entirely responsible. A full account, and the
justification of the Government's conduct, will be found in the
documents from time to time transmitted through the Governor to the
Secretary of State.

The special legislation referred to in the memorial as "unauthorised
laws relating to Maori lands ... not assented to by the Native chiefs
in all parts of the Island," and as having no "basis in the Treaty of
Waitangi," is not restrictive but enabling. The object of the Native
Land Acts enumerated was to provide a special tribunal for the
determination of Native title; to relieve the Maori owners from the
monopoly held by the Government; and to enable them to sell their
lands to whomsoever they pleased. In no way are the provisions of the
Acts compulsory. The Maoris were and are at liberty to avail
themselves of the powers conferred, or to abstain from doing so, at
their pleasure.

It may be stated that, with the exception of lands confiscated for
rebellion, no land whatever has been taken from the Maoris by the
Government. With the exception stated, all lands acquired from Natives
by Government have been acquired from willing sellers, and fully paid
for. The £700,000 referred to has been paid to them, besides other
large sums, for what was to them unprofitable waste.

The general legislation of the colony as to the Maoris has been more
than just--it has been exceptionally favourable to them. When laws
have been made applicable to the people of the colony, the object has
in many instances been to except the Maoris from their stringency; and
there is no instance in which they have been placed in a less
favourable position than the European population. Of the many laws on
the statute-book of the colony which bear out this statement, one
illustration may be mentioned: the Maoris are specially exempted from
all direct taxes on both real and personal property.

It may, indeed, with confidence be asserted generally that there is
not, and has not been, anything on the statute-book of the colony, or
in the conduct of the Colonial Legislature, as regards the Maoris, to
which reasonable exception can be taken.

FRED WHITAKER.

WELLINGTON, _December 12, 1882._


_His Excellency the Administrator to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies_

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, WELLINGTON, _December 16, 1882_.

MY LORD--With reference to Your Lordship's despatch, No. 33,
of 8th August 1882, transmitting a copy of a memorial to the Queen
from certain Maori chiefs of New Zealand, and enclosing a newspaper
extract giving an account of an interview held by Your Lordship with
those chiefs, and several Members of Parliament and others, I have the
honour to enclose a memorial from the Prime Minister, Mr. Whitaker,
which he has forwarded to me in consequence of the invitation to him
to make observations on the memorial, which invitation was conveyed to
him by Your Lordship's directions, as already stated in my despatch,
No. 88, of November 5, 1882.--I have, etc.

JAMES PRENDERGAST.

The Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies.


_The Secretary of State for the Colonies to His Excellency the
Governor_

COLONIAL OFFICE, DOWNING STREET, _February 17, 1883_.

SIR--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
despatch, No. 102, of the 16th December last, transmitting a
memorandum from the Prime Minister, Mr. Whitaker, on the subject of a
memorial placed in the hands of my predecessor, by certain Maori
chiefs of New Zealand for presentation to the Queen, complaining of
alleged breaches by the New Zealand Government of the Treaty of
Waitangi, and praying for the appointment of a Royal Commission in
connection with the laws of the colony affecting the Maoris, and for
the establishment of a Maori Parliament.

Having given these papers my attentive consideration, I request that
you will cause the petitioners to be informed that their petition,
which has now been reported on by the Colonial Government, has been
laid before the Queen, who was pleased to receive it very graciously;
but that I have been unable to advise Her Majesty to give any
directions for a compliance with the prayer of the memorialists.--I
have, etc.

DERBY.

The Officer administering the Government of New Zealand.


_The Native Office to Parore te Awha and others_

(Translation)

NATIVE OFFICE, WELLINGTON, _April 17, 1883_.

FRIENDS--In reference to the petition which you and certain
other Natives have addressed to Her Majesty the Queen, complaining of
alleged breaches by the New Zealand Government of the Treaty of
Waitangi, and praying for the appointment of a Royal Commission in
connection with the laws of the colony affecting the Maoris, and for
the establishment of a Maori Parliament, I am instructed to acquaint
you that His Excellency the Governor has received a despatch, bearing
date 17th February from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, upon
the subject of your petition.

In his despatch, Lord Derby requests that you should be informed that
the petition, which has been reported on by the Colonial Government,
has been laid before the Queen, who was pleased to receive it very
graciously. He further says that he has been unable to advise Her
Majesty to give any directions for a compliance with the prayer of the
memorialists.

From your friend, W. J. MORPETH (In the absence of Mr. Lewis).

To Parore te Awha and Hirini Taiwhanga, Kaihu, Kaipara.


_Parore te Awha to the Native Office_

(Translation)

HOUHANGA, DARGAVILLE, _April 25, 1883_.

TO MR. MORPETH--Friend, greeting! I have received your letter
acquainting me with the result of the petition taken by Wiremu Reweti
te Puhi, Hihi Parore, Hirini Rawiri Taiwhanga, and Hakena te Parore to
England. I myself sent those persons to England to lay our grievances
before the Queen--that is, before all her governing power--because all
the grievances that we, the Maoris, suffer from arise from the colony
of New Zealand; hence our petition for the establishment of a Native
Parliament in New Zealand. It was not done with the object of
trampling on the authority of the Government of New Zealand. No! but
we think that the Queen's authority should be exercised directly over
us. We, the Maori people, are entirely subject to the authority of our
most gracious Queen Victoria. The leading people in England say that
it is the Europeans of New Zealand who oppress the Maori people. Well
then, friend, do you write to me on the receipt of this letter. May
God protect us both.--From your sincere Friend,

PARORE TE AWHA.


MEMORIAL OF TAWHIAO AND OTHERS TO THE QUEEN

_The Right Hon. the Earl of Derby to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

DOWNING STREET, _August 9, 1884_.

SIR--I have the honour to transmit to you a copy of the
memorial which has been presented to me by the Maori chiefs now in
this country.

I understand that it is contended, in support of the action taken by
the Maori chiefs in making this appeal to the Imperial Government,
that the powers granted to the Queen by section 71 of the New Zealand
Constitution Act, 15 and 16 Vict. cap. 72, are still in full force,
and that Her Majesty may properly be invited to provide by letters
patent that the laws enacted by the Legislature of the colony should
not extend to the Native territory; and that the Native laws, customs,
and usages, modified as might be thought desirable, should prevail
therein, to the exclusion of all other laws.

I shall be glad to receive the observations of your Government on this
point, and also any statements which they may desire to make
respecting the matters referred to in the memorial.--I have, etc.

DERBY.

Governor Sir W. Jervois, G.C.M.G., C.B., etc.


ENCLOSURE (Confidential)

Salutations!--May the Queen and her family long live! May her
Government and the people of England live! May God protect you!

This is an address from the Maori chiefs to the people of England.
Strangers landed on a strange land:

We, the Maori chiefs of New Zealand, have come to this distant land
into your presence, on account of the great disaster which has
overtaken your Maori race, which is beloved by the Queen and the
people of England. Accordingly we have now swum the Ocean of Kiwa,
which lies between us, and have reached England in safety, the source
and fountain of authority, to the place where the Queen lives, that
she may redress the ills of the Maori race inflicted on them by the
Government of New Zealand, who have not directed their attention to
right those wrongs up to the present time, and those wrongs are still
being committed; nor is it because the Maoris are adhering to evil
practices, and so causing trouble between the two races; and
therefore, owing to this continued inattention of the Government, this
is presented as an appeal to the highest authority. And because there
was a tender regard displayed by the Queen to her Maori race, as shown
in the Treaty of Waitangi, therefore it is well that those contracts
and these ills should be brought before you for your consideration.

Firstly, the words of the Queen were, that Victoria, Queen of England,
in her kind regard to the chiefs and the tribes of New Zealand,
secured that their rights of chieftainship and their lands should be
established to them, and that peace should be made with them.

Secondly, that the Queen of England shall order and consent that the
chiefs and tribes of New Zealand preserve their chieftainships, their
lands, their villages, their forests, and their fisheries.

Thirdly, that the Government of the Queen shall consent and order that
the Queen shall protect the Maoris of New Zealand, and shall give them
her laws in like manner as they are given to the people of England.

But these contracts have been trampled upon by the Government without
exception. The first case of the Government purchasing land was in the
year 1855. They paid a deposit for lands to some tribes without
knowing whether the lands belonged to them, and much land in the
Waikato, Hawke's Bay, and other places was bought in this manner; and
in consequence the Maoris drew a boundary at the Mangatawhiri River,
to separate the ground still held by the Maoris, and set up a head,
namely, Potatau[197]--of the Maori people, who should prevent disputes
between the Natives who sold and those who retained their lands,
always acknowledging the supremacy of the Queen; and this provision
was made over all lands throughout Taranaki, Taupo, and other parts.

In the year 1858 the Government purchased Waitara from Te Teira,
Wiremu Kingi, the paramount chief of that tribe, prohibiting the sale;
but the Government sanctioned the purchase from Te Teira. Wiremu Kingi
drove off the surveyors, and the Government waged war throughout
Taranaki and confiscated the land.

In the year 1863 a proclamation was issued by the Government that all
the Natives adhering to the resolve not to part with their lands
should retire across the boundary-line at Mangatawhiri; they went and
the Government followed them across the boundary and fought them.
Another Proclamation from the Government declared that the Waikato
chiefs adhering to the Queen should aid General Cameron, and that the
Government would protect their persons, their lands, and their
property. Te Wheoro and his tribe aided General Cameron up to the very
last, but their lands (amounting to about 200,000 acres) and property
were confiscated, and a very little portion of the land was returned;
the bulk was sold by the Government to the English, and up to the
present day no compensation has been made. For the property destroyed
the Court ordered compensation to be made; but the Government refused
to comply.

The question of the lands thus seized was laid before the Committee of
Maori Affairs of the House of Parliament in the year 1879, and again
in the years 1880 and 1881, and the unanimous reply was made that the
Government should specially appoint a Commission to investigate that
seizure; but the Government refused to accede to this proposal.

