Chapter 5

8Maoriesweighedmorethan112lbs.,butlessthan126lbs.avoirdupois.25""""126""""140""54""""140""""154""41""""154""""168""19""""168""""182""3""""182""""196""

The average weight of a Maori, deducting their mats and clothes, is about 141 lbs.; of 617 Europeans (both English and Irish), who were weighed, the average weight was 143 lbs. Dr. Thompson found the natives under 21 less fully developed than soldiers of the same age, but after that the Maori began to turn the beam as regards weight.

The girth of the chest, measured above the nipples, gave as the average of 151 natives 35.36 inches; of 628 soldiers of the 58th regiment, 35.71 inches. Between 16 and 20 the chest of the native is more than half an inch less than that of the European; a little later it is found to be about the same.

In order to test the physical and muscular strength of the Maori, Dr. Thompson made them lift the utmost weights they could from the ground, with the following results from 31 individuals on whom he experimented:—

6New Zealanderslifted410to420lbs.2""400"410"5""390"400"3""380"390"6""360"380"5""340"360"2""336"2""250"266"

The average of the foregoing gives 367 lbs., the highest being 420 lbs., the lowest 250 lbs. A similar experiment made with 31 soldiers of the 58th regiment (averaging in weight 144 lbs.) gave the following figures:—

2soldierslifted504lbs.6""460"to480lbs.14""400""460"9""350""400"

Thus the average weight which the British soldiers could lift from the ground was 422 lbs., or 55 lbs. more than the Maori.

Perron in his "Voyage des Découvertes aux Terres Australes," observed as the result of numerous experiments, that the weakest Frenchman had more muscular strength than the most powerful native of Van Diemen's Land, and that the weakest Englishman was stronger than the strongest native of New Holland. Judging by that standard, the Maories are of a far more powerful build than the Australian aborigines.

What appears to us most interesting in the results of Dr. Thomson's observations, is the immense disparity of the muscular strength of the Maori as compared with that of the Anglo-Saxon race, although in height, weight, and girth they so closely resemble them. The main reason of this astonishing dissimilarity is undoubtedly due in the main to the exclusively vegetable diet of the New Zealanders, which it is well known promotes the deposition of fat in the system, without proportionately increasing the amount of muscular tissue.Moreover the uniform, uneventful life of the Maories by no means tends to the development of muscular strength.

Dr. Thomson justly remarks that the foregoing facts completely demolish the arguments of those who find a pleasure in representing the world as degenerating, and mankind as much less powerful and free from blemish than in former ages, ere trade and civilization had exercised their unpropitious influence upon the habits and manners of mankind. For here we have the New Zealanders, living up to the present century a life of the most primitive simplicity, yet evidently in respect of mere corporeal strength lagging far behind the denizens of a country, where culture and machinery have brought about social changes of such magnitude, as no other civilized people on the globe can show.

Of few races inhabiting the southern hemisphere, have the proverbs, poetry, songs, and traditions been the subject of such zealous study as those of the Maori, and no one has made more careful investigation into this interesting feature than the present Governor, Sir George Grey, who set on foot most minute inquiries into the older history of the Maori, which he published in a variety of valuable works,[33]although several of the missionaries, as also educated settlers of many years' standing in the colony, have extended our acquaintancewith the Maori race, by the publication of a grammar and dictionary of the Maori language, as also many valuable works upon the natural history of the New Zealand Islands.[34]

To this most honourable and widely-diffused activity, science is indebted for a specimen of literature which furnishes an excellent sample of the high cultivation of the native race, and makes us acquainted with moral axioms and pieces of poetry which would do honour even to a poet of Caucasian descent.

We subjoin a few adages and short poems of Sir George Grey's valuable collections, which more especially indicate the dignified character and originality of thought of this singular people, and are taken from a larger number embraced in Sir George Grey's collection of "Proverbial and Popular Sayings" already mentioned.

Canst thou still the surf that breaks on the Shoal ofRongo-mai-ta-kupe? (Alluding to the difficulty of allaying arevolt.)

The little child grows, but the little axe remains for everlittle (i. e. manhood is more valuable than any otherpossession).Capricious as a salmon in the stream or a girl on shore.The flounder flies back to hide itself in the water it hasmudded.You can search the dark corner of a house, but not the heart ofa man.Bad food will not make a man mean, but a noble man makes meanfood respectable.Kokowai or red ochre sucks up oil when you mix them. (If a chiefvisits you, he and his followers soon absorb all your property!)A smooth tree you may climb, however tall it is; but how can youpass over the sea, glassy as it looks?Perhaps, although I am little, you will find me troublesome as asandfly.Although hidden from us, we know there are plenty of roots ofthe wild convolvulus running under the ground there; so with theevil thoughts of our hearts.You won't care to look long at the good food you have beforeyou, but a face you love you can often look at (a pretty wife isbetter worth getting than a rich one).A girl's beauty is like a fine day, a storm soon follows it; soold age and ugliness follow close upon loveliness.There are a multitude of stars in the heavens, but a very littlecloud covers many of them (meaning that a small band of resolutemen may defeat a large number).If he had taken refuge on a mountain-top we could have climbedit; if he had taken refuge amidst ocean's surge our canoes couldhave contended with it; but having taken shelter under theprotection of amighty chief, who can reach him there?If you have a sperm whale's tooth, you must also have a spermwhale's jaw to carry it!Quick in speech, slow to act; promises are quickly made, thebody is slow to move.A fathomless throat, but no industry; a monster's appetite, butno perseverance in labour.He is ascending the snow-capped mountains of Ruahmi (i. e. he isgrowing old).Rangipo and Raeroa started together on a journey. Rangipocarried his godalonewith him; Raeroa carried his god on hisback, andfoodin his hand; Rangipo died,—Raeroa lived.The block of wood has no business to dictate to the artist whocarves it.I can scarcely look out eagerly from the hill-top!A mouth, ready as a salmon, to spring at its prey.He is a descendant of Ki-ki, who was so skilled in magic thathis shadow withered trees and plants if it fell on them.The grasp of a chief's red hand cannot be loosened, but thegrasp of a slave, what strength has it?Few are the friends that aid at planting, but when the crops aregathered they come in shoals.An old broken canoe may be mended, but youth and beauty cannotbe restored:—A fat man has been fattened by food, not by active thought; youwill find him full, but not wise.Women and war are the two dangers of men.A woman probably hears the foe sing as they sacrifice to theirgods the bodies of her slaughtered relatives (i. e. it is oflittle use to have a daughter, she will perhaps raise up heirsfor your foes).Women and land are the causes which destroy men.The Moa-bird (Dinornis gigantea) trampled down the Rata tree(Metrosidero Robusta) when it was young; how then can youexpect it to grow straight now? (i. e. it is difficult toovercome early influences.)It is from food that a man's blood is made, and it is land whichgrows his food and sustains him. (Never part with your own land,and do not yield a fertile district.)Persist in all as resolutely as you persist in eating.Be firm as the surf-beaten rock in the ocean!Another man's food you must eat little bits of; food won by yourown labour you may eat plenty of, and satisfy your hunger well.An axe, though very little, can do as much as a man in clearingaway a forest.A fish begins nibbling gently upwards before he bites, and youbegin a steep ascent from the bottom (from trifling disputesfierce wars arise).

