CHAPTER I

Transcriber's Note:

Italics are indicated by _underscores_, and bold font by =equal signs=,

while small capitals have been converted to full capitals.

In the text a macron, denoting a long vowel, has been placed over the

first "e" of Tamati Waaka Nene, the prominent Maori chief. He was also

the recipient of a letter that was inserted into the book after it had

been printed. This has been shifted to the end of the Appendix. In the

letter "mu?u" has been transcribed as "mutu".

The text contains quotations from instructions to Captain Hobson in 1839.

After consulting alternative versions of these documents, the following

corrections have been made to clarify their sense:

-chapter I: "repair. By the nearness" changed to "repair. But the

nearness";

-chapter III: "disappeared, or often as" changed to "disappeared, as

often as".

Apparent typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in

hyphenation have been removed except where they reflect quotations

from other documents.

THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

[Illustration: THE COMMEMORATIVE MONUMENT.

"The symbol on which have been engraved the articles of the treaty, so

that eyes may look thereon from year to year."

_Frontispiece._]

THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

OR

HOW NEW ZEALAND BECAME A BRITISH COLONY

BY

T. LINDSAY BUICK

AUTHOR OF "OLD MARLBOROUGH," "OLD MANAWATU," "AN OLD NEW ZEALANDER"

WELLINGTON N.Z.

S. & W. MACKAY LAMBTON QUAY

1914

Dedication

TO

ROBERT M'NAB

M.A., LL.B., F.R.G.S.

TO WHOSE ENTERPRISE AND SELF-SACRIFICE WE OWE THE RECOVERY OF SO MUCH

OF OUR FAST RECEDING HISTORY I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK

PREFACE

The arrival in New Zealand waters of the battleship given to the

Empire by this Dominion during a grave national crisis, marks a new

epoch in the life of our country, and an event so pregnant with the

spirit of Imperialism seems to the author to provide an appropriate

point at which to pause and retrospectively review the causes which

have made possible such an innovation in our naval policy--such a

milestone in our national history. The story of New Zealand's progress

since 1814 has been one of splendid emulation tempered by vicissitude.

There have been dark days, days of doubt, of devastation by war, but

never a period when our people lost heart or renounced their national

faith. No attempt has been here made to tell the whole of that story.

All that I have tried to do is to get back to the beginning of things,

to the birth of law and order, to the genesis of the day when we were

able to say to the Mother Land, "We will build you a Dreadnought, and

yet another if needs must." The Treaty of Waitangi has been frequently

derided and denounced, but it was in very truth the foundation of our

nationhood. When we consider what Britain would have lost in material

wealth, in loyalty, in strategetical advantage; when we reflect what

it would have cost to have conquered the country by force of arms,

then it is that we can see in clearer perspective the wisdom of Lord

Normanby's policy, the breadth of his statesmanship, and we are the

better able to appreciate the triumph in diplomacy which that treaty

represents.