On the seizure of the lands at Taranaki in the year 1863, a law was
made that seven years were to be allowed for the Government to place
settlers on the land, but failing to do so within that time, that the
land should revert to the Maoris. The year 1870 arrived, and the
Government had failed to settle the land, and the land was returned by
the Native Minister, Donald M'Lean, who said that the Government
should purchase the land at 5s. or 7s. per acre; but the Government
did not purchase it.

In the year 1879 the Government began to seize the land without any
pretext, arrested Te Whiti and party in their homes, destroyed their
houses, rooted up their crops, and removed their goods, surveyed the
land, put it into the market, and it was bought by the English, and
very small portions were returned to the Natives. For twelve months
Te Whiti and party were imprisoned and were never tried; they were
then released, but are still under some restraining law of the
Government.

When the lands in the South Island were bought by a Commission from
the Queen the Commission stipulated that, on the Maoris consenting to
the conditions, the villages, the fisheries, and one acre in every ten
should be reserved to the Maoris, and to this the Maoris agreed; but
on the completion of the sale the conditions were and have been
disallowed down to the present time. A Commission was instituted in
the year 1879; but the Government was not pleased to give effect to
its awards.

Respecting the land at Kawhia. Before the establishment of the
Government some Europeans resided at Kawhia; the Maoris allowed their
residence for the purpose of trade, and rent was paid to the Natives
by these Europeans; the Maoris in ignorance signed their names, and,
as they paid for the goods received, were unaware that their names
were obtained for a purpose. On arrival of fresh Europeans the lands
were sold to the new arrivals, and these demanded a Crown grant from
the Government, which was granted, though the Maoris were kept in
ignorance of the transaction: and thus the Government dealt with the
ground and ultimately bought it for themselves, and not until it was
being surveyed were the Maoris aware that their land was alienated.
Nor did the Government enquire of the Maoris whether the claims of the
Europeans were just, and the Maoris condemned the transaction.

The Government submitted a Bill to Parliament to authorise them to put
the land into the market, and the Bill was passed by the Parliament,
the Maori members dissenting, and submitting a letter to the Governor,
asking him to withhold his consent to the Bill, and the letter was
forwarded to the Queen. In the year 1883 the land was thrown into the
market by the Government, and the Kawhia River was buoyed; the Maoris
then gathered together to prevent this, and Tawhiao[198] said to the
Government, through the Native Minister, Mr. Bryce, "Let the staking
of the river be done by him." But Mr. Bryce refused, and all the land
was surveyed by the Government, and soldiers were placed on the land
of the King, and works were pushed forward on the King's land, and the
Government said that they, acting with Rewi and party, should decide
the boundary of the King's land, to which Rewi and party agreed. When
that was settled the Government commenced operations, not confining
themselves to what was agreed upon, at which Rewi severed himself from
any further connection with the operations of the Government, when he
saw that the King party suffered loss; and this is an example of the
conduct of the Government in all their transactions in Maori matters.

The Native Land Court was instituted in the year 1866 by the
Government, and that measure for dealing with Maori lands was adopted
in order to destroy the rights of the Maoris over their own land,
rights secured to them by the Queen in the Treaty of Waitangi.

A fresh rule was thus established, by which the Court had full powers,
its authority was entirely in European hands, and the Maoris were
denied all authority. It was established that ten persons were to be
allowed claims over any section of ground, the majority were to rest
satisfied with no land to live on, and the lands were ultimately
alienated by purchase. Another rule was set up by the Court, that if
the claimants failed to present themselves to the Court the land
should be handed over to others, and thus the lands were sold,
including the lands, the homesteads, and the plantations, and the real
owners of the land were left destitute. When the Maori race asked that
they might be allowed to deal with their own lands by means of their
own committees, the Government declined. In cases where Europeans
purchased land from Maoris who received money for lands not theirs,
the purchase thus made was established to the purchasers. Assessors
were, indeed, appointed for the Court, but they had no power to say
anything with regard to the lands dealt with by the Court. Te Wheoro
was the first Assessor thus summoned in the year 1866; but when he saw
these faults he left it in the year 1872.

The rights of the chiefs over their own lands were disallowed by the
Government, and the positions of the chiefs, in accordance with their
Maori customs, was swept away; for the chiefs had the power to secure
the land for themselves and their tribes, lest the land and the
persons should be lost (by other tribes seizing it) and their rights
were reduced to an equality with ordinary persons, and their words
were allowed no weight in retaining their land or in directing the
affairs of their own tribes: but the Government gave the rights of
ruling to all kinds of persons, and the ruling of these persons,
possessing no tribal rights in the eyes of the race itself, was
authorised, the Government merely regarding their own appointments in
respect to these lands; and thus the Government were able to set aside
and ignore the chiefs.

Maori Assessors were appointed by the Government to rule their own
Maori race; only they had no powers. All powers of establishing and
directing were retained by the Government, and even this is now being
set aside.

Maori representatives were established by the Government, but a
prohibitive rule was made by which the number of members were limited
to four, and, though the Maoris demanded a representation proportionate
to their numbers, this has been refused by the Government up to the
present time; and these members have only nominal power and are unable
to redress the Maori wrongs, and yet the Europeans have only an equal
status with the Maoris. The commission charged by the Government on
the monies paid for Maori lands, whether sold or leased, exceeds 25
per cent.

The payments arising from gold-bearing lands--_i.e._ 10s. per
miner's right, and duties on goods--are taken by the Government, and
none are returned to the Maori race, nor are the Maoris allowed any
voice in directing these taxes; all are taken by the Government for
the benefit of the Europeans, and the Maoris are left out of all
consideration; and the result of all this is that the Government have
taken the lands, the persons, and the rights of the Maori; the Maoris
still lay claim to their rights, and this has been a cause of trouble,
and troubles have also come on other Europeans, as happened at Marunui
and other places throughout the whole Island, all from these acts of
the Government. A Commission sat to investigate these wrongs at
Napier. Te Wheoro, another Maori, and two Europeans sat, but the
Europeans and the Maoris failed to agree, no decision was arrived at,
and the lands were lost, and the Maoris, frightened at such dealings,
retired to a remnant of the land of their ancestors in the King
Country, and yet they are being even now pursued.

Te Wheoro rose in the Parliament of 1880, and, addressing the
Government, asked them to give to the Maoris the office of Minister of
Maori Affairs, then filled by Mr. Bryce, inasmuch as it was a post for
the Maoris, and yet Europeans alone filled the office, though Maori
names were mentioned for the office; and this is a wrong done to the
Maoris, inasmuch as the Queen had given them rights. Mr. Bryce replied
that the office should never belong to the Maoris.

Therefore we and our race have determined, and to us, the representatives
of the tribes of New Zealand, has been assigned the work of crossing
the ocean and of bringing our wrongs to the Queen and people of
England, in whose hands lay the words of life and death, that they
should send and give to the Maori race laws whereby they may live,
like as our friends the Europeans who sent and asked to have a
Parliament of their own, and which was agreed to by the Queen; the
Maoris remaining in ignorance that their friends (the Europeans) had
asked for a Parliament subsequent to the Treaty of Waitangi.

Therefore we pray for our Maori race that our Queen may cherish us,
that she may accede to this our prayer, and grant to us, her Maori
race, these humble requests. And firstly, that you will resolutely
consent to grant a Government to your Maori subjects, to those who are
living on their own lands or those of their ancestors, and within the
limits of Maori territory, that they may have power to make laws
regarding their own lands and race, lest they perish by the ills which
have come upon them; that they may be empowered so to direct
themselves and their own lands lest they be altogether destroyed by
the practices of the Government, unknown and not evident to the
Maoris; and that also the Maoris possessing lands contiguous to the
Europeans should have those lands brought under the direction of the
said Maori Government, for there are many tribes who thus own land,
and which they will not long hold unless thus brought under Maori
Government; and these Maoris are those who are suffering most at the
present time, and they will be unable to save themselves unless some
such means are taken for their preservation.

Secondly, that the Queen and her Government consent to the appointment
of a Maori Commissioner, appointed by the Queen, one of the Maori
race, one adhering to the Queen, an upright man, who shall act as
mediator between the Maori and European races in matters touching the
leasing and selling of the lands of your Maori subjects, who shall
investigate the laws made by the Maori Government, make them feasible,
and to write his opinion to your Governor and to you also for your
confirmation, lest the Maori legislation be at variance with that of
the Government, and lest the Maori should fail to carry out the laws
of the Government respecting them.

Thirdly, that the greater portion of the taxes levied on your Maori
subjects be returned to them, to enable them to carry on their
Government, granted by you to your Maori subjects, in those parts
which are Maori territory.

Fourthly, that the European Judges in the Native Land Court be
superseded, and that your Maori race be then permitted to direct their
own affairs in that Court; that they may be empowered to appoint
their own Judges over their own lands, lest they be all lost by the
present doings of the Court; that they may be able to deal with these
lands in accordance with their own customs, apportioning to each tribe
their share, and, having made all ready for leasing or selling, to
submit all rulings to the Commissioner appointed by you, that he may
look into the whole affair and see that no injurious effects come upon
the Maori, and then he is to submit all to your Governor for
confirmation.

Fifthly, that the lands wrongly obtained by the Government be returned
to us. That all may be in accordance with the concessions made in the
Waitangi Treaty and all other contracts made with your Maori subjects.
That the Queen and her Government also appoint some person from
England--a person independent of the Government of New Zealand--who
shall carefully investigate those wrongs, and if he finds them in
accordance with what we have now presented before you, that then he
should decide whether the lands of your wronged subjects be returned
or a compensation be made for part of it.

We, your Maori race, confidently rely on the Treaty of Waitangi, on
its provisions and force, and we will be led by those provisions in
these matters for which we have now swum the ocean of Kiwa, and we
pray in the presence of the Queen that she will confirm her words
given in that treaty, that it may not be trampled upon by the
Government of New Zealand in anything they may do to annul that treaty.

Let the Queen live! Here we conclude. May God preserve you!