The little child grows, but the little axe remains for everlittle (i. e. manhood is more valuable than any otherpossession).

Capricious as a salmon in the stream or a girl on shore.

The flounder flies back to hide itself in the water it hasmudded.

You can search the dark corner of a house, but not the heart ofa man.

Bad food will not make a man mean, but a noble man makes meanfood respectable.

Kokowai or red ochre sucks up oil when you mix them. (If a chiefvisits you, he and his followers soon absorb all your property!)

A smooth tree you may climb, however tall it is; but how can youpass over the sea, glassy as it looks?

Perhaps, although I am little, you will find me troublesome as asandfly.

Although hidden from us, we know there are plenty of roots ofthe wild convolvulus running under the ground there; so with theevil thoughts of our hearts.

You won't care to look long at the good food you have beforeyou, but a face you love you can often look at (a pretty wife isbetter worth getting than a rich one).

A girl's beauty is like a fine day, a storm soon follows it; soold age and ugliness follow close upon loveliness.

There are a multitude of stars in the heavens, but a very littlecloud covers many of them (meaning that a small band of resolutemen may defeat a large number).

If he had taken refuge on a mountain-top we could have climbedit; if he had taken refuge amidst ocean's surge our canoes couldhave contended with it; but having taken shelter under theprotection of amighty chief, who can reach him there?

If you have a sperm whale's tooth, you must also have a spermwhale's jaw to carry it!

Quick in speech, slow to act; promises are quickly made, thebody is slow to move.

A fathomless throat, but no industry; a monster's appetite, butno perseverance in labour.

He is ascending the snow-capped mountains of Ruahmi (i. e. he isgrowing old).

Rangipo and Raeroa started together on a journey. Rangipocarried his godalonewith him; Raeroa carried his god on hisback, andfoodin his hand; Rangipo died,—Raeroa lived.

The block of wood has no business to dictate to the artist whocarves it.

I can scarcely look out eagerly from the hill-top!

A mouth, ready as a salmon, to spring at its prey.

He is a descendant of Ki-ki, who was so skilled in magic thathis shadow withered trees and plants if it fell on them.

The grasp of a chief's red hand cannot be loosened, but thegrasp of a slave, what strength has it?

Few are the friends that aid at planting, but when the crops aregathered they come in shoals.

An old broken canoe may be mended, but youth and beauty cannotbe restored:—

A fat man has been fattened by food, not by active thought; youwill find him full, but not wise.

Women and war are the two dangers of men.

A woman probably hears the foe sing as they sacrifice to theirgods the bodies of her slaughtered relatives (i. e. it is oflittle use to have a daughter, she will perhaps raise up heirsfor your foes).

Women and land are the causes which destroy men.

The Moa-bird (Dinornis gigantea) trampled down the Rata tree(Metrosidero Robusta) when it was young; how then can youexpect it to grow straight now? (i. e. it is difficult toovercome early influences.)

It is from food that a man's blood is made, and it is land whichgrows his food and sustains him. (Never part with your own land,and do not yield a fertile district.)

Persist in all as resolutely as you persist in eating.

Be firm as the surf-beaten rock in the ocean!

Another man's food you must eat little bits of; food won by yourown labour you may eat plenty of, and satisfy your hunger well.

An axe, though very little, can do as much as a man in clearingaway a forest.

A fish begins nibbling gently upwards before he bites, and youbegin a steep ascent from the bottom (from trifling disputesfierce wars arise).

Not less conspicuous is the vigour displayed in the poetical conceptions of the Maori. There is in them a depth of sentiment, a vividness of imagery, which would almost make us doubtful of their true origin, if the original were not at hand to compare with.

Thus, for example, how beautifully do the following lines, borrowed from a dirge for the chief Te-Huhu, describe the wild anguish of a warlike people, mourning the loss of a beloved leader:—

DIRGE OF TE-HUHU.

Behold the glare of the lightning!It seems as though it had cleft in twain the steep hills of Tuwhare.Dropped from thy hand thy weapon,And thy spirit, it vanishedBehind the lofty ridges of Raukawa!The sun hid his face, and hasted away,As a woman hurries from the strife of battle!The waves of ocean mourn as they rise and fall,And the hills of the south melt away!For the spirit of the chieftainWas winging its way to the dwellings of Rona;[35]Open, ye gates of heaven!Tread thou the first heaven! tread thou the second heaven!And when thou dost traverse the spirit land,And its dwellers shall ask thee, "What meaneth this?"Tell that her wings were torn from this our world,Whenhedied, the strong one,Our leader in the roar of battle!Atutahi and the stars of the morningLook pitifully down from their fastnesses,The earth reels to and fro,For the mightiest support of her children lies low!O my friend! the dew of HokiangaShall penetrate thy body;The waters of the brooks shall dry up,And the land become desolate:I see a cloud rising afarAbove the head of Heke the renowned!May he be annihilated, for everBrought low to nothingness! so may the heart,Now mourning in its depths, ne'er think of evil more!

As deeply imbued with the spirit of true poetry is thefollowing dirge of a mother, a heartfelt effusion of maternal affliction for the loss of an only daughter:—

A LAMENT FOR NGARO.

Slow wanes the evening star.[36]It disappearsTo rise again in more glorious skies,Where thousands hasten forward to welcome it.All that is grand and beautiful has no more value to me,For thou wast my sole treasure! O my daughter!When the sunbeams played above the waves,Or glinted through the waving palms,Secretly, but with joy, we marked thy sportive gambolsBy the sandy shores of Awapoka.Oft in the dawning twilightI beheld thee, girt in thy simple robes,And accompanied by the daughters of thy people,Speed forth, to see gathered the fruit of the Main,[37]While the maidens from Tikoro[38]Sought for thee the mussels hid among the rocks,Braving the blinding surf, and caught for theeThe callow brood of the screaming sea-fowl.And when at even the tribesAssembled for the repast,Beloved companions sought to have thee by their side,Eagerly contending who should bestow on thee dainties,That they might win a smile from thy lips;—But where art thou now? Where now?Thou stream which still dost ebb and flow,Flow and ebb no more,For she that did love thee is gone!Well is it for the people, as of old,To assemble at the feast of pleasure!The canoe still cleaves the air,And dashes aside the foam of the heaving sea.As of yore, hovering above the rocky cliffs,The sea-fowl in clouds obscure the sky!But the beloved one comes not!Not even a lock of thy waving tressesIs left us to mourn over!