Unfortunately the lapse of seventy-three years has robbed us of all

who were actively concerned in its consummation, and equally

unfortunately they have left few records behind them. There are

grey-headed men and aged women alive to-day who were children at the

time, but so far as I know there is only one with us now who was

actually present at the signing of the treaty. Old Rahira te Hua, the

daughter of one of the great Hongi's slaves, who has seen ninety-three

summers pass, still carries in her weakening memory some misty

recollections of that day fraught with such far-reaching consequences

to both races. The opportunity for obtaining personal testimony of

what happened is thus irretrievably gone. I have, therefore, had to

rely for my information almost entirely upon official documents,

supplemented by such fugitive memoranda as may have been left by the

few concerned, who happen to have placed their opinions or impressions

on record. The gathering together of this widely-scattered material,

the moulding of it into a connected narrative, has had its pleasurable

as well as its anxious moments, for the subject has not been without

its perplexities, ambiguities, and contradictions. All of these I have

sought to sift with justice and treat with perfect impartiality. Where

I have met with conflicting statements it has been my endeavour to so

present the position that the reader will be able to form his own

conclusions, and where I have expressed my personal opinions they have

only been such opinions as appeared to me to be justified by the facts

of the case. Whatever impression the reading of this narrative may

leave with those who peruse it, I for one cannot lay down my pen from

its writing without affirming that two things appear to me to be

established--that Britain has no reason to be ashamed of the manner in

which she obtained the sovereignty of New Zealand, and in the light of

subsequent events she has no reason to regret it. I have not attempted

to arraign or to defend the various, real or alleged, breaches of the

treaty committed by our Governors or Governments. That phase of the

subject is necessarily so controversial in character, that to do it

justice would require a volume of its own, the need for which has to

some extent been obviated by the publication in 1888 of his

_Aureretanga_, by Mr. G. W. Rusden, in which that vigorous writer

deals exhaustively with at least the Maori side of the case. The

Treaty of Waitangi, the first diplomatic arrangement of the kind

entered into between Britain and a savage race, was a wise, politic,

and humane measure, the justice of which has been vindicated with the

lapse of time. In the expressive language of a native address to Lord

Ranfurly, "This treaty has been rained upon by the rain, it has been

exposed to the blast of the storm, but the words are still clear, they

cannot be obliterated."

Let us hope that no attempt will ever be made to violate either its

letter or its spirit.

THE AUTHOR.

"ENNISMORE,"

BOULCOTT STREET, WELLINGTON,

_April 30, 1913_.

NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT

During the compilation of this work I have necessarily been placed

under obligations to a number of gentlemen, whose services I now

desire to acknowledge.

I am especially indebted to Mr. Charles Wilson, Librarian to the New

Zealand Parliament, for the privilege of freely examining the rare

official papers I desired to consult. In like manner the courtesy of

Mr. A. Hamilton, Director of the Dominion Museum, must be acknowledged

in placing at my disposal the New Zealand books in the Carter

Collection, while the Hon. J. T. Paul, M.L.C., has been most helpful

in consulting for me authorities contained in the Hocken Collection at

Dunedin. To Mr. Robert M'Nab I am obliged for the extract from Captain

Lavaud's Despatch to the French Minister of Marine, now made public

for the first time, and to Te Heuheu Tukino, the present representative

of that family, for the narrative of his illustrious grandfather's

rejection of the treaty. Valuable assistance has also been lent by the

Hon. Dr. Pomare, M.P., by Messrs. H. M. Stowell, L. M. Grace, and

Elsdon Best, in solving Maori problems of a technical nature, and to

the Rev. T. G. Hammond I am indebted for favours of a more general

character. For permission to use the portrait of Tamati Waaka Nēne

I have to thank Mr. H. E. Partridge, of Auckland, and especially Mr.

A. M'Donald for his generous assistance in preparing the balance of

the illustrations.

The written authorities consulted will be found in the Appendix.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

PAGE

IN THE BEGINNING 1

CHAPTER II

SEEKING A WAY 36

CHAPTER III

FINDING A WAY 60

CHAPTER IV

THE MAORI MAGNA CHARTA 87

CHAPTER V

IN SEARCH OF SIGNATURES 135

CHAPTER VI

THE TREATY 214

APPENDIX 297

BIBLIOGRAPHY 345

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACE PAGE

The Commemorative Monument _Frontispiece_

Town of Russell 12

James Busby 26

Lord Normanby 48

Captain Hobson, R.N. 64

The Mission Church at Kororareka 70

Mr. Busby's Residence 98

The Waitangi Falls 108

Tamati Waaka Nēne 118

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

Major Bunbury, K.T.S. 172

Horahora-Kakahu Island 198

A Section of the Treaty Signatures 238

Captain Hobson's Signatures to the Treaty 258

Earl Derby 282

Map of the Bay of Islands _On page_ 347

Map of Cloudy Bay " 348

CHAPTER I

IN THE BEGINNING

"The Islands of New Zealand have long been resorted to by British

Subjects on account of the valuable articles of commerce which they

produce, and by reason of the peculiar advantages which they offer to

whale-ships requiring repair. But the nearness of these Islands to the

British settlements of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land has also

led to their being resorted to as an asylum for fugitive British

convicts, and such persons having associated with men left in New

Zealand by whale-ships and other vessels, have formed a Society which

indispensably requires the check of some contending authority. Her

Majesty's Government have therefore deemed it expedient to station at

New Zealand an officer, with the character and powers of a British

Consul, and I have the satisfaction to acquaint you that the Queen has

been graciously pleased to select you for that appointment." So wrote

Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary in Lord Melbourne's Cabinet, on

August 13, 1839, to Captain William Hobson, R.N., and this letter may

be taken as the first satisfactory evidence we have that the British

Government had at last decided to accept their long-evaded

responsibility in connection with New Zealand. Ever since the day when

Captain Cook took possession of the country in the name and for the

use of King George III., these islands had been allowed by succeeding

British Governments to remain a neglected geographical quantity, and

this very neglect had now robbed the nation of the title which Cook

had by his splendid enterprise secured for it.