  TAWHIAO,
  WIREMU TE WHEORO,
  PATARA TE TUHI,
  TOPIA TUROA,
  HORI ROPIHANA.

I hereby certify that the above is a true translation of the petition,
made by me this 15th day of July 1884.

FRED H. SPENCER, Clerk in Holy Orders.


_Sir W. F. D. Jervois to the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby_

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, WELLINGTON, _March 28, 1885_.

MY LORD--With reference to Your Lordship's Despatch, No. 46,
dated the 9th August last, concerning a memorial from Maori chiefs, I
have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a memorandum from my
Ministers. I also enclose copies of the Acts of the Colonial
Parliament referred to therein.

I regret that I have been unable to send Your Lordship an earlier
reply. The delay, however, has been caused by the fact that the Native
Minister desired to visit the Maori districts before my Government
furnished me with a memorandum on the subject. Full reports of the
several meetings held by him with the Natives will be forwarded by the
next mail.

I beg to refer Your Lordship to my Despatch, No. 9, dated the 1st
March 1884, in which I have stated my own views with regard to the
position of the Native race in this colony.--I have, etc.

WM. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS.

The Right Hon. the Earl of Derby.


MEMORANDUM FOR HIS EXCELLENCY

Ministers present their respectful compliments to the Governor, and
beg to inform His Excellency that they have considered the memorial
from Maori chiefs referred to in the despatch from Lord Derby, No. 46,
of 9th August 1884.

Ministers are of opinion that they would least embarrass Her Majesty's
Government by referring only to the period since 1865, when Her
Majesty's troops were removed, when for the first time the colony was
left to manage the Natives without interference by the representatives
of Her Majesty in the colony. It is quite certain that since that
period there has been no infraction of the Treaty of Waitangi. As it
is clear that if there was an infraction previously Her Majesty's
Government and Imperial funds would be liable for the same, Ministers
deem it more respectful not to express an opinion on the subject, but
to leave Her Majesty's Advisers in Great Britain to arrive at their
own conclusions.

As to the provisions of section 71 of the Constitution Act (15 and 16
Vict. cap. 72), Ministers would remark that it appears from the very
terms of the section that the Imperial Parliament contemplated that
that section should only be used for a short time and under the then
special circumstances of the colony. The words used in the section
are, "It may be expedient," "Should for the present be maintained." So
far as allowing the laws, customs, and usages of the Natives in all
their relations to and dealings with each other to be maintained,
Ministers would point out that this has been the policy of all the
Native Land Acts. The Courts that have to deal with Native land--and
it is the land that to the Natives seems the most important--decide
according to Native customs or usages (_vide_ "Native Land Courts Act,
1880," section 24; see also sections 5 and 6 of "The Native Lands
Frauds Prevention Act, 1881," and section 6 of "The Native Land Laws
Amendment Act, 1883").

Regarding the proclamation of Native districts the County of Waipa is
practically a Native district, and if the Natives desired such a form
of local government as the Counties Act affords, there would be no
difficulty in granting their request by the Colonial Parliament. What,
however, the petitioners desire is really the setting-up of a
Parliament in certain parts of the North Island which would not be
under the control of the General Assembly of New Zealand. Seeing that
in the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives the
Natives are represented by able chiefs, and that they have practically
no local affairs to look after that cannot be done by their
Committees--local bodies recognised by the Government--Ministers do
not deem it necessary to point out the unreasonableness and absurdity
of such a request.

Ministers have not deemed it necessary to go seriatim through the
allegations of the petition and show their unsubstantiality. A former
Premier, Sir Frederick Whitaker, specially dealt with a petition very
similar to the one now under consideration (see memorandum, 12th
December 1882, addressed to His Excellency the Governor, in Appendix
to the Journals of the House of Representatives, A-6, page 5); and a
former Native Minister, Mr. Bryce, wrote a memorandum referring to the
alleged ill-treatment of the Maoris (see memorandum for His
Excellency, 11th January 1884, A-1, page 11, in Appendix, vol. i.,
1884). The despatch of Your Excellency, No. 9, of the 1st March 1884,
forwarding the memorandum of Mr. Bryce, also combated the statements
of the Maori chiefs who had petitioned.

Ministers do not consider that there is any allegation in this
petition that has not been before the Imperial Government, replied to
by the colony, and dealt with before.

ROBERT STOUT.

WELLINGTON, _March 12, 1885_.


_The Right Hon. the Earl of Derby to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

DOWNING STREET, _June 23, 1885_.

SIR--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch,
No. 39, of the 28th of March, transmitting a memorandum from your
Ministers in reference to the memorial of the Maori chiefs, which was
presented on the occasion of the interview which took place at this
office on the 23rd July 1884.

I request that you will inform Tawhiao and the other chiefs who signed
the memorial that, as stated in the letter to them of the 13th August
last, the attention of the Government of New Zealand was called to the
representations which it contains, and that the reply of your
Advisers--a copy of which I request you to transmit to them at the
same time--has been received and considered by Her Majesty's
Government.

The questions to which the memorial relates have also been discussed
in the House of Commons with many expressions of sympathy for the
Maori race, and of belief that their interests and their customs would
be guarded and respected by the Government of New Zealand. The
feeling, at the same time, appeared to be general that while the
Government of the Queen in this country has no longer its former power
and responsibility in regard to the internal affairs of New Zealand,
it should use its good offices with the Colonial Government with the
view of obtaining for the Natives all the consideration which can be
given to them.

I trust that all who sympathise with and wish well to the Maoris will
agree that it is most important for them to understand clearly that
under the present Constitution of New Zealand the government of all
Her Majesty's subjects in the islands is controlled by Ministers
responsible to the General Assembly, in which the Natives are
efficiently represented by persons of their own race, and that it is
no longer possible to advise the Queen to interfere actively in the
administration of Native affairs any more than in connection with
other questions of internal government. I observe, however, with
satisfaction that it is in contemplation to increase the number of the
Native representatives.

Although, therefore, Her Majesty's Government cannot undertake to give
you specific instructions as to the applicability at the present time
of any particular stipulations of a treaty which it no longer rests
with them to carry into effect, they are confident--as I request that
you will intimate to your Ministers--that the Government of New
Zealand will not fail to protect and to promote the welfare of the
Natives by a just administration of the law, and by a generous
consideration of all their reasonable representations. I cannot doubt
that means will be found of maintaining to a sufficient extent the
rights and institutions of the Maoris without injury to those other
great interests which have grown up in the land, and of securing to
them a fair share of that prosperity which has of necessity affected
in many ways the conditions of their existence.--I have, etc.,

DERBY.

Governor Sir W. F. D. Jervois, G.C.M.G., C.B., etc.


_Sir W. F. D. Jervois to Tawhiao_

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, WELLINGTON, _August 27, 1885_.

To Tawhiao.

The Petition which was signed by you, Major Te Wheoro, Patara te Tuhi,
Topia Turoa, and Hori Ropihana, and presented to the Secretary of
State when you were in England was forwarded by him to me, accompanied
by a letter asking for any statements which the Government of New
Zealand might desire to make respecting the matter. I wrote back to
the Secretary of State, and enclosed a memorandum from the Government
of New Zealand. The Secretary of State has again written to me, and
requested me to send to you copies of these letters. I therefore
enclose translations.

You will see from the last letter of the Secretary of State that he
says that the Government of all Her Majesty's subjects in New Zealand,
Maori as well as European, is controlled by Ministers responsible to
the Parliament at Wellington, in which there are Maori representatives,
and that the Government in London cannot interfere in the internal
affairs of the colony.--From your Friend,

WM. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS.


_The Right Hon. the Earl of Derby to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

DOWNING STREET, _September 11, 1884_.

SIR--I have the honour to submit to you a copy of a letter
addressed to me by Tawhiao, the Maori King, on his departure for New
Zealand after his recent visit to this country.

You will be so good as to inform Tawhiao that I duly received and that
I appreciate his friendly farewell salutations.--I have, etc.,

DERBY.

Governor Sir W. F. D. Jervois, G.C.M.G., C.B., etc.


_Tawhiao to the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby_

STEAMER "POTOSI," _August 20, 1884_.

FRIEND--Salutations! Abide there with your friends, your
fellow-nobles, your race, your land: I am returning to my people under
the blessing of God.--From

TAWHIAO.

Lord Derby.


_The Right Hon. the Earl of Derby to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

DOWNING STREET, _February 3, 1885_.

SIR--I have the honour to inform you that I have received
from the chief Hori Ropiha a letter dated the 3rd December, expressing
the satisfaction of his tribe--the Ngatikahungunu--at the principles
laid down on the occasion of the interview between the chiefs and
myself at this office, more especially in regard to uniformity of
legislation.

I request that you will cause Hori Ropiha to be informed that his
statements have given pleasure, and that I do not doubt that any
well-founded complaints on the part of the Maoris will be dealt with
fairly by the Government to which Her Majesty has given over the whole
question.--I have, etc.,

DERBY.

Governor Sir W. F. D. Jervois, G.C.M.G., C.B., etc.


_The Under-Secretary, Native Department, to Hori Ropiha_

WELLINGTON, _April 27, 1885_.

To Hori Ropiha.

GREETING!--Lord Derby has written a despatch to the Governor
of New Zealand acknowledging the receipt of your letter expressing the
satisfaction of Ngatikahungunu at the principles laid down by you and
Lord Derby in England. Lord Derby also says in his despatch that your
statements have given pleasure, and he feels that the Government of
New Zealand will deal fairly with the most important matters affecting
the Maoris which Her Majesty has given to this Government to
administer. Sufficient.--From

T. W. LEWIS.


_Hori Ropiha to the Under-Secretary, Native Department_

WAIPAWA, _July 8, 1885_.

FRIEND--Greeting! Greeting to you, and all the honourable
members of the Parliament of the colony!