The truly paternal interest and attention bestowed by the Government on the destinies of the New Zealanders, and on the means being adopted to raise them morally and materially, as also the repeated asseverations of loyalty, fidelity, and gratitude towards the British nation, which were constantly in the mouth of the New Zealanders (the Gascons of the South, as an English author nicknames them), gave no reason to anticipate that the colony was about to become the scene of a war, which can hardly have any other result than the total extinction of the small remnant of the Maori; for although the English troops have hitherto encountered a severe and protracted resistance, and the Maori, intrenched in theirPáhs, required Armstrong guns, bombs, and heavy artillery to be brought against them ere they yielded, yet to the impartial observer the issue of the contest cannot be for a moment doubtful. This unhappy contest originated in the sale of some land in the province of Taranaki, or New Plymouth, on the S.W. shores of the Northern Island. A native, named Te Teira (John Taylor), had sold to Government, under the provisions of the treaty of Waitangi, a small piece of land adjoining New Plymouth. Rangitakí, or as he is better known by his Christian name, Wiremu Kingi (William King), a resolute and powerful chief of the Ngatiawa tribe, opposed the sale, onthe ground that Te Teira had in fact no right to dispose of this land without his consent, and obstructed the surveyors sent by Government to measure the piece of ground. On their being reinforced somewhat later, Kingi took up arms to resist them, and intrenched himself on the property in dispute. How little the Colonial Government intended to encroach upon the Maori privileges, is best shown by the circumstance that the Ngatiawa tribe, and their allies of the Taranaki, are but 3000 in number, men, women, and children all told, who claim as their property districts covering an area of 2,000,000 acres, and during the last twenty years have only cultivated some small patches along the coast. The white settlers also number about 3000, and with the consent of Government have, during that period, purchased 40,000 acres, of which hardly one-fourth part is devoted to agricultural purposes. On 17th March, 1860, Kingi was at last attacked by the English troops under Colonel Gold. This was the commencement of a series of sanguinary combats, carried on with the most desperate obstinacy,[39]and the more serious, as it stands out in singularly bold relief, that the majority of the missionaries, Bishop Selwyn and Archdeacon Hadfield at their head, take part with the Maories, and that the learned justice, Dr. Martin, endeavours to prove that the war has broken out entirely in consequence of a breach of the rights ofproperty by the Colonial Government, and therefore that the conduct of the recusant chief, so far from being a rebellion, was a bare vindication of right! Nay, it has even been openly stated (and it throws an interesting light upon certain political complications in Europe) that the Protestant missionaries and certain formerprotégésof the Government are chiefly to blame for the difficulties now existing between the English and the natives. Amongst these adversaries a certain Mr. Davis, formerly official translator and interpreter, a highly-educated but calculating man, who once sung the praises of Sir George Grey, and among other works has published the Maori Mementos,[40]so interesting in a historical point of view, hit upon the clever notion, in company with a Maori named William Thompson, or "The King-maker," of instigating the natives to rebellion. With this object in view, they organized far in the interior, among the tribes hitherto but little civilized, immense popular gatherings, at which in long speeches they always contrived to come back to the assertion that the Maories and not the English were the real lords of the soil, and that they therefore were entitled to be governed by a king selected from among themselves. Thompson, thoroughly versant in the foibles and vanities of hiscountrymen, and supported by ambitious, crafty, intriguing foreigners, was speedily master of the situation, and it is much less matter of surprise that in 1858 a king was chosen in the person of Potatáu[41]-te-Whero-Whero, one of the most renowned of the Waikato tribe, than that the Government, from the year 1854, suffered this conduct to go unpunished, and with cool indifference beheld the movement grow in proportion without taking the slightest precautionary measures!

Only by such indulgence, not to say negligence, did it become possible for the native league against the sale of land, and the accompanying King movement, to have attained their present importance, the number engaged in them having risen to a total of 15,000 able-bodied warriors. Since the restrictions recently placed on the importation of weapons and ammunition, there have been imported during the last three years fire-arms, powder, lead, and caps to the value of £50,000, so that we may estimate their present supply of gunpowder at 100,000 lbs. at the least, and the fire-arms, exclusive of those imported at the time of Hongi, at about 20,000 stand.

Already, at Christmas, 1858, when the staff of our Expedition were passing a week or two in Auckland, there was anoticeable amount of political agitation in various parts of the interior, and we ourselves witnessed some chiefs, friendly to the Government, who before starting for a great Maori meeting near Drury offered to the Governor their good services, and asked his orders. The Maori chiefs, whom Colonel Browne received in his study, could only be distinguished from white men by the wonderfully copious tattooing on their faces, and were in all other respects attired exactly like Europeans. Some wore black round hats and blouses, others wore caps. Only in the flaps of their ears they carried small pieces of green nephrite, while suspended round the neck by a thick chord was the inevitable club-shapedmeri-meri, that renowned stone weapon which descends as an heir-loom in families, and is so highly prized that a New Zealander will pay as high as £100 for one. The chiefs candidly remarked that at this gathering the selection of a Maori king would come up for decision, and they therefore wished, as loyal and true subjects of the Queen of England, which they said they always had been and wished to continue, to know from the lips of her representative how they ought to act in such a case. Colonel Browne, who like most of the British settlers in New Zealand seemed to attach but little importance to the whole Maori movement, or, if so, did not like to make it known, simply thanked the chiefs for this renewed expression of their loyal sentiments, adding in the spirit of Maori oratory that "he had alreadyconsidered them as good friends both to himself and the Government, and therefore left them to act as they saw best without further pledge, for he felt fully assured, if the chief (who had addressed him) should go to this gathering he might feel as if his own right hand were there, and everything therefore would result entirely as he could wish." Unhappily these anticipations were not realized, but on the contrary a war burst forth out of the long-despised movement, of such dimensions, and of such terrible cruelty, that the results of the civilization of the last twenty years have been seriously imperilled, and the original Maori, divesting himself of the whitewash of superficial Christianity, has become suddenly visible in all his savage thirst for blood. We do not indeed believe that the whole race have been seized with this much-to-be-lamented proclivity towards their old barbarism, nor that the application of the proverb (parodied from the celebratedmotof Napoleon), "Scratch the Maori and you will find the savage beneath," receives its full illustration here; but neither, on the other hand, can we resist the conviction that a long continuance of hostilities will foster old customs, and that a war waged with ever-increasing animosity must ultimately result in the decay and extinction of the New Zealand aborigines.

