SLAVERY AMONG THE MAORIS.
The scene I have just described brings into consideration the subject of
slavery, as it now exists in New Zealand. That slavery should be the
custom of savage nations and cannibals, is not a cause of wonder: they
are the only class of human beings it ought to remain with. Here slavery
assumes its most hideous shape! Every one they can effect a seizure of in
an enemy's country becomes the slave of the captors. Chiefs are never
made prisoners; they either fight to the last, or are killed on the spot,
and their heads are preserved (by a peculiar method) as trophies.
Children are greatly prized: these they bring to their dwellings, and
they remain slaves for life. Upon the number of slaves a chief can muster
he takes his rank as a man of wealth and consequence in society; and the
only chance these wretched beings have of being released from their
miseries, is their master getting into a rage, and murdering them without
further ceremony.
On entering a village, a stranger instantly discovers which portion of
its inhabitants are the slaves, though both the complexion and the
dresses of all are alike. The free Zealander is a joyous, good-humoured
looking man, full of laughter and vivacity, and is chattering
incessantly; but the slaves have invariably a squalid, dejected look;
they are never seen to smile, and appear literally half starved. The
beauties characteristic of a New Zealander are his teeth and hair; the
latter, in particular, is his pride and study; but the slaves have their
heads half shorn. The male slave is not allowed to marry; and any
intercourse with a female, if discovered, is generally punished by death.
Never was there a body of men so completely cut off from all society as
these poor slaves; they never can count, with certainty, on a single
moment of life, as the savage caprice of their master may instantly
deprive them of it. If, by chance, a slave should belong to a kind and
good master, an accident happening to him, or any of his family, will
probably prove equally fatal to the slave, as some are generally
sacrificed on the death of a chief.
Thus these poor slaves are deprived of every hope and stimulus by which
all other classes and individuals are animated; no good conduct of theirs
towards their master, no attachment to his person or family, no fidelity
or long service can ensure kind treatment. If the slave effect his escape
to his own part of the country, he is there treated with contempt; and
when he dies (if a natural death), his body is dragged to the outside of
the village, there to be made sport of by the children, or to furnish
food for the dogs! but more frequently his fate is to receive a fatal
blow in a fit of passion, and then be devoured by his brutal master! Even
the female slaves who, if pretty, are frequently taken as wives by their
conquerors, have not a much greater chance of happiness, all being
dependent upon the caprice of their owners.
When I can relate anything favourable to the missionaries, I invariably
intend to do so, which will account for the introduction of the
following: A few days since, I paid a visit to one of their settlements,
and noticed a remarkably fine native woman attending as a servant. She
was respectably dressed, and in every respect (except complexion) she was
similar to a European. She spoke English fluently. Upon expressing my
admiration of her, I was informed that this woman had been a slave of
Hongi's, and that about a year previous he had lost one of his sons, and
had determined to sacrifice this poor girl as an atonement. She was
actually bound for the purpose, and nothing but the strong interference
of the whole of the missionary society here could have saved her life.
They exerted themselves greatly, and preserved her; and she had proved a
faithful and valuable servant.