You have written to inform me of the receipt by the Government of New
Zealand of a despatch from Lord Derby, in which he acknowledges the
receipt of the letter expressing the satisfaction of the Ngatikahungunu
at the principles laid down by us and Lord Derby in England.

Friend, I did send such a letter to Lord Derby, and the information
contained in Lord Derby's despatch to you is correct--namely, that he
does not doubt that any well-founded complaints on the part of the
Maoris will be dealt with fairly by the Government of New Zealand, to
which Her Majesty has given over the whole question.

Friend, I am greatly pleased at the receipt of your letter. I was
absent at Mohaka, the Wairoa, and the Mahia, where I went to make
known the principles laid down by us and Lord Derby, in order that my
Maori tribes might hear my report of my visit to England. On my return
from England I addressed the Maoris, and the people of my district
were greatly pleased with what I told them. It is true that they have
joined the Blue Ribbon Army,[199] and keep it faithfully.

Friend, continue to carry out a policy that will benefit the
Maoris in accordance with what Lord Derby said--namely, that any
well-founded complaints on the part of the Maoris will be dealt with
fairly by the Government of New Zealand--and justify Her Majesty's
action in giving over the whole question to be dealt fairly with by
the Government.

I know what course of policy would be beneficial to the Maori people
and establish friendly relations. Sufficient.--From your loving Friend,

HORI ROPIHA.

To Mr. Lewis.


_Tawhiao to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

(Translation)

WHATIWHATIHOE, _September 21, 1885_.

FRIEND--Greeting. I have received your letter of the 27th of August,
with the copies of communications from yourself, your Ministers, and
Her Majesty's Government relative to the subject-matter of the
petition from the Maori people that I and my fellow Native chiefs took
to lay before Her Majesty's Government and the people of England. In
your letter you inform us of one only of the words of Her Majesty's
Government--namely, that the government of all Her Majesty's subjects
in New Zealand is controlled by Ministers responsible to the
Parliament. Your so informing us is well. But you did not also inform
us of another important word of the Government of England with
reference to the Maori people--namely, that you should intimate to
your Government that they should protect and promote the welfare of
the Natives by a generous consideration of all their reasonable
representations. Well, we see that these directions from the
Government of England are no mere random words, but have a bearing
upon the petition, which petition your Ministers said had no
significance, and that England would not interfere. Your
communications and those of the Government of England have been
circulated among the Maori people of this Island.

However, with reference to the statement made by your Ministers that
they do not consider that there is any allegation in this petition
that they have not answered before, I and my fellow Native chiefs
would say, Where are the replies taking exception to those petitions?
And why are they not quoted in connection with this petition for the
consideration of the Native people? And who is it that can say that
the complaints raised in those petitions are similar to those made in
this?

And, further, with reference to the statement that since 1865 England
ceased to interfere in the management of affairs in New Zealand, and
left them to be managed by the Government of New Zealand, it may be
so. But the Maori people are not aware of the reasons that led their
_Pakeha_ friends to apply to have the sole management of affairs
in New Zealand; and the assent thereto of the Queen's Government was
given without considering the Maori people, or making any inquiries of
them. Because the right of governing and the occupation of the Island
by Europeans dates from the Treaty of Waitangi; and it was left to the
chiefs, the _hapus_ of the Native people, and Her Majesty to
carry out the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi, which became a
covenant on the descendants.

And, further, with reference to the statement made by your Ministers
that "there has been no infraction of the Treaty of Waitangi," we
would ask what portion of the Treaty of Waitangi, what _hapus_,
or what chiefs placed the authority over the Native lands under the
Native Land Court, or gave the Europeans the sole power to deal with
Maori lands in that Court, as stated in the paragraph respecting the
Native Land Court in that petition.

And, further, with reference to the statement respecting the presence
of Native members in the Legislature, the status of those members was
pointed out in the petition: Taking the basis of population, one
Native member is returned for more than twenty thousand persons,
whereas one European member is returned for every five thousand. When,
indeed, have the applications of those members for increased
representation been acceded to by that Parliament? When, indeed, have
the applications of those members to have the grievances of the Native
people redressed been acceded to by that Parliament? When, indeed,
have the applications of those members asking that the Natives should
have the power of administering their own lands been acceded to by
that Parliament? Well, it is seen that the reason why the Government
admitted Natives there (into Parliament) as members was merely in
order that it could be said that Natives dealt with the wrongs now
practised on the Maori people, and in order, too, that such wrongs
should not be looked into, and finally to abolish those members.

And, further, with reference to the statement made by the Minister
that Kawhia is a Native district: Well, if the Government really
considered it to be such, why, then, did they assume to themselves the
right to do certain acts in that district, such as establishing a
military post on Native lands, which was a menace to the Maori people?

When, indeed, have the Government paid any heed to the application of
Tawhiao and the people of that district desiring that Tawhiao should
have the management of matters in that district?

Do you forward a copy of this letter to Her Majesty's Government.
Sufficient.

KING TAWHIAO.

His Excellency the Governor.


_Sir W. F. D. Jervois to the Right Hon. Colonel Stanley_

CHRISTCHURCH, _December 16, 1885_.

SIR--I have the honour to state that I duly forwarded to
Tawhiao, a copy of your Despatch No. 39, of the 23rd June last,
concerning the Maori chiefs' memorial, presented by them to Her
Majesty's Government whilst in England.

I have received from him in reply a letter, a translation of which, in
accordance with the request contained in the last paragraph, I
transmit herewith. I have, on the advice of my Ministers, informed him
that there is nothing to add to the communications that have already
been made.

It is the desire and practice of the Government of this colony to
treat the Native population with the most perfect justice, and, as far
as possible, in the same manner as the other subjects of Her Majesty
in New Zealand. I submit that no good end can be served by prolonging
this correspondence.--I have, etc.,

WM. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS.

The Right Hon. Colonel Stanley, M.P.


_Sir W. F. D. Jervois to Tawhiao_

CHRISTCHURCH, _December 16, 1885_.

SIR--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 21st September last with reference to your petition to
Her Majesty. I do not think there is anything to add to the
communications that have already been made. I have, as you requested,
forwarded a copy of your letter to Her Majesty's Government.--I have,
etc.,

WM. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS.

To Tawhiao, etc.


_Tawhiao to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

WHATIWHATIHOE, _December 22, 1885_.

To the Governor of New Zealand.

GREETING!--I am not quite certain about the copies of the
letters from your Government and Her Majesty's Government that you
forwarded to me on the 27th day of August 1885, in Maori only. I am
very desirous that you should send me copies of the same in English,
which would be right. Sufficient.--From your friend,

KING TAWHIAO.

The Governor, Wellington.


_The Under-Secretary, Native Department, to Tawhiao_

WELLINGTON, _January 29, 1886_.

FRIEND TAWHIAO--Greeting. His Excellency the Governor has forwarded to
Mr. Ballance the letter you wrote to him on the 22nd December, in
which you asked that copies in English of the despatches from Lord
Derby, the Governor, and the Government of the colony might be
supplied to you, and by direction of Mr. Ballance, I forward copies of
those despatches by the mail.--From your friend,

T. W. LEWIS.

Tawhiao, Whatiwhatihoe, _via_ Alexandra, Waikato.


_The Right Hon. Colonel Stanley to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

DOWNING STREET, _February 2, 1886_.

SIR--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
Despatch No. 127, of the 16th December, forwarding a translation of a
letter which you had received from Tawhiao in reply to one founded on
my predecessor's Despatch No. 39, of the 23rd June, in connection with
the memorial of the Maori chiefs. I request that your Government will
cause Tawhiao to be informed that I have read his letter in accordance
with his desire.--I have, etc.,

FRED STANLEY.

Governor Sir W. F. D. Jervois, G.C.M.G., G.C.B., etc.


_The Hon. the Native Minister to Tawhiao_

(Translation)

WELLINGTON, _May 6, 1886_.

FRIEND TAWHIAO--I have been requested by His Excellency the
Governor to transmit for your information copy of a despatch he has
received from the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies
in reference to a letter from yourself. Enough.--From your loving
friend,

JOHN BALLANCE.

Enclosure.--Despatch No. 7, of the 2nd February 1886.


COPY OF RESOLUTIONS

The Resolutions herein written were confirmed by the chiefs and
_hapus_ assembled at Whatiwhatihoe on this 4th day of April, in
the year 1886.

1. That the Treaty of Waitangi shall continue in force, by which the
authority (_mana_) of the chiefs of the Maori people was assured
to them, and which also confirms and guarantees Maori people the
full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession and control of their
lands, and declares that the Maori people shall be maintained in their
rights.

2. That the powers conferred by the Act of the year 1852 should be
maintained--viz. that a council or councils should be set up, and
invested with power and full authority, and that it shall be lawful
for Her Majesty to authorise such councils.

3. That the Maori people of Ao-tea-roa (New Zealand) shall act
together under the law above mentioned.

4. That the Maori committees, authorised by the laws above referred
to, shall be zealous in the performance of their duties.

5. That no wrong proceedings or operations of the Government towards
the Maori people shall be sanctioned.

6. That the Native Land Courts Act should be repealed, and that it be
left to the Maoris themselves to adjudicate on their own lands.

7. That this _runanga_ (council) shall persist in its efforts to
have the directions given by the Government of the Queen to the
Government of New Zealand carried out--viz. that the rights and
interests of the Maori people shall be guarded and respected. (This
resolution was unanimously carried by the _runanga_: "Although
the Government of England has nothing to do with the affairs of New
Zealand, still the Government of the Queen will instruct the
Government of New Zealand to devise some measures whereby justice may
be done to the Maori people and their interests promoted, and that the
Governor should be questioned concerning these instructions from
England.")

8. That the chiefs attending this meeting be deputed to put the
question to the Governor.

9. That each tribe should subscribe money for the purchase of a press
to print for circulation reports of what are done and said by the
Maori people.

10. That power be given to each committee to deal with lands in its
own district.

These are the Resolutions that were carried.