Independently of this, there was visible, even during the former days of peace and tranquillity, so marked a falling off of the Maori population, that the Colonial Government feltcalled upon to institute most minute inquiries as to the supposed causes of this lamentable feature. In a very exhaustive work upon this subject, by Mr. F. D. Fenton,[42]we find for example that the proportion of births and deaths among the entire population—the former of which in England is 1 : 59, and the latter 1 : 34, and among the white settlers of New Zealand is 1 : 136 and 1 : 25—gives among the aborigines the following startling results,—deaths 1 : 33.04, births 1 : 67.13. The cause of this appalling decay of the Maori race, which has been steadily going on since 1830, is not alone due to the contact of the natives with civilization, but chiefly to the sanguinary wars between the various races, of which New Zealand was the theatre for a series of years, and the natural results of those wars. For it was not merely that in their constant battles the flower of their respective tribes lost their lives,[43]but the mothers, to facilitate their own escape, put to death most of the female infants at the breast. Upon this followed, apparently in consequence of the great privations of their wandering life, through hard work andwant of nutritious food, a serious sterility among the female sex. Whereas, according to Muret, out of 487 women only 20 (or 1 in 24) are barren on the average, the proportion among the Maori amounts to 155 in every 444, or 1 in 2.86.

The want of nutritious and wholesome food, their diet consisting mainly of salt-fish, roots, and fruits, the absence of clothing, or any care for the body, their wretched abodes, and exposure to the weather, all these causes must greatly contribute to the diminution of the race, as affecting the conditions of sound health of the present generation, and tending to produce those forms of disease, such as scrofula, pulmonia, phthisis, &c., by which the Maories and their offspring are at present decimated. Dr. Fenton also adduces the intermarriage of near relations among the New Zealanders as one prominent cause of their disease and physical degeneracy. These near alliances, however, at least among the lower classes, do not seem so frequent as Dr. Fenton imagined, as is apparent from the surprising diversity of physiognomy and colour of skin. The chiefs indeed of the tribes, who migrated from the north some four centuries since, may indeed have so frequently intermarried that they now constitute little other than a large family connection, but the populace have most undoubtedly made frequent alliances with the inhabitants of the adjoining island groups, as they are to this day accustomed to do with the whites, from whichlatter cross results the unhappy bastard race Paketa-Maori, which, like the quadroons of Louisiana and the mulattoes of Hayti, or the mestizoes of the Indian races of South America, despising the pure blacks and looked down upon by the whites, are the sworn foes of both.

It seems to us too hazardous a speculation to go into minute investigations as to the decay of the Maori race, and the most suitable means of averting that disaster, at the very moment when their foreign conquerors, in order to strengthen their power, are actually engaged in a war of annihilation with the aborigines.[44]It is much more important, and will better repay our time, to enumerate the advantages which must accrue to European, especially German, immigrants into a country where the natives have played out their part.

As already remarked, there are few countries beyond the limits of Europe which are so favoured as regards climate,fertility of soil, natural wealth, and geographical situation,[45]or hold out such excellent prospects of ultimate comfort and prosperity, as New Zealand. The mean temperature of the whole islands for the year is 56° Fahr., and is 5° less at the south, and in the north about 4° higher, so that, for example, Auckland possesses the same temperature as Florence, Rome, Marseilles, or Toulon.[46]Gales are frequent along the coast, and the damp south winds known as "bursters" are exceedingly disagreeable and oppressive, but they do not on the whole affect the health of the inhabitants. According to Dr. Thomson's observations, it would seem that of every 1000 soldiers in the various British military stations 8.25 die in New Zealand, 14 in Great Britain, 18 in Malta, 20 in Canada.[47]

Of the superficial area of New Zealand, which, if we include Stewart's and Chatham Islands, may be estimated at 75,000,000 acres, one-third consists of forest and bush capable of being reclaimed for agricultural purposes, one-third of meadow, grass-pasture, and valley, well adapted for cultivation, and the remaining one-third of barren rock, or sandy desert, besides lakes and rivers.

The amount of land, in various holdings, reclaimed and made fruitful throughout New Zealand for the year 1857 was 190,000 acres, of which 121,648 were arable land, sown with esculents (chiefly wheat, oats, potatoes, and grass for fodder) and fruit. Of late years the annual increase of land reclaimed has been 40 per cent. It is calculated that each new arrival from Europe is equivalent to the cultivation of four acres of land, and the breeding of 30 cattle. The cost of clearing amounts in New Zealand to from £2 to £5 per acre.

Hence it is that the Colonial Government are straining every nerve, by holding out certain material advantages and inducements, to attract land-purchasers and handicraftsmen to a country, which, inhabited at present by not more than 130,000 human beings, is quite capable of supporting 30,000,000. The "Auckland Waste Land Act," besides giving every necessary information as to the unreclaimed districts(where land is sold at ten shillings per acre), also contains certain arrangements, by virtue of which intending emigrants of the labouring classes, who shall come out at their own expense, receive some assistance to enable them to settle on certain proportions of the land which the Government presents to them by way of indemnification for the expenses of their voyage, in the proportion of 40 acres to each person above 40 years of age, and 20 acres to all between 5 and 17 years.[48]The sole condition attached by the Government to this land-indemnity is that the emigrant bind himself to remain five years in the province; which period once elapsed, he may dispose of the land at his pleasure. In order to encourage persons accustomed to tuition to settle in Auckland, all persons who are fitted to instruct children in elementary knowledge and English grammar, on their having discharged such duties for five years to the satisfaction of Government, are entitled to a grant of 80 acres of land.

The most important products and articles grown for export are, all sorts of cereals, wool, and ship-timber. A marked increase has taken place in potato cultivation, of which in 1857 there were exported 4430 tons, value £23,328, and in 1858, 6116 tons, value £33,056. Of building timber of all sorts there were exported in 1857 £12,205, and in 1859 £34,376 in value.

One of the most valuable trees of the New Zealand forests is the Kauri pine (Dammara Australis). This elegant tree, 80 to 120 feet in height, furnishes the English ship-building yards with a large number annually of rounded logs, 74 to 84 feet in length, of better quality as well as more lasting than those of the Norwegian or American pines.[49]The Kauri or yellow pine also produces the kind of rosin so well known as Dammara rosin, of which this valuable tree produces such quantities, that in those districts where the Kauri tree has long since yielded to the axe of civilization, it has been found in immense masses on the soil, in a high-dried state. The Kauri rosin of commerce is not therefore procured, as with us, by making an incision in the tree, but is actually dug out of the earth, into which to the despair of the farmer it has often percolated for several feet, rendering the soil barren. During our excursions we came repeatedly upon whole tracts of rosin-fields, which were covered several feet thick with this substance. The Dammara pine only grows on the northernmost island, and chiefly in the northern parts.