The Law of Nations has well defined the principle that before a

country becomes entitled to claim sovereignty in any part of the globe

"by right of discovery" it is not sufficient that the mariners of that

country should sail forth and discover new lands; but there must be

some effective act immediately following, such as systematic

occupation, in order to bind other peoples to respect the discovering

nation's claim.

During the latter part of the century which had elapsed between the

time of Cook's proclamation to the world and the day when the

Melbourne Cabinet decided that Britain must assume in earnest her

responsibilities in the South Pacific there had not only been no

systematic occupation of New Zealand by Britain, but rather a

systematic renunciation of the nation's intention in that direction.

The Duke of Wellington had petulantly declared that England had

colonies enough, and Minister after Minister who had presided over the

Colonial Office had in deeds, if not in words, endorsed this policy of

anti-Imperialism. There were at this time none amongst the British

statesmen blessed with that broader grasp, that wider vision of an

Empire "extending over every sea, swaying many diverse races, and

combining many diverse forms of religion," which afterwards animated

the colonial policy of Lord John Russell.[1] The courage and capacity

which that planter of Imperial outposts declared were necessary to

build such an Empire--to effect such a wholesome blending of

peoples--were wanting, and there was even an imminent danger that in

this negatory attitude towards colonising other Powers would come to

regard Britain not as an equal, nor with the fear that an equal can

inspire, but as a timorous weakling, a nation destitute of enterprise,

the product of a waning courage and of a pusillanimous hand.

Thus it came about that when in 1839 the Ministry of Lord Melbourne

found themselves coerced by circumstances into recognising the need

for systematic colonisation, they discovered themselves destitute of

what most people believed they possessed--a title to sovereignty in

New Zealand "by right of discovery."

The spirit of the British nation had not, however, been as idle as the

British statesman, and inherent enterprise, combined with an inherent

love of adventure, had sown and matured the seed which continuous

Ministries had persistently declined to nourish. The elements which

had contributed to the irregular settlement of New Zealand were

faithfully recorded in Lord Palmerston's letter to Captain Hobson, and

a more unpropitious beginning for any colony could scarcely be

imagined. The number of British subjects who, up to 1839, had resorted

to New Zealand for the purposes of legitimate and respectable trade

were comparatively few, but it is estimated that even earlier than

this there were over five hundred escaped convicts living along the

sea coast in and around the Bay of Islands, the point at which

settlement had, up to that time, chiefly congregated. Of those

directly and indirectly concerned in the whaling industry there must

have been a considerable number, for it is officially recorded that in

the year 1836 no less than one hundred and fifty-one vessels had

visited the Bay of Islands alone, and the proportion was even larger

in the first half of the succeeding year.

The combination of whaler and convict was not one calculated to

strengthen the morality of the community, and so large a leaven of the

lawless class, together with the insatiable desire of the natives to

procure muskets, had the effect of creating a state of society which,

in the words of the Foreign Secretary, "indispensably required the

check of some contending authority." In the absence of any such

authority the more respectable settlers at the Bay of Islands had

organised themselves into a self-constituted Association, into whose

hands was committed the administration of a rude justice, which

recognised a liberal application of tar and feathers as meet

punishment for some of the offences against society. A steadying

influence had also been supplied by the appointment at intervals since

1814 of gentlemen empowered to act as Justices of the Peace, their

authority being derived from a Commission issued by the Governor of

New South Wales, and, if illegal, was on more than one occasion acted

upon with salutary effect.[2]

Although it has been a popular sport on the part of many writers to

throw darts of sarcasm at the labours of the Missionaries, they, too,

must be accounted a tremendous influence for good, not so much,

perhaps, in checking the licentiousness of the Europeans, as in

preventing the natives from becoming contaminated by it. Destructive

internecine wars had been waging "with fiendish determination" for

many years under the conquering leadership of Hongi, Te Wherowhero, Te

Waharoa and Te Rauparaha, by which whole districts had been

depopulated, and tribe after tribe practically annihilated. Still the

Maori people were a numerous, virile and warlike race, capable of

deeds of blackest barbarism, or equally adaptable to the softening

influences of Christianity and civilisation.