King Tawhiao's reply in reference to the Resolutions was: "I thank you
for an assent to the resolutions. I thank you, every one of you, for
your discussions upon those resolutions which have been formed by you
in accordance with your own wishes. I have carefully watched your
discussions. There was but one tendency of all your discussions, which
corresponds exactly with the object I had in view in inviting you to
this meeting. Be zealous in lifting up and in sustaining (measures
for the benefit) of both these islands. Hearken ye! The views held by
the English people in England are precisely the same as those held by
the Maori people in New Zealand."


_The Hon. the Native Minister to Tawhiao_

(Translation)

AUCKLAND, _April 17, 1886_.

FRIEND--I have the honour to enclose you the reply of the
Governor to the resolutions presented by the deputation (sent by you)
to His Excellency on the 9th instant. There is one point in the
resolutions on which I desire to offer an explanation. In the
translation of Lord Derby's despatch made in the Native Department in
Wellington some of the terms are incorrectly rendered. A correct
translation has been made and handed to Major Te Wheoro. The despatch
itself is in your possession, and there can be no doubt of its
meaning, which is fully explained in the memorandum of His
Excellency.--From your friend,

J. BALLANCE.

To Tawhiao.


_Memorandum from Sir W. F. D. Jervois to the Hon. the Minister for
Native Affairs_

The enclosed replies to certain questions submitted to me in a
memorandum from several Maori chiefs who waited upon me on the 9th
instant with a view of laying before me resolutions passed at a Native
meeting previously held at Whatiwhatihoe are transmitted to the
Minister for Native Affairs for communication to the chiefs concerned.

In forwarding the paper to the chiefs, I request that you will inform
them that I was greatly pleased at the loyal sentiments expressed by
them at their interview with me towards Her Most Gracious Majesty the
Queen, as well as the confidence they exhibited towards myself as her
representative. I also beg that you will convey to Tawhiao, and all
the chiefs concerned, how much I rejoice at the cordial feeling they
exhibit towards the Government of New Zealand.

W. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, AUCKLAND, _April 14, 1886_.


MEMORANDUM RELATING TO RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT A NATIVE MEETING HELD
AT WHATIWHATIHOE ON THE 4TH APRIL 1886.

Referring to the Resolutions in the order submitted in a paper laid
before His Excellency the Governor by a deputation of Maori chiefs on
the 9th April: 1. The Treaty of Waitangi vested the _mana_ in Her
Majesty the Queen, and secures to the Natives their land. That treaty,
in its essential elements, has been faithfully kept by the colony. A
modification was made in it by which the Natives obtained the right of
selling their lands to persons outside the Government, whereas under
the treaty the Government had the sole right of purchasing Native
lands. This modification, the only one made in the treaty, was,
however, introduced at the request of the Maoris themselves. The
rights of the Maori people have been carefully preserved.

2. This appears to refer to section 71 of the Constitution Act, where
reference is made to Native councils. It must be observed, however,
that the section is not mandatory, as will be seen from the clause
itself, and from such terms as, "it may be expedient," and "should for
the present be maintained." Local self-government has been extended to
the Native people in the form of Committees under the Act of 1883.
These Committees have power to ascertain titles to Native lands, and
to hear and decide civil cases by agreement, and, in fact, may be said
to be Courts of Arbitration. Their usefulness is being proved, and a
large majority of the Native people appreciate them and are using
them. It has been found by experience, however, with regard to titles
to land, that there is often great jealousy of the committees, and
that the Natives prefer to have the land adjudicated on by the Land
Courts. (This remark applies also to Resolution 6.) If any other form
of Maori council than that which now exists is desired under the
clause of the Constitution Act referred to, it can only be obtained by
Act of Parliament of New Zealand.

No observations are necessary to Resolutions 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9.

7. This Resolution apparently refers to Lord Derby's despatch of the
23rd June 1885, but does not convey a correct impression of the terms
of that document. No directions are contained in the despatch. Lord
Derby expressly says that "under the present Constitution of New
Zealand the government of all Her Majesty's subjects in the islands is
controlled by Ministers responsible to the General Assembly, in which
the Natives are efficiently represented by persons of their own race,
and that it is no longer possible to advise the Queen to interfere
actively in the administration of Native affairs, any more than in
connection with other questions of internal government." The
resolution states that there is an "instruction" contained in the
despatch; but there is none. On the contrary, Lord Derby expressly
recognises the right of the New Zealand Government to deal with the
internal affairs of the colony without interference. The words of Lord
Derby, where he refers to the Native people, are as follows: "It (the
Imperial Government) should use its good offices with the Colonial
Government with the view of obtaining for the Natives all the
consideration which can be given to them." The particular request that
Lord Derby makes, and it is only in the nature of a request, is "that
the Government of New Zealand will not fail to protect and to promote
the welfare of the Natives by a just administration of the law, and by
a generous consideration of all their reasonable representations." He
adds, "I cannot doubt that means will be found of maintaining to a
sufficient extent the rights and institutions of the Maoris without
injury to those other great interests which have grown up in the land,
and of securing to them a fair share of that prosperity which has of
necessity affected in many ways the conditions of their existence."
The policy advocated by Lord Derby has been and is being carried out.
A proof of this is to be found in the fact that an overwhelming
majority of the Natives are satisfied with the administration of their
affairs by the Government of New Zealand.

JOHN JERVOIS, Private Secretary.

Signed by order of His Excellency the Governor. Government House,
Auckland, 14th April 1886.


In the Court of Appeal of New Zealand.

TAMIHANA KOROKAI AND OTHERS _v._ THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL

  1912.
  July 23, 24, 25.
  Oct. 7.

  C.A.

  Coram.
  Stout, C.-J.
  Williams, J.
  Edwards, J.
  Cooper, J.
  Chapman, J.

  Skerrett, K.C., Morison and Fell for the plaintiffs.
  Solicitor-General (Salmond) and Ostler for the defendant.

STOUT, C.-J.--This is a special case stated pursuant to Rule 245 of
our Code of Civil Procedure. Neither party, however, asks that all the
questions framed in the case should be answered. Indeed both ask that
some of the questions should not be answered. The point in dispute
between the parties is a narrow one. The plaintiff contends that he
has a statutory right to go to the Native Land Court claiming under
the Native Land Act a freehold title. The Solicitor-General contends
that if he, as Solicitor-General, says the land, that is the bed of
Lake Rotorua, is Crown land that concludes the matter, and the Native
Land Court cannot proceed to make any inquiries as to whether the land
is native customary land. That is the matter in contention, and it
appears to me that it is the only question that this Court has at
present to decide.

It may be necessary to refer very shortly as to how the question has
arisen. In 1835 there were many English people settled in the most
northerly part of New Zealand. English Church Missionaries had been
there for some years, they landed first in 1814; and there were
traders and whalers and others that had made New Zealand their home.
One called Charles Baron de Thierry, in Marquesas, claimed that he was
sovereign chief of New Zealand. He so informed Mr. James Busby, who
had been appointed British Resident in New Zealand, and Mr. Busby
thereupon took steps to deny any such sovereignty. He and other
English residents saw the Native chiefs and they formed what was
called a Confederation. The thirty-five head chiefs or heads of tribes
in the most northern parts of New Zealand, that is all the country
lying north of the Firth of Thames, joined in a declaration that
New Zealand was an independent state under the name of the "United
Tribes of New Zealand." Mr. Busby sent a copy of this declaration to
the Under-Secretary of State in London, and Lord Glenelg, the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote to the Governor of New
South Wales regarding the declaration. The Governor was directed to
inform the chiefs "With reference to the desire which the chiefs have
expressed on this occasion to maintain a good understanding with His
Majesty's subjects, it will be proper that they should be assured in
His Majesty's name that he will not fail to avail himself of every
opportunity of showing his goodwill and of affording to those chiefs
such support and protection as may be consistent with a due regard to
the just rights of others, and to the interests of His Majesty's
subjects."

Meantime the eligibility of New Zealand as a colony was being
discussed both in New South Wales and in England, and ultimately in
1840 Captain Hobson, R.N., was despatched to New Zealand with two
commissions, one as British Consul, and the other as Lieutenant-Governor.
He reached the Bay of Islands on the 29th of January 1840, and on the
5th and 6th of February the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by many
chiefs, then assembled at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. The treaty
states, _inter alia_: "Her Majesty, therefore, being desirous to
establish a settled form of civil government with a view to avert the
evil consequences which must result from the absence of the necessary
laws and institutions alike to the native population and to her
subjects, has been graciously pleased to empower and authorise me,
William Hobson, a Captain in Her Majesty's Royal Navy, Consul and
Lieutenant-Governor of such parts of New Zealand as may be or
hereafter shall be ceded to Her Majesty to invite the confederated and
independent chiefs of New Zealand to concur in the following articles
and conditions."

Then follow three articles. The first article deals with the cession.
It is as follows: "The chiefs of the Confederation of the United
Tribes of New Zealand, and the separate and independent chiefs who
have not become members of the confederation, cede to Her Majesty the
Queen of England, absolutely and without reservation, all the rights
and powers of sovereignty which the said confederation or individual
chiefs respectively exercise or possess or may be supposed to exercise
or possess over their respective territories as the sole sovereigns
thereof."

The second and the third articles are as follows: "Her Majesty the
Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the chiefs and tribes of
New Zealand and to the respective families and individuals thereof,
the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and
estates, forests, and fisheries, and other properties which they may
collectively or individually possess, so long as it is their wish and
desire to retain the same in their possession: but the chiefs of the
united tribes and the individual chiefs yield to Her Majesty the
exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as the proprietors
thereof may be disposed to alienate, at such prices as may be agreed
upon between the respective proprietors and persons appointed by Her
Majesty to treat with them in that behalf." The third is as follows:
"(3) In consideration thereof, Her Majesty the Queen of England
extends to the natives of New Zealand her royal protection, and
imparts to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects."