In Auckland we saw several pieces of Kauri rosin weighing 100 lbs. In 1857, 2521 tons, worth £35,250, of this substance were exported, chiefly for its valuable properties as a varnish, and for "fixing" certain colours used in the calico manufacture. It has also of late been extensively used in the manufacture of candles.

The cultivation of the Harakeke, or indigenous flax (Phormium tenax), might be made to conduce greatly to the wealth of the country, if some mechanical process could be invented which should without too much expense liberate the fibres from their hard envelope, which is the only obstacle in the way of its competing successfully with Russian flax. Impressed with the importance of developing the cultivation ofPhormium tenax, the Colonial Government has offered a reward of £1500 for the invention of such a machine as shall bark the native flax, and prepare it for and make it saleable in the European market. At present no more than 50 or 60 cwt. of the flax, worth about £800, is exported from Auckland. The New Zealand flax surpasses almost every known plant in the strength and toughness of its fibres, its ratio as compared with the fibres of European plants of the same species standing as high as 27:7. For Great Britain the cultivation of this flax is not alone of great interest in an economic point of view, but is even politically of importance, as the amount of flax annually imported from Russia for her industrial energies averages £3,000,000.

Sheep-farming has of late years made an enormous advance in New Zealand, the export for 1857 being 2,648,716 lbs., value £176,581, that for 1859, 5,096,751 lbs., value £339,779, averaging 1s.4d.per lb. The list of articles suitable for export must continually increase with immigration, and the consequent spread of population through the interior.

The entire commerce of New Zealand, both import andexport, is at present about £2,000,000, the value of imports having risen from £597,827 in 1853 to £1,551,030 in 1859, while the exports, which in the former year were only £331,282, had risen in 1859 to £551,484. The last-mentioned year employed 836 ships, of which 438, representing 136,580 tons and 7594 of crew, were engaged in the import, and 398 of 120,392 tons and 6483 of crew, were employed in the export trade. The net revenue of the Government for the same period was £459,648.

The majority of the colonists are emigrants from Great Britain, only a small fraction coming from the continent.[50]A large Irish population lives in the neighbourhood of Auckland, while the Scotch cling together about Taranaki and the southern parts of the island. The European population was 52,155 in 1857, and 73,343 in 1859, the proportion of sexes in the latter year being 42,452 males, and 30,891 females.

While most of the naturalists of theNovarastaff went on the invitation of Government to examine the coal-beds lately discovered in Drury district, others made frequent excursionsin the environs of Auckland, three of which deserve special mention.

The first was to the picturesque Judges and Oraki Bays, the latter formed by the ruins of a crater. Here for the first time we beheld what is called the New Zealand Christmas tree,Metrosideros Tormentosa, which at the festive season comes forth pranked in all its gay blossoms, and is extensively used in decorating churches and dwelling-houses. Its large deep-red, umbellate blossoms are visible from afar gleaming among the green vegetation along the coast. The natives call this tree the Pohútu-Káwua; it is most extensively found on the slopes along the coast. The wild pepper, Kawa-kawa (Piper excelsum), is very common in the country round Auckland, but is not brewed into an intoxicating drink like thePiper methysticumof the Southern Ocean. The natives indeed are exceedingly temperate, and, unlike other half-civilized races, are very little addicted to drink; this however may be partly due to the wise precautions of the Government, which under a heavy pecuniary penalty forbids all tavern-keepers throughout the province from selling the Maori any drink except beer. Two species of grass eminently characteristic of the country, which often overrun vast tracts of land, and are used by the natives for thatching their huts, are the Toi-toi (Lepidosperma elatior) and the Kekaho (Arundo Australis). There are also the Puka-puka, or paper-seed (Brachyglottis repanda),an object which, where it is found, imparts a peculiar aspect to the landscape, like the silver poplars on the flanks of Table Mountain at the Cape. The name of the plant is derived from the under side of the leaves being as white as paper.

We also during this excursion saw great quantities of Raorao or Aruhe (Pteris esculenta), and were told that the roots (roi) of this fern, baked and ground, were highly prized by the Maories as a specific against sea-sickness. No native makes a sea-voyage, at least to any distance, without carrying with him a piece of this root, using it when baked as an antidote against that most depressing of maladies, from which even primitive races are not exempt. The efficacy of this remedy is however rather reputed than actual, the experience of Europeans, who have availed themselves of its supposed virtues, tending to show that it is absolutely worthless.

While at Oraki Bay we also visited the Maori village of Oraki. Here we found some 80 natives, men, women, and children, who had encamped on a hill outside the village. They were clothed partly in European style, partly in clothes made of native flax. The diversity of feature was most remarkable, as was also the great difference in the hair of the head. Some had thin black, others crisp, hair; many had it of a dark brown colour, while yet others had regular fox-coloured locks. The elder men hadtheir faces and hands beautifully tattooed; the women on the lip only, and the younger generation were not tattooed at all. After the customary salutation of "Tenákoe, Tenákoe" (which in fact means literally nothing more than "Here you are," or "I recognize you"), they were little communicative, and showed little disposition to enter into closer conversation with the foreigners, although some of our companions spoke their language fluently. As our instructions were to ship on board theNovaraany handsomely tattooed natives who should of their own free will wish to enter our marine, we let slip no opportunity, and accordingly endeavoured to induce some of the natives we now saw to ship with us. However, they could not be persuaded to make a cruise with us to see other lands and nations, as they could not comprehend what motive Austrian voyagers could have in inviting the natives of such a distant quarter of the globe to join them on such favourable terms. Their chief hesitation arose in the idea which they, the offspring of cannibals, firmly believed, that we wished to take some of their companions with us instead of fresh provisions, with the ultimate intent, so soon as we ran out of victuals, to put them to death, and banquet on Maori flesh! Thereupon we showed them some Caffres who had been 15 months on board, and were perfectly well treated. "Who knows," replied one of the most cautious of the Maori, "very possibly the Caffres have only been sparedbecause the necessary moment has not yet come!" We returned to Oraki, our efforts vain to induce any Maori volunteer to make a cruise.