So far as the darker side of their history is concerned, we have it on

the irreproachable authority of the Rev. Samuel Marsden that the

tragedies in which the natives made war upon the Europeans were in

almost every instance merely acts of retaliation for earlier

outrages.[3] The killing of Marian du Fresne and the massacre on

board the _Boyd_ were unquestionably so; and the dread of the

natives which for several years after these events almost suspended

the sea trade with New Zealand was the natural fruit of that cruelty

which trusting Maori seamen had suffered at the hands of unscrupulous

captains, who had either inveigled them or forced them on board their

whalers. Dark as the history of New Zealand was during these Alsatian

days, there is no chapter quite so dark, or which redounds less to the

credit of the white race, than the story of the sea-going natives who

were taken away from these sunny shores,[4] and abandoned in foreign

countries, or driven at the end of the lash to tasks far beyond their

physical strength, resulting in the premature death of many, while the

poison of undying hatred entered into the souls of the survivors.

The position on shore was scarcely less disgraceful, for the natives

resident in the seaward _pas_ were cruelly ill-treated by the

crews of the European vessels who visited them; and it is stated in

the records of the Church Missionary Society that within the first two

or three years of the arrival of the Missionaries not less than one

thousand Maoris had been murdered by Europeans, the natives unhappily

not infrequently visiting upon the innocent who came within their

reach revenge for crimes perpetrated by the guilty who had evaded

their vengeance.

But apart from the commission of actual outrage there was debauchery

of several kinds, and always of a pronounced type. "They lead a most

reckless life, keeping grog shops, selling spirituous liquors to both

Europeans and natives, living with the native females in a most

discreditable way, so that the natives have told me to teach my own

countrymen first before I taught them. They have called us a nation of

drunkards from their seeing a majority of Europeans of that stamp in

New Zealand." Such was the testimony of an erstwhile Missionary, Mr.

John Flatt, when giving evidence before the House of Lords regarding

the northern portion of the colony; and not less unsatisfactory was

the position in the South Island, where the whalers were the

preponderating section of the white population.

At both Cloudy Bay and Queen Charlotte Sound there was, in 1837, a

considerable white settlement, each man being a law unto himself,

except in so far as he was under the dominion of the head man of the

station. This at least was the opinion formed by Captain Hobson when

visiting those parts in H.M.S. _Rattlesnake_. In describing the

result of his enquiries to Governor Bourke, he dismissed the

probability of these settlements being attacked by the natives,

because they were so confederated by their employment; but he

significantly added: "The only danger they have to apprehend is from

themselves, and that is in a great measure neutralised by the

contending influences of their own reckless and desperate character."

The Rev. Mr. Stack, then labouring in the north, in writing home to

the parent Society, complained bitterly of the unprincipled white men

who had escaped from the chain gangs at Sydney, and who had recently

shown themselves so desperate that two were seized and taken to Sydney

to be tried at the Assizes on a charge of attempted robbery and

murder.[5] Mr. Stack pleaded for the intervention of the British

Government, which he hoped would not leave the country at the mercy of

the escaped convicts, or the natives to the influence of a commerce

carried on with so many circumstances destructive to the moral health

of the people, that if unchecked, would effectually do the work of

depopulation. "We have no law or justice," wrote Mr. Stack, "no

punishment for crime but private revenge."

In the beginning of the year 1840 Kororareka, the settlement at the

Bay of Islands which had the greatest right to claim the dignity of a

township, contained about three hundred inhabitants of all ages,

exclusive of the numerous sailors, whose nightly revels constituted the

only interruption to the peace and harmony which generally prevailed.

These gentry resorted in great numbers to the native village at the

inner anchorage, where the principal chief carried on the lucrative

business of grog-selling, besides another of a still more discreditable

kind, for the convenience of his reckless customers--French, English,

and American. "Here," according to Dr. Jameson, "might be seen the

curious spectacle of a still savage chief enriching himself at the

expense of individuals who, although belonging to the most civilised

and powerful nations in the world, were reduced to a lower degree of

barbarism by the influence of their unbridled licentiousness."

