Chapter XI: Appendix: Vol. iii 494 (5)

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 their _Pahs_, 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. Rangitaki, 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, on the 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 of property 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 former _proteges_ of 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 his countrymen, 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 Potatau[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 L50,000, 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 a noticeable 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-shaped _meri-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 L100 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 already considered 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 celebrated _mot_ of 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 felt called 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 and want 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 which latter 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 deg. Fahr., and is 5 deg. less at the south, and in the north about 4 deg. 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 L2 to L5 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 L23,328, and in 1858, 6116 tons, value L33,056. Of building timber of all sorts there were exported in 1857 L12,205, and in 1859 L34,376 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 L35,250, 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 of _Phormium tenax_, the Colonial Government has offered a reward of L1500 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 L800, 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 L3,000,000.

Sheep-farming has of late years made an enormous advance in New Zealand, the export for 1857 being 2,648,716 lbs., value L176,581, that for 1859, 5,096,751 lbs., value L339,779, averaging 1_s._ 4_d._ 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 and export, is at present about L2,000,000, the value of imports having risen from L597,827 in 1853 to L1,551,030 in 1859, while the exports, which in the former year were only L331,282, had risen in 1859 to L551,484. 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 L459,648.

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 the _Novara_ staff went on the invitation of Government to examine the coal-beds lately discovered in Drury district, others made frequent excursions in 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 Pohutu-Kawua; 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 the _Piper methysticum_ of 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 had their 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 "Tenakoe, Tenakoe" (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 the _Novara_ any 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 spared because 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 (_Dacrydium_ _Cupressinum_), 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 15_s._, and 100 cubic feet of the beautiful Rimu wood, which is much used for furniture, fetches about 30_s._ A saw-mill labourer is paid from L7 to L8 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 Loyalty Islands, 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] some really 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 made experiments 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 the _Novara_ an 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 thoroughly acquainted with the country, and Mr. Heaphy, chief engineer of the province; Mr. Smallfield, editor-in-chief of the _New 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 the _Novara_, 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 times _Pahs_ or 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 halt we 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 1 P.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 almost _soul-enchaining_ primeval 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 2-1/2 in breadth. For such a boat a native pays about L5, and it lasts from 20 to 30 years, whereas a canoe of red Totara (_Podocarpus Totara_) costs when complete about L30, 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 with the 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 lianae 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 novae Zelandiae_), 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 Taitensis_), 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, gentlemanly man, 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 approaching a 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 newest _whari_ or 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 of fern 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 gallop and 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 of _Pakehas_ (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 L500, 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 lofty elegant 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 deg. 6 Fahr. to 77 deg. 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 the forest 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.

"As the evening, and with it the dying year, wore on, some little difficulty, natural enough under the circumstances, arose, how to ascertain the precise moment of its departure, as most of those present had left their watches behind, as a something more than superfluous article in the course of a forest excursion, and the few which had been brought differed so much, that it was impossible to depend upon them for the correct moment at which the old year sank to his rest, and the new began his course of alternate hopes and alarms, joys and griefs.

"Suddenly Captain Drummond Hay rose, and opening the door, which, as in most Maori huts, faced the south, exclaimed: 'Well, we have neither church clock nor night watch to tell us the exact moment when the year changes, but a bountiful Providence has suspended for us in yonder firmament another and an unerring sentinel of night and time:--the constellation of the Southern Cross! During how many sleepless nights, among the forest or fern-covered plains of New Zealand, have I lain gazing at that never-failing time-piece of the Almighty's own handiwork! See, the Cross begins to bend to the west! It must now be midnight. A happy new year to one and all!' Once more the glasses clinked against each other, and hand locked in hand, after which the shades of night were left to gather round our wearied party, who sunk into sound repose, relieved probably by many a cheering vision of distant friends.

"The following morning, 1st January, 1859, we all rose early, refreshed for the day's work, and found the entire population of the village collected around us. There were also a couple of English carpenters who joined the crowd, and welcomed us to the interior. They were employed in constructing for the natives, at an expense of L400, a wooden chapel, as the Maories attach great importance to having a place of worship, where those resident on the spot, or any occasional European stranger, may unite with them in spending the sabbath in a becoming manner. The majority of the New Zealanders are Christians, and belong almost exclusively to the High Church of England. Service is performed partly by missionaries, who traverse the country up and down, partly by itinerant spiritual teachers, regularly engaged for the purpose, the latter of whom have occasionally to struggle against severe privations and obstacles of various kinds. Many natives educated by the missionaries travel through the country preaching and praying, and by their exemplary conduct must greatly influence their fellow-countrymen. In almost every hut in the village we found a Bible, or a hymn-book and prayer-book, in the Maori tongue.

"Notwithstanding their undoubted capacity, the natives will not apply themselves to any handicraft pursuits, which indeed they attach so little value to that they regard the shoemaker and the tailor, for example, as inferior to them. On the other hand, the merchant or the seaman stands in high esteem; and the warrior holds the chief place in their estimation, while they themselves consider them not inferior to the Europeans, with respect to courage, firmness, and love of war.

"About noon we set out on our return. The route chalked out for us, by the only road which exists between Tuakan and Drury, was constructed partly by the land-holders along its course, partly by the surveyors, only intended for cattle, and to facilitate survey. We found it in such a rude state that it was only with much trouble we got our horses over the trees which lay felled across the road, or could induce them to put a foot on the bridges of loose planks by which the water-courses were crossed. In every direction the path was over-grown with roots, between deep pools, into which one stepped over the knees, while the boughs of the trees overhead rendered any attempt at progress a matter of considerable difficulty.