A not less interesting excursion was made to the Kauri forest in Titarangi, among the Manukau hills, to which we were conveyed in a couple of dog-carts. It was an exquisitely beautiful sunny morning. The air was so invigorating yet so mild that we immediately felt how well Sir Humphrey Davy's celebrated remark about Nice, "mere existence here is luxury," may also be applied to Auckland. After a drive of three hours through charming fields and meadows, we entered upon the forest at a spot where an Irishman named Smith has erected a block-house and a saw-mill, which seemed to do an excellent business. The whole appearance of the farm and its residents made a most favourable impression. Old Smith accompanied us in person to the forest, which consisted principally of the lofty, slender, broad-leaved Kauri pine. These have much more the look of chestnut trees than fir. The whole forest displayed a luxuriance and beauty of vegetation such as we had not anticipated in these latitudes. Creepers, parasites, and tree-ferns, gave it quite a tropical character. There were a charm and a voluptuousness about this green garb of nature, as displayed in New Zealand, such as the virgin forests of even the Nicobars or Java could hardly surpass in grace and majesty.

The slender trunks of the Kauri pine, the Rimu (DacrydiumCupressinum), and the Kali Katea (Podocarpus excelsa), are here sliced into planks and boards, and so transported to the port. 100 cubic feet are worth about 15s., and 100 cubic feet of the beautiful Rimu wood, which is much used for furniture, fetches about 30s.A saw-mill labourer is paid from £7 to £8 per month, besides rations.

On our return, thoroughly fagged out and overheated with three hours of climbing and rambling, to the hospitable residence of our worthy Irish friend, we found an elegant carpet spread on the floor of the room, and everything clean and neat, to welcome the unexpected guests. His entire family was waiting to receive us, and after a comfortable meal we took our leave, doubly impressed with the glories of New Zealand forest scenery, and agreeably surprised to find in such close proximity with half-reclaimed nature such a peaceful picture of contentment, and such sterling results of well-directed human industry.

While our eyes were still dazzled with the beauties of the New Zealand forests of the Manukau range, a visit to St. John's College gave us an excellent and cheering glimpse of the admirable zeal displayed by various philanthropists to impart instruction in the great truths of Christianity to the coloured race of this and the adjacent groups of islands, and to educate missionaries. St. John's College has been set on foot with this praiseworthy object in view by the Church of England Missionary Society. Of the forty lads who attended it while we were there, the majority came from LoyaltyIslands, the Solomon Group, and New Caledonia. Many only remained at the institute during the warm summer months, and for health's sake returned before winter set in to their own milder climate. Some had thus returned to school for the fourth time. The management of this humane undertaking is entrusted to Mr. Patterson, a gentleman of remarkable ability and perseverance, who speaks with fluency most of the Polynesian languages, and annually faces much privation and danger during his visit, in a schooner provided by the Missionary Society, to the various islands of the Southern Ocean, where he communicates with the natives, urging them to give their children the benefits of a certain amount of education. The course of instruction consists of reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. It is unfortunate that no provision is made for their instruction in mechanical employments, as such knowledge would go far to make their heathen kindred appreciate the advantages of Christian civilization. The pupils seem to be warmly attached to Mr. Patterson, and regard him with the child-like reverence paid to a father. The results are surprising, and demonstrate what splendid germs of capacity for education lie slumbering in even the rudest primitive people, if only care be taken to awake them sufficiently early, and foster them judiciously.

As in all English colonies, there is much intellectual activity in Auckland. Several English journals,[51]somereally well written and digested,—such, for instance, as "The Southern Cross," "The New Zealander," &c.,—not only discuss the most important political events, but also endeavour to enlarge the views of their readers upon all questions of political economy and commercial and industrial progress.[52]

A few months before our arrival a paragraph appeared in several English and German journals, one of which accidentally fell into our hands at Shanghai, to the effect that "in April, 1858, considerable excitement had been created in England by intelligence of a peculiar species of silk-worm having been discovered growing wild in New Zealand in immense quantities." The London correspondent added that the worm inhabits a cocoon which is of a dull brown externally, under which however is a particularly fine quality of silk, with which some Glasgow houses had madeexperiments that induced them to value it much more highly than the qualities hitherto procured in Europe. Owing to the great alteration in the prospects of the silk trade, generally held out by the march of events in China, we deemed it advisable to inquire minutely as to the existence of a worm, which, as reported, not merely enjoyed advantages of climate similar to those of several parts of the Austrian domains, but seemed to require but little attention, living, as was said, "wild" in the "bush." After protracted investigation, however, it turned out that the silk procured in New Zealand was furnished by the ordinary mulberry-fed silk-worm, and that the extraordinary delicacy attained in the fabrics made from it at Glasgow was only due to its very superior quality.

The little expedition to the coal-beds of Drury already mentioned was accompanied by results so valuable, that considerable excitement arose among the settlers of the district, and a society was formed for the exploration of this mineral wealth. The excursion, however, was not confined to visiting the coal-fields, but was intended to give the naturalists of theNovaraan opportunity of seeing part of the interior of New Zealand, by traversing the forest, 9 to 15 miles wide, between Auckland and the river Waikato, and thus visit the lovely shores of that river and the native villages of the neighbourhood.

The expedition was under the conduct of Capt. Drummond Hay, aide-de-camp to the Governor, and thoroughlyacquainted with the country, and Mr. Heaphy, chief engineer of the province; Mr. Smallfield, editor-in-chief of theNew Zealander, accompanied it as historiographer, while the Government invitation was extended to several of the scientific inhabitants of Auckland, among others the Rev. Mr. Purchas, and a recently-arrived German named Haast. The following is an extract from a journal, kept by one of the party from theNovara, of all the most interesting episodes of this excursion:—

"On 28th December we set out in five waggons, and advanced among extinct craters and volcanic cones, on which in former timesPáhsor intrenched villages had been erected by the natives, as is plain from the succession of terraces of three or four feet high, rising in regular order, and cut into the side of the hill. The villas and farms on either side of the road, or at the foot of the hills, buried in their splendid flower-gardens, formed a charming contrast with the ancient lava currents, stretching in every direction and over-grown with tree-ferns and dense coppice. Now and then horses were rolling about upon the velvet-like meadows, or herds of cattle and flocks of sheep were passed feeding and ruminating, and bearing ample testimony to the advanced stage of material progress so quickly attained by one of the youngest of English colonies.

"Already we had found banners waving from the houses of Otahuha, a little village closely adjoining a very interesting extinct volcanic peak with a crater, and during a brief haltwe made here, crowds of well-dressed inhabitants came flocking in to welcome the German guests of the Government, who were to develope the natural wealth of the country. From Otahuha the road lay across the plains of Papa Kura (red levels) to Tamaki. It is a wide paved road well ballasted, the bridges solidly built, everything, in short, betokening the fostering care of an enlightened Government, making it a point of duty to open up as speedily as possible convenient means of communication between the capital and the interior. The farms and country-houses were not so numerous in this section, though the rolling country seemed of excellent quality.