Copies of the treaty were taken to various parts of both islands, and
the chiefs throughout New Zealand signed it, and to the present day
the treaty is regarded as their Magna Charta. The Lieutenant-Governor
on the 21st May 1840 issued a proclamation, proclaiming and declaring
that after the date of the treaty the full sovereignty of the North
Island of New Zealand vested in Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, her heirs
and successors for ever.

A further proclamation was issued on the same day proclaiming and
declaring that all the Islands of New Zealand vested in Her Majesty,
that is, including all country between 34° 30´ north to 47° 10´ south
latitude and between 166° 5´ to 179° east longitude. A mistake was
made in this proclamation in that it proclaimed from 34° 30´ north
instead of as was intended 34° 30´ south. The ground of the
proclamation over the South Island was that of discovery. Since then
it has been recognised that the lands in the islands not sold by the
natives belonged to the natives. All the old authorities are agreed
that for every part of land there was a native owner. Two authorities
may be cited. Bishop Selwyn said as follows: "Three points then seem
to be clear on this subject: (1) That there was originally a distinct
owner for every habitable spot in the Northern Island: (2) That these
claims have been complicated by the obvious causes of inheritance and
marriage without forms of conveyance or bequest: (3) That the rights
of ownership whether in one or many joint proprietors were not
alienable without the consent of the tribe."

The late Sir William Martin, formerly Chief-Justice of New Zealand,
said: "So far as yet appears the whole surface of the islands, or as
much of it as is of any value to man, has been appropriated by the
natives, and, with the exception of the part they have sold, is held
by them as property. Nowhere was any piece of land discovered or heard
of (by the commissioners) which was not owned by some person or set of
persons.... There might be several conflicting claimants of the same
land: but however the natives might be divided amongst themselves as
to the validity of any one of the several claims, still no man doubted
that there was in every case a right of property subsisting in some
one of the claimants. In this Northern Island at least it may now be
regarded as absolutely certain that, with the exception of lands
already purchased from the Natives, there is not an acre of land
available for purposes of colonisation, but has an owner amongst the
Natives according to their own customs."

The Governor and the Legislature of New Zealand accepted this
position, and numerous ordinances and acts of Parliament have been
passed to enable the Maoris to transmute their customary title into
freehold. The position all along assumed has been that the lands are
vested in the Crown, and until the Crown issues a freehold title the
customary titles cannot be recognised; but that the Crown will give to
all who prove that the land was theirs a freehold title. The Crown has
not assumed that land could be taken or kept by the Crown from the
Natives, unless the natives ceded their rights to the Crown. Thousands
of purchases in both islands have been made by the Crown, and
thousands of deeds of cession are in existence. The reason why the
Crown did not recognise any title in the land till a grant from the
Crown had issued is dealt with in the classic judgment of the late Mr.
Justice H. S. Chapman, delivered in 1847 in the case of Reg. _v._
Symonds, and in the judgment of the then Chief-Justice Sir William
Martin, who agreed with the judgment of Mr. Justice Chapman. After
their judgments, the Imperial Parliament in the New Zealand
Constitution Act (15 and 16 Vict. c. 72, sec. 73) recognised the
native title. Section 73 of that Act is as follows: "It shall not be
lawful for any person other than Her Majesty, her heirs and
successors, to purchase or in any wise acquire or accept from the
aboriginal Natives land of or belonging to, or used or occupied by
them in common as tribes or communities, or to accept any release or
extinguishment of the rights of such aboriginal Natives in any such
land as aforesaid: and no conveyance or transfer, or agreement for the
conveyance or transfer of any such land, either in perpetuity or for
any term or period, either absolutely or conditionally, and either in
property or by way of lease or occupancy, and no such release or
extinguishment as aforesaid, shall be of any validity or effect,
unless the same be made to, or entered into with and accepted by Her
Majesty, her heirs or successors. Provided always that it shall be
lawful for Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, by instructions
under the signet and royal sign manual, or signified through one of
Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State to delegate her
powers of accepting such conveyances or agreements, releases, or
relinquishments, to the Governor of New Zealand, or the superintendent
of any province within the limits of such colony, and to prescribe or
regulate the terms of such conveyances or agreements, releases or
extinguishments shall be accepted."

That the Crown in New Zealand recognised that it could not treat the
Native land--that is, the land over which the Natives had not given up
their rights of cession--as Crown in the fullest sense is plain from
various things done: (1) In 1862 the first Act to provide for the
ascertainment of the ownership of Native lands, and for granting
certificates of title therein, and for regulating the disposal of
Native lands was passed. The preamble is as follows: "Whereas by the
Treaty of Waitangi entered into by and between Her Majesty and the
chiefs of New Zealand, it was among other things declared that Her
Majesty confirmed and guaranteed to the chiefs and tribes of New
Zealand and the respective families and individuals thereof the full,
exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates,
which they collectively or individually held so long as it should be
their desire to retain the same: And it was further declared that the
chiefs yielded to Her Majesty the exclusive right of pre-emption over
such lands as the proprietors thereof might be disposed to alienate:
And whereas it would greatly promote the peaceful settlement of the
colony and the advancement and the civilisation of the Natives if
their rights to land were ascertained, defined, and declared, and if
the ownership of such lands when so ascertained, defined, and declared
were assimilated as nearly as possible to the ownership of land
according to British law: And whereas with a view to the foregoing
objects, Her Majesty may be pleased to waive in favour of the Natives
so much of the said Treaty of Waitangi as reserves to Her Majesty the
right of pre-emption of their lands, and to establish Courts and to
make other provision for ascertaining and defining the rights of the
Natives to their lands, and for otherwise giving effect to the
provisions of the Act: And it is expedient that the General Assembly
of New Zealand should facilitate the said objects by enacting such
provisions as are hereinafter contained."

(2) When the natives committed rebellion or were guilty of
insurrection, a special Act was passed allowing the Governor in
Council to take their lands. See _inter alia_ the New Zealand
Settlements Act, 1863. A few of the sections may be cited: "2.
Whenever the Governor in Council shall be satisfied that any Native
tribe or section of a tribe or any considerable number thereof has
since the first day of January 1863 been engaged in rebellion against
Her Majesty's authority, it shall be lawful for the Governor in
Council to declare that the district within which any land being the
property or being in the possession of such tribe or section or
considerable number thereof shall be situate, shall be a district
within the provisions of this Act, and the boundaries of such district
in like manner to define and vary as he shall think fit."

"3. It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council from time to time
to set apart within any such district eligible sites for settlements
for colonisation, and the boundaries of such settlements to define and
vary."

"4. For the purposes of such settlements the Governor in Council may
from time to time reserve or take any land within such district, and
such land shall be deemed to be Crown land, freed and discharged from
all title interest, or claim of any person whomsoever as soon as the
Governor in Council shall have declared that such land is required for
the purposes of this Act, and is subject to the provisions thereof."

Section 5 provided for compensation to persons whose land has been
taken, provided that they had not been in rebellion.

(3) Before Native land was treated as Crown land, open for sale and
settlement, proclamations were generally made so declaring the land
open. See, for example, section 6 of the Immigration and Public Works
Act, 1873, and section 247 of the Land Act, 1885.

It is not necessary to point out that if the Crown in New Zealand had
not conserved the Native rights and carried out the treaty a gross
wrong would have been perpetrated. Since the recognition of the Native
rights so often made, there may have been interference by legislation
with Native land, both before and after the ascertainment of title.
If, however, there were such interferences, they have been based on
the theory of eminent domain. There have been statutes passed
providing how Native lands may be leased, but a similar kind of
interference has been witnessed in the United Kingdom in the case of
the Irish Land Acts and the Scottish Crofters' Statutes. Such
interferences did not destroy the title of Natives. Native lands and
freehold lands belonging to persons of the white race have also been
taken under such a theory when it appeared it was for the interest of
the State to do so. In such cases compensation has been awarded. To
interfere with Native lands, merely because they are Native lands, and
without compensation, would of course be such an act of spoliation and
tyranny that this Court ought not to assume it to be possible in any
civilised community.

The decision of _Wi Parata v. Bishop of Wellington_, 3 J.R.,
N.S., S.C. 72, does not derogate from that position. It only
emphasised the decision in _Reg. v. Symonds_, that the Supreme
Court could take no cognisance of treaty rights not embodied in a
statute, and that Native Customary Title was a kind of tenure that the
Court could not deal with. In the case of _Tamaki v. Baker_
(1901), A.C. 561, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
recognised, however, that the Natives had rights under our statute law
to their customary lands.

The Native Land Act, 1909, has various sections dealing with the
customary land of the Maoris (sections 84, 85, 86, and 87). What was
the need of such sections if a declaration by a law officer of the
Crown was all that was necessary to say that the land claimed as
Customary Native Land was Crown Land? Section 88 is significant in
this connection. It states "(1) for the purpose of recovering
possession of customary land from any person in wrongful occupation
thereof, and for the purpose of preventing any trespass or other
injury thereto, or of recovering damages for any such trespass or
injury, all such land shall be deemed to be Crown Lands within the
meaning of the Land Act, 1908. (2) No action or other proceeding,
other than a proceeding by or on behalf of the Crown under the last
preceding subsection, shall be brought in any Court by any person for
the recovery of the possession of customary land, or for damages or an
injunction in respect of any trespass, or injury to such land."
Sections 90 and 91 show that the customary titles are recognised:
section 90 reads: "The Native Land Court shall have exclusive
jurisdiction to investigate the title to customary land, and to
determine the relative interests of the owners thereof." Section 91 is
as follows: "Every title to and interest in customary land shall be
determined according to the ancient custom and usage of the Maori
people, so far as the same can be ascertained." Section 92 shows the
jurisdiction of the Native Land Court. Formerly there was something
more required than an order of a Native Land Court to make an
effective title. At one time His Excellency the Governor had to sign a
Crown grant and at another time a certificate of title.

I am of opinion that the Native Land Act recognises that the Natives
have a right to their customary titles. There are in my opinion only
three things that can prevent the Native Land Court entering on an
enquiry as to such customary title.