"At last, about 1P.M., we reached Drury, a rather large settlement 29 miles from Auckland, where we were most cordially welcomed. Young's Hotel, which had been engaged for the Expedition, was gaily decorated with flowers, rare forest plants, and ferns, while from the gable floated side by side the British and Austrian standards.

"Drury is situate in a fertile rolling plain, the country is everywhere fenced in, corn-fields and meadows give variety to the landscape, and the well-to-do, fresh-looking countenances of the settlers, the groups of rosy-cheeked children, and the herds of splendid cattle, amply attest the salubrity as well as fertility of the neighbourhood. The party now split into two. Our geologist, with several companions, went forward about a mile and half from Drury into the forest,there to commence his investigations at a spot where a coal-bed 12 feet thick had been laid bare. The rest of the naturalists strolled about, engaged in botanical and zoological researches among the soft, beautiful woodland scenery of the almostsoul-enchainingprimeval forest.

"A couple of days were passed in such little excursions in the environs of Drury, in the course of which a trip was made in a Wakka or New Zealand canoe to the Tahike springs, near a Maori village of the same name. Our craft consisted of a single hollowed-out trunk of a kahika tree (Podocarpus excelsa), about 25 feet in length by 21⁄2in breadth. For such a boat a native pays about £5, and it lasts from 20 to 30 years, whereas a canoe of red Totara (Podocarpus Totara) costs when complete about £30, but lasts much longer. Canoes are frequently pointed out prepared from these giants of the forest, 70 feet in length and from five to six in breadth, which were used in old times as war-canoes (Wakka-wakka), and could accommodate 100 warriors. Ours was covered at either end with fresh-gathered ferns, and was provided with four paddles tapering to a point, one of which was used by one of the Maories who accompanied us, while we applied ourselves to learning the management of this novel mode of propulsion by seizing on the rest, and by imitating his motions speedily mastered its difficulties. Unfortunately, owing to the distance, we could not reach the village itself, and, after a variety of curious adventures withthe natives, found ourselves compelled to return when about half-way, in order to husband our strength for the exertions of the ensuing day.

"By dawn the noise in the hotel drove away all further thought of sleep, and presently came flocking in from every quarter the horses, both saddle and pack, which had been engaged for the expedition. The morning broke in uncommon splendour, and the whole landscape lay bathed in a rose-coloured flush, whose exquisite tints recalled the immortal beauties of Claude Lorraine. The winding road that leads over the intervening hills begins at this point to be impracticable for wheeled vehicles, although it is possible to advance a few miles farther in country cars. For upwards of an hour we rode along through beautiful rolling pasture land, for the most part neatly fenced, and covered with herds of noble cattle. Now and then we came upon a stately mansion, buried in flowers and foliage, whose appearance sufficiently attested that the proprietor had long since left behind the struggles of the early days, when the hardy settler inhabited a wretched log-hut (whari), a "clearing" cut with incredible labour amid an almost impenetrable forest, the soil of which he had to prepare for the reception of corn-seed.

"At last we reached the forest, which extended from where we were to the banks of the Waikato. The deeper we penetrated into it, the closer and more majestic grew the trees, and the denser and more impervious was the underwood. Gigantic trees, 150 feet in length of stem, were entwined,trunk, limbs, and summits, with flexible lianæ and other parasitical creepers, while birds of the strangest descriptions were flitting hither and thither among the trees, alarmed by the tramp of our horses, which echoed strangely loud through the silent depths of the forest. The most frequently visible of these feathered denizens of the forest is the Tui (Prostemadera novæ Zelandiæ), called 'the parson' by Captain Cook, in consequence of its having two white feathers in the lower part of its neck resembling bands. In colour and shape it is very like the kingfisher, and its melodious notes present great variety. In addition to the Tui, the forest is frequented by the Kakariki (Platycercus N. Z.), a small green parrot, which, stealing softly through the mysterious greenwood shade, emits its singular shrill shriek. We also fell in with a solitary specimen of the New Zealand cuckoo (Endynamys Taïtensis), called by the natives Koekoea, which was eagerly bagged by the zoologists.

"After riding half an hour into the forest we came to Rama-Rama, a settlement founded about three months previously by a rich English colonist. About 70 acres English were already reclaimed, and in some parts of this patch of land, so lately arrested from the wilderness, peas, turnips, beans, potatoes, and other kitchen vegetables were already peering above the surface. Two small huts, constructed of the stem of the tree-fern, and thatched with reeds, had been extemporized as kitchen and sleeping apartment for the occupier of the soil, a highly-educated, well-informed, gentlemanlyman, named Martin, and his labourers, while on an eminence at a little distance preparations were being made to erect a handsome dwelling-house of wood, whence this skilful shepherd-prince will be able to overlook his flocks and herds, and delight his eyes with the prospect of his rapidly multiplying horned stock.

"The road now became narrower and more difficult, the horses too began to find their footing less secure, and it was only by great vigilance that we contrived to ride over the marshy soil, thickly covered with massive roots of forest giants. Enormous trunks of trees that had fallen across the path had to be scrambled over, and the baggage removed from the pack-horses and carried forward on men's shoulders. Some of the horses, inured to similar expeditions, clambered nimbly over these obstacles, while for others, more restive or less practised, bridges had to be constructed, which are formed by laying two trunks of trees parallel with each other across the chasm or brook, upon which fern or reeds are placed transversely, and the whole tied together with twigs of liana, so as to afford the animals a firm footing. Occasionally this frail apparatus would break through, when the poor horses would disappear below, whence they were only extricated with considerable trouble.

"Towards evening the forest began to get less dense, and we entered upon an undulating table-land, covered with ferns. Some columns of smoke, curling upwards at the foot of a hill on the further side, indicated that we were approachinga Maori village. In front of us lay the valley through which flows the Mangatawhiri, which falls into the Waikato a little lower down. The course of the latter was traceable by a range of hills whose elegant outlines bounded the horizon. We experienced a most friendly reception from the natives of this village, and were lodged in the newestwharior New Zealand hut. This is constructed in the shape of a quadrangle with elliptic sides, about 20 feet in length by 14 feet in breadth, and consists of stakes of palm driven in close to each other, and tied together. The roof, which is 15 feet high in the centre, gradually sloping to about 8 feet at the side walls, is of thin slips of wood, and is covered over by a dense layer of native flax, so ingeniously woven that it is impervious to water, which accordingly runs off. The roof is for the most part supported simply by an upright pole in the midst, but occasionally several of these are used, so as to impart greater strength to the roof. The side walls are usually covered with large mats made of woven rushes. In the middle of the two longer side walls are two doors placed exactly opposite each other, between which a species of corridor is made, which divides the hut into two apartments as it were. In the event of bad weather, a small whari close at hand serves as a kitchen, the Maori usually following all culinary avocations in the open air in front of his hut.