(1) A proclamation of the Governor under a statute, such as has been
provided in many Acts, and is so provided in section 85 of the Native
Land Act, 1909.

(2) A prohibition by the Governor under section 100 of the Native Land
Act, 1909.

(3) Proof that the land has been ceded by the true owners or that a
Crown grant has been issued.

I know of no statutory authority that the Attorney-General as
Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General as Solicitor-General has to
declare that the land is Crown land. The Attorney-General and the
Solicitor-General are both high officers of State. They are legal
officers, and they can appear as solicitors or counsel for the Crown,
but there their functions and powers end. Their statement as to what
is Crown property unless made in accordance with some statutory power,
is of no avail. If in an action they put in a plea to that effect, it
would have to be proved like any other pleading of a party to the
action. The Solicitor-General has failed to cite any authority that
the mere statement of the legal adviser of the Crown, or the Crown's
Attorney or Solicitor-General, was to be taken as a true averment
without proof.

What the customary title to the bed of Lake Rotorua may be must be
considered and determined by the only Court in New Zealand that has
jurisdiction to deal with Native titles--the Native Land Court. At
common law there may be an ownership of the bed of navigable rivers or
lakes that are non-tidal. See Kent's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. p.
427, note (_d_). The case of _Mueller v. Taupiri Coal Mines,
Ltd._, 20 N.Z.L.R. 89, turned on the effect of a grant under the
Land Acts.

I am of opinion that it is not necessary specifically to answer the
questions put, but only to say that the plaintiff and his people have
a right to go to the Native Land Court to have their title
investigated, and that the Native Land Court can only be prevented
from performing its statutory duty, first, under the Native Land Act,
secondly, on proof in that Court that the lands are Crown Lands freed
from the customary title of the Natives, or, thirdly that there is a
Crown title to the bed of the lake.

WILLIAMS, J.--The contention of the Solicitor-General is that in all
cases where land is claimed by natives to be held by them under their
customs and usages, and they seek to have their titles ascertained by
the Native Land Court, and a title in fee simple granted to them, the
Solicitor-General, by virtue of the prerogative right of the Crown,
and apart from any statutory authority, could at any time step in and
prevent proceedings being taken or continued. The arguments in support
of this contention are that when New Zealand was annexed to Great
Britain all the land in New Zealand became vested in the Crown, by
virtue of its prerogative; that the Treaty of Waitangi is binding only
upon the honour of the Crown, and can be disregarded at the discretion
of the Crown; and that, although there may be a statutory recognition
of the Native title, there is no such statutory recognition as would
operate as against the Crown. Even if these arguments were sound it by
no means follows that the contention of the Solicitor-General can be
supported.... There is nothing in the Governor's commission or in the
Royal instructions which expressly authorises him to interfere on
behalf of the Crown to prevent the exercise of rights given to natives
by the statute law of the Dominion. Has he then, by virtue of his
commission, an implied power so to interfere?... There is a special
reason why the power now claimed should not be implied. The power now
claimed is by an act of state to disregard rights given by statutes
which have been passed to carry out treaty obligations binding upon
the honour of the Crown. If the Crown has this power, it is exercised
on the advice of the responsible Minister of the Crown. Whether it
should be so exercised or not is a matter affecting the honour of the
Crown, not merely as the Sovereign of this Dominion, but as the
Sovereign of the British Empire. It was with the Sovereign of the
British Empire that the Treaty of Waitangi was entered into. Whether
Imperial obligations should or should not be observed is a matter of
Imperial concern for the responsible advisers of the Crown in Great
Britain to decide upon and not for the advisers of the Governor here,
unless the power of deciding has been expressly delegated to the
Governor. Even if the power had been so delegated the Court would
properly require some evidence beyond the mere statement of the
Attorney- or Solicitor-General that the authority of the Crown was
being exercised.... I agree with the conclusion arrived at by His
Honour, that rights given to natives by statute to have their
customary titles determined can only be divested in the manner
prescribed by statute. The rights given to natives by sections 90 to
93 inclusive of "The Native Land Act, 1909," to have a legal estate in
fee simple in possession vested in the persons found to be entitled
are rights expressly given against the Crown. If these sections do not
bind the Crown they are meaningless and inoperative. The Crown is a
party to the statute. It is difficult to see how, when rights which
expressly affect pre-existing rights of the Crown are created by
statute, the Crown upon the passing of the statute can disregard the
rights so created, and exercise its pre-existing rights as if the
statute had not been passed.

EDWARDS, J.--In support of his contention that the bed of the lake
cannot be the subject of a Native title under Maori customs and
usages, the Solicitor-General relies upon the inherent improbability
that there was any intention, either by the Treaty of Waitangi or by
the statutes relating to native lands, to recognise any such right. To
hold that there is such a right would be, the Solicitor-General
contends, to destroy the right of navigation in all non-tidal waters
to the great detriment of the public. Such considerations might well
have induced those responsible for the Treaty of Waitangi to have so
framed that document as to preclude any claim by natives to the
exclusive possession of land covered by navigable non-tidal waters. It
may even be suggested that the words of the treaty, which guarantee to
the Maoris "the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their
lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties," were
intended to reserve to the natives merely the right to fish in
non-tidal waters, without recognising in them any property in the land
covered by such waters. It is quite possible--indeed not
improbable--that there never was any Maori custom or usage which
recognised any greater right in land covered by navigable non-tidal
waters than this. That is a question which neither the Supreme Court
nor this Court can determine. If there never was any such custom or
usage prior to the Treaty of Waitangi, then the Crown will get the
advantage of that when that question has been determined by the Native
Land Court, or in the last resort by the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council. But if there was such a custom or usage, the treaty, so
far as it is effective, is sufficient to preserve it. The treaty, like
every other instrument, must be construed in accordance with the plain
legal significance of the words used, and the Courts cannot speculate
as to whether or not those words were used in another sense not
apparent upon the face of the instrument, or necessarily to be
inferred from the subject with reference to which they are used. A
lake, in contemplation of the English law, is merely land covered by
water, and will pass by the description of land. _Bristow v. Cormican_
(3 A.C. 641); _Johnston v. O'Neill_ (1911, A.C. 552). Whatever rights
were conserved to the Maoris by the Treaty of Waitangi were fully
recognised by "The Native Lands Act, 1862," which recited the treaty,
and was enacted with the declared object of giving effect to it.... In
my opinion it is clear that if the Crown desires to set up its title,
as a bar to the investigation by the Native Land Court in its ordinary
jurisdiction of claims by natives, it must either be prepared to prove
its title, or it must be able to rely upon a proclamation in
accordance with the terms of the 85th section of "The Native Land Act,
1909."

COOPER, J.--I have had the advantage of reading and considering the
judgment of His Honour, the Chief Justice, and, upon substantially the
same grounds as are expressed by His Honour in that judgment, I have
arrived at the same conclusion.

I have very little to add.

"The Land Act, 1908," contains the statutory provisions regulating the
administration of Crown lands in New Zealand. In respect of Native
lands, section 2 brings within the category of Crown lands only those
"Native lands which have been ceded to His Majesty by the Natives on
behalf of His Majesty, or otherwise acquired in freehold from the
Natives on behalf of His Majesty, or have become vested in His Majesty
by right of his prerogative."

Customary lands owned by natives, which have not been ceded to His
Majesty or acquired from the native owners on behalf of His Majesty,
cannot in my opinion be said to be land vested in His Majesty by right
of his prerogative. It is true that, technically, the legal estate is
in His Majesty, but this legal estate is held subject to the right of
the natives, recognised by the Crown to the possession and ownership
of the customary lands, which they have not ceded to the King, and
which His Majesty has not acquired from them.

Section 338 of the Act draws a clear distinction between Native lands
and Crown lands. Under subsection (1) of that section, where the
Governor is satisfied that Native lands have been acquired by the
Crown, he shall by proclamation declare such lands to be Crown lands,
and under subsection (2), when such lands have been so acquired, he
may give effect to any stipulation in the instrument of sale or
transfer to His Majesty for the reservation to the natives of any part
of such lands, and may reserve or grant such portions in manner
required by the natives.

Section 88 of "The Native Land Act, 1909," which has been referred to
by His Honour also, recognises that these lands are not "Crown lands."
They are only deemed to be Crown lands for the one purpose, namely,
that if any person is in possession of or trespassing upon, or
injuring the lands against the interest of the Native owners, then,
for the purpose of protecting the Native owners the Crown may under
the Land Act take proceedings against such wrongdoers. Even this
provision is a guarded one, for subsection (3) of that section
expressly provides that nothing in it contained shall take away or
affect any jurisdiction conferred upon the Native Land Court.

CHAPMAN, J.--I agree with the judgments which have been read. It has
been argued that the Treaty of Waitangi was an international treaty
entered into with chiefs having the sovereignty. The contrary opinion
was pronounced by the Supreme Court in _Wi Parata v. The Bishop of
Wellington_ (3 N.Z. Jur. N.S. 72). The terms employed and the mode
of execution of the treaty leave it at least an open question whether
it was so regarded at the time. It professes to be made with certain
federated chiefs and certain chiefs who are not federated, but it does
not state over what territories they exercised authority, though the
text of the treaty seems to suggest that it was contemplated that it
should be made with several chiefs who might possibly be regarded, and
were provisionally and hypothetically treated as sovereigns of their
respective territories. Later it became a matter of general knowledge,
derived, I presume, from maps prepared pursuant to section 21 of "The
Native Land Act, 1873," that there are eighteen or twenty tribes in
New Zealand. If that be so the numerous signatories of the Treaty of
Waitangi can hardly be described as sovereign chiefs. I agree that if
they had been explicitly so declared by Her Majesty's government, or
had been so treated in a course of political transactions that would
have been sufficient to make them so, and that their numbers and their
individual unimportance would not have rendered this impossible,
provided that in each case there was a sovereign to a territory.
_Hemchand Devchand v. Azam Sakaral Chhotamlal_ (1906, A.C. 212).
The whole current of authorities shows, however, that the question of
the origin of the sovereignty is immaterial in connection with the
rights of private persons professing to claim under the provisions of
the treaty of cession. _Cook v. Sprigg_ (1899, A.C. 572). Such a
treaty only becomes enforceable as part of the municipal law if and
when it is made so by legislative authority. That has not been done.
The sense in which the treaty has received legislative recognition I
will refer to later.... From the earliest period of our history, the
rights of the natives have been conserved by numerous legislative
enactments. Section 10 of 9 and 10 Vict. cap. 103, called an Act to
make further provision for the Government of the New Zealand Islands
(Imperial, 1846), recognises the laws, customs, and usages of the
natives which necessarily include their customs respecting the holding
of land. Section 1 of 10 and 11 Vict. cap. 112, called an Act to
promote colonisation in New Zealand and to authorise a loan to the New
Zealand Company (Imperial, 1847), recognises the claims of the
aboriginal inhabitants to the land. To the same effect is the whole
body of colonial legislation. The expressions "land over which the
Native title has not been extinguished" and "land over which the
Native title has been extinguished" (familiar expressions in colonial
legislation), are both pregnant with the same declaration. In the
judgment of the Privy Council in _Nireaha Tamaki v. Baker_ (1901, A.C.
561), importance is attached to these and similar declarations in
considering the effect of colonial legislation. There the whole of the
legislation from the date of the constitution is summarised. This
summary includes the principal colonial Acts. Referring to section 5
of "The Native Rights Act, 1865," their Lordships say: "The
Legislation, both of the Imperial Parliament and of the Colonial
Legislature is consistent with this view of the construction of 'The
Native Rights Act,' and one is rather at a loss to know what is meant
by such expressions as 'Native title,' 'Native lands,' 'owners,' and
'proprietors,' or the careful provision against sale of Crown lands
until the Native title has been extinguished, if there be no such
title cognizable by the law, and no title therefore to be
extinguished." I might refer further to less precise but equally
important expressions, such as "tribal lands," in "The Native Land
Act, 1873," section 21. The various statutory recognitions of the
Treaty of Waitangi mean no more, but they certainly mean no less than
these recognitions of native rights.

[195] Tawhaki, the God-man, whose name frequently occurs in all the
ancient mythology of the Maori race.

[196] Rain and wind--figurative expressions denoting wars and tumults.

[197] Te Wherowhero Potatau, the first Maori king.

[198] Tawhiao, the second Maori king.

[199] A Total Abstinence organisation.


THIS RELIC OF THE TREATY CAME INTO THE AUTHOR'S POSSESSION AFTER
THE VOLUME WAS PRINTED AND IS NOW INSERTED AS A SUPPLEMENT.

_No te 30 o nga ra o Hanuere, 1840_

_E taku hoa aroha,_

_Tenei ano taku ki a koe; na, tenei ano tetahi kaipuke manawa kua u
mai nei, me tetahi Rangatira ano kei runga, no te Kuini o Ingarani ia,
hei Kawana hoki mo tatou. Na, e mea ana ia, kia huihuia katoatia mai
nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga o Nu Tireni, a te Wenerei i tenei wiki
tapu e haere ake nei, kia kitekite ratou i a ia. Koia ahau ka mea atu
nei ki a koe, e hoa, kia haere mai koe ki konei ki Waitangi, ki taku
kainga ano, ki tenei huihuinga. He Rangatira hoki koe no taua
Wakaminenga tahi. Heoi ano, ka mutu taku._

_Naku,_

_Na tou hoa aroha,_

_Na te PUHIPI._

_KI A TAMATI WAKA NENE._

TEXT OF THE INVITATION SENT TO TAMATI WAKA NENE TO ATTEND THE
MEETING OF CHIEFS AT WAITANGI, 5TH FEBRUARY, 1840.

(ORIGINAL IN THE AUCKLAND MUSEUM).


TRANSLATION

(By H. M. STOWELL).

_Of the 3Oth day of January, 1840._

_O my dear friend._

_Herewith something special from me to you. A Man-o-war vessel has
called here particularly, with a certain Chief on board. He is sent by
the Queen of England, as a Governor for us._

_Now, he desires that as many representative New Zealand chiefs as
possible be gathered together by Wednesday of next week to see him._

_I now therefore say unto you, O friend, make your arrangements to
come along here to Waitangi, to my home here, to this gathering and
meeting. For you yourself are a typical representative chief and will
be welcomed to the meeting as such._

_That is all, mine ends here,_

_From your sincere friend,_

_From Te PUHIPI (Mr. Busby)_

_To Tamati Waka Nene._




BIBLIOGRAPHY


The following authorities have been consulted during the compilation
of this work, and will serve as a useful bibliography of the treaty:--

 A Chapter in the History of New Zealand. Sir W. Fox. 1883.
 Adventure in New Zealand. E. J. Wakefield. 1845.
 An Appeal on Behalf of the Ngatiraukawa Tribe. T. C. Williams. 1873.
 Ao Tea Roa (Long White Cloud). W. P. Reeves. 1898.
 Appendix to Twelfth Report of New Zealand Company. 1844.
 Aureretanga. G. W. Rusden. 1888.
 Australia and New Zealand. A. Trollope. 1873.
 Authentic and Genuine History of the Signing. Rev. W. Colenso. 1890.
 Britain of the South. C. Hursthouse. 1857.
 British Colonisation of New Zealand. Aborigines Protection Society. 1846.
 Christian Mission to the Aborigines of New Zealand. Rev. J. Warren. 1863.
 Correspondence with Earl Grey. Wesleyan Mission Committee. 1848.
 Early History of New Zealand. Brett Publishing Co. 1890.
 Early History of the Catholic Church in Oceania. Bishop Pompallier. 1888.
 England and the New Zealanders. Sir W. Martin. 1847.
 Extracts from Final Report. G. Clarke. 1846.
 Facsimiles of Treaty of Waitangi. H. H. Turton. 1877.
 Forty Years in New Zealand. Rev. J. Buller. 1878.
 Governor Gordon and the Maori. Sir R. Stout. 1883.
 Handbook for Emigrants. Dr. J. Bright. 1841.
 Handbook to New Zealand. E. J. Wakefield. 1848.
 Heke's War. Rev. R. Burrows. 1886.
 History of Early Colonising of New Zealand. H. T. Kemp. 1901.
 History of New Zealand. Alfred Saunders. 1896.
 History of New Zealand. G. W. Rusden. 1883.
 Judgments of Court of Appeal in re _Tamihana Korokai v.
   The Solicitor-General_. 1912.
 Judgments of Mr. Justice Chapman and Sir William Martin, C. J.,
   in re _Regina v. Symonds_. 1847.
 King Country, The. J. H. Kerry-Nicholls. 1884.
 Kohimarama Conference, Proceedings of. 1860.
 Letters from New Zealand. Dr. Martin. 1845.
 Life and Times of Patuone. C. O. Davis. 1876.
 Life of Archdeacon Henry Williams. H. Carleton. 1874.
 Life of Rev. J. H. Bumby. Rev. A. Barrett. 1852.
 Life of Bishop Selwyn. Rev. H. W. Tucker. 1879.
 Life of Captain James Cook. Rev. A. Kippis. 1788.
 Life of Lord John Russell. J. Reid-Stuart.
 Life of Rev. Samuel Leigh. Rev. A. Strachan. 1863.
 Life of Sir George Grey. W. L. and L. Rees. 1892.
 Manawatu Purchase Completed. T. C. Williams. 1867.
 Maori English Tutor. H. M. Stowell. 1913.
 Maori History. Lieut.-Col. M'Donnell. 1887.
 Maori King, The. Sir John Gorst. 1864.
 Maori Record (Newspaper). 1906.
 Memoir of Rev. R. Davis. Rev. J. D. Coleman. 1865.
 Narrative of United States Exploring Expedition. Commander Wilkes. 1845.
 New Zealand. Alexander Kennedy. 1873.
 New Zealand. Charles Terry. 1842.
 New Zealand. Dr. R. G. Jameson. 1841.
 New Zealand and its Aborigines. W. Brown. 1845.
 New Zealand and its Colonisation. W. Swainson. 1859.
 New Zealand and the War. W. Swainson. 1867.
 New Zealand Gazette (Newspaper). 1840.
 New Zealand Journal. 1840-1848.
 New Zealand Revisited. Sir John Gorst. 1908.
 New Zealand Year Book. 1912.
 Notes on Early Life in New Zealand. Rev. G. Clarke. 1903.
 Notes on Maori Matters. Mr. Justice Johnston. 1860.
 Old New Zealand. F. E. Manning. 1863.
 Parliamentary Debates (English), vols. 81-82. 1845.
 Parliamentary Papers (English). 1839-1848.
 Personal Narrative of Visits to New Zealand. Dr. Marshall. 1836.
 Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute. January 1883.
 Remarks on New Zealand. Captain R. Fitzroy. 1846.
 Remarks on New Zealand. W. Brodie. 1845.
 Reminiscences of a Veteran. Col. T. Bunbury. 1861.
 Reminiscences of the War in New Zealand. Lieut. Gudgeon. 1879.
 Romance of a Pro-Consul. James Milne. 1899.
 Sketches in New Zealand. James Cowan. 1901.
 Story of New Zealand. Dr. A. S. Thompson. 1859.
 Te Ika a Maui. Rev. Richard Taylor. 1855.
 The Aborigines' Friend, pp. 139-157.
 The New Zealanders and their Lands. D. Coates. 1844.
 The New Zealand Question. L. A. Chamerovzow. 1848.
 The War in New Zealand. Sir W. Fox. 1860.
 Voyage to the South Pole, vols. viii. and ix. Dumont D'Urville.
 Waitara War--Numerous Pamphlets relating thereto.


_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.

 [Illustration: MAP OF THE BAY OF ISLANDS]

 [Illustration: MAP OF CLOUDY BAY]






End of Project Gutenberg's The Treaty of Waitangi, by T. Lindsay Buick