"The village consists of some 15 huts scattered at random, among which some of the inhabitants of both sexes, clothed in European attire, were sitting or lounging upon the ground,or crouching upon their hams. Around, in sympathetic glee and full security, sprawled a squad of pigs and children, some naked, others half-clothed. Most of the adults stretched out their hands in the most friendly manner. Here we had again occasion to remark the extraordinary diversity of physical appearance in various individuals, no two of these Maories being like each other in complexion, hair, or figure. In front of one of the huts a native oven was standing uncovered, the mid-day meal being just over; after the earth and other matters had been removed there appeared, each lying on a cool-looking cabbage leaf, some splendid potatoes and eels from the river. The Hangi-Maori, or Maori oven, is nothing but a hole some three feet long by one and a half deep excavated in the earth. In this a strong fire is made of dried timber, and when fully alight stones are placed over the flames, and kept there till they are in a state of incandescence. As soon as the wood has been consumed the ashes are carefully removed, and a little wet flax thrown upon the hot stones, above which again is placed a layer of fresh cabbage leaves. These form as it were a bed for the food to be cooked, be it meat, vegetables, fish, or fruit. The viands are then covered with another course of leaves, two mats of rushes being placed on the top, after which the earth excavated is heaped over the pile and pressed firmly down, so as to prevent the escape of the steam thus generated. If there are no cabbage leaves handy, a substitute is made of the leaves of the Tuakura (Dicksonia Squamosa), a species offern which grows in great luxuriance among the moist spots. These leaves impart to the meat a peculiar and agreeable flavour, whereas other plants are apt to alter the ordinary taste of the food.

"The women and girls were busily engaged during a few minutes in weaving little baskets of rushes, in which the potatoes were served up garnished with eel. A plateful was handed to each of our party, which we were courteously pressed to eat. In every Maori household there is always a sufficient quantity cooked to admit of any casual traveller or a neighbour partaking with the family; for the Maori possesses in perfection the savage virtue of hospitality, as we frequently experienced.

"The master of the hut in which we passed the night had suddenly disappeared, and was busily engaged, as we witnessed through the open door, in arranging his hair, which he combed carefully, after which he anointed it with eel-fat, which he also plentifully smeared over his face, neck, and arms. This curious toilette completed, he wrapped a clean mat round him, and presented himself in full fig, to bid us all due welcome. The mode of salutation among the New Zealanders is unique. The party saluting draws his head rapidly backwards, and winks a couple of times with half-closed eye and laughing face!

"Our bivouac suddenly received an unexpected accession of new arrivals. From the mountain ridge which we had just passed six horsemen were seen descending at full gallopand making for the village; they proved to be young Maories, mounted on handsome horses, who, having been apprized by a relative, whom we had met in the forest, of the arrival ofPakehas(white men), had come hither partly out of curiosity, partly to do us honour and show us hospitality. They all wore European clothes, rode in good English saddles, and bestrode powerful horses, which they seemed to manage with much grace. There are numerous Maories who have from 50 to 60 head of horses, and whole herds of cattle, besides several thousands of pounds lying in bank.

"In the course of a stroll through the village we not only observed fields planted with the customary rotations of wheat, oats, maize, potatoes, cabbage, and so forth, but on the banks of the river came upon a new mill, constructed on the English system, almost ready for work, which had been erected by an Englishman at a cost of £500, to be repaid by the tribe. The erection of this grinding machinery is the more indicative of the speculative turn of mind of the Maori of the present day, that they use none of the flour for their own primitive household, but manufacture it solely for the purpose of selling it advantageously at Auckland market.

"Towards noon we again entered our canoes on our return, and descended the Mangatawhiri, the navigable channel of which is so narrow that even our narrow craft could with difficulty make its way. Gradually the hills began to slope backwards, and the river to grow wider, till it expanded on either side into a swampy morass covered with reeds and loftyelegant water-plants, while at a short distance away we could descry magnificent trees springing from the high-lying but fertile soil. It was a most delightful day. Throughout our entire excursion the thermometer ranged from 71° 6 Fahr. to 77° Fahr., so that, our strength not exhausted by oppressive heat, and our attention not distracted by the hum or the sting of insects, we were free to indulge those mingled feelings of which the variety and magnificence of the landscape were so well calculated to elicit the manifestation. Presently the river became once more very narrow, the hills again closed in, covered with a thick belt of forest, which extended down to the water's edge, occasionally forming a canopy of indescribable grace above our boat, as she glided noiselessly below. At last the Mangatawhiri, which hitherto had pursued a westerly direction, made a bend to the southward, and debouched into the Waikato. The impression made upon each of our party by the scenery at this point was so overpowering, that all, as though smitten by one common impulse, broke into expressions of delight. Its course lying between mountains of magnificent outline and thickly wooded, the majestic stream presented many points of resemblance to the Rhine and Danube, to which it was little if at all inferior in point of width. A holy calm brooded over its clear brown ripples, only broken by the flight of birds from time to time, which in those undisturbed solitudes, far from the murderous weapons of man, passed their existence in happy security. That we might enjoy in all their plenitude the exquisite charm of theforest and its luxuriant vegetation, we coasted along now on this side, now on that, as though we could never weary of the mingled grandeur and beauty of this magic scene. Still further to enhance the magnificence of nature in her present mood, a tremendous thunder-storm broke over us in the course of the afternoon, when the forked lightning played like arrows of fire above our heads, and the thunder rolled in deafening peals, which were taken up again and again by hundreds of mountain echoes.

"In the evening the sky cleared, and we reached the Maori village of Tuakan, where we were made welcome, and the best hut in the place assigned us. The evening was one of peculiar interest, it being that of Sylvester's day, or the eve of the New Year of 1859, which will scarcely soon again be spent by Austrians at the antipodes. Our entire party camped upon the floor of the hut, two torches, stuck into the mouth of a couple of empty bottles, shed an uncertain light, while an iron kettle served as punch-bowl, in which a "brew," something resembling "Punch," was, by dint of the joint experience of the English and German members of the excursion, compounded out of the spirits we had brought with us. Ere long the chorus went round, and we had German songs, alternating with English, Irish, and Scotch melodies, and even melancholy New Zealand love-songs, sung by some of the Maories present.

Back to Index Next