Contact with such social degenerates was not calculated to inspire the

natives with a high ideal of European morality, nor with a conspicuous

example of rectitude; but where the influences destructive of decency

and order were less virulent the Missionaries had a more hopeful tale

to tell. "The door is opening before us in every direction, and the

people are pressing and entreating us to enter. Had we only more help,

where we have now a hundred natives under our care, we would soon have

a thousand." Such was the report of the Rev. Mr. Turner, one of the

Wesleyan Missionaries[6] at Hokianga, in urging his Society to send

more workers to this corner of the human vineyard. The attendance and

attention of the natives at Divine worship were regular and fixed,

while it is recorded that their responses to the reading of the Litany

were particularly devout.

The sincerity of many of these early converts was one of the most

remarkable features of the evangelising of the Maori; and the Rev. Dr.

Beecham, in giving evidence before the Lords' Committee in 1838,

quoted this eloquent passage from one of the letters of the Rev. Mr.

Hobbs to illustrate the warmth of Maori piety. "The beauty of the

Liturgy, as translated by our brethren at the Bay of Islands into the

Native tongue, is most exquisite, and to me hardly loses any of the

force of original composition, and, I have no doubt, has been made a

great blessing unto many by putting words of prayer into their mouths,

and thus teaching them to pray. Many times has my heart gloried within

me while repeating the 'Te Deum Laudamus,' and especially that part--

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

that is--

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth,

and hear them respond--

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

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

"I have been informed," continued Dr. Beecham, "by those who have

witnessed the celebration of public worship in the principal church at

Mangungu, that to hear 700 or 800 of the Christian natives correctly

and promptly utter the responses, and then sing the praises of the

True God, is highly affecting. Another feature of their character is

their strict observance of daily social prayer. At dawn of day all the

inhabitants of the villages assemble together in the chapel at the

sound of the bell, or some piece of metal used as a substitute, to

read the scriptures and to pray. The same order is observed in the

evening. When the evening approaches the whole of the population moves

to the house of God, and close the day with devotions. Their reverence

for the Sabbath is remarkable. Those who come from a distance to

attend Divine worship at Mangungu do not travel on the Sunday, but on

the Saturday, and return on the Monday. They refrain from all work on

the Lord's Day. So strict are their views on the sanctity of the

Sabbath they do not even prepare their food on that day. The arrival

of a vessel is always a matter of considerable excitement to the

natives of New Zealand, but if a vessel arrives on the Sunday no stir

is made."

It would be difficult to find any description quite so touching

concerning the religious observances of the _Pakehas_, whose

irreverence more than once roused the righteous indignation of the

Rev. Mr. Marsden.

Although the British authorities had as yet taken no decisive step

towards acquiring sovereignty in New Zealand, it cannot be said that

the state of society in the country had entirely escaped their notice.

Especially were the successive Governors of New South Wales vigilant

in keeping Ministers posted as to passing events. Many must have been

their anxious moments, for they being the nearest representatives of

the Crown were naturally most solicitous for the conduct and fate of

their countrymen. As far back as 1814 Governor Macquarie had declared

New Zealand to be a part of that colony, and it was thought that the

jurisdiction of the Supreme Court had also been extended to this

country. These proceedings were, however, almost a nullity, for had

they been formal and constitutional--which they were not--the

practical difficulties in the way of bringing offenders to justice

were so great that the attempt was only made in a few isolated and

extreme instances.

This state of official negation continued until the tidings of the

part played by Captain Stewart and his brig _Elizabeth_ in Te

Rauparaha's Akaroa raid reached Sydney. Then Governor Darling and his

successor, Sir Richard Bourke, realised that this game of glorified

bluff could not go on indefinitely. The strongest possible

representations were accordingly made to the Home authorities, and

these representations were followed by a pathetic petition from the

natives to King William IV., which was transmitted to Sir Richard

Bourke through Mr. Yate, one of the principal members of the Church

Missionary Society's staff then labouring in the colony.

The leading chiefs of the northern part of the Islands had long ere

this realised the ineffectiveness of their tribal system to cope with

the altered state of society. The Missionaries on their part watched

with anxiety the unhappy trend of affairs, knowing that if some more

enlightened course was not given to events, a serious collision would

in all probability arise between the two races, which could scarcely

terminate otherwise than in the extermination or expulsion of the one

or the other.

Being fully persuaded that to maintain the chiefs and their tribes as

an independent people was the most effective safeguard against foreign

aggression, they saw with deepest regret the intestine warfare which

was going on amongst the natives, thinning their ranks, and rendering

them every day less able to resist the pretensions of a foreign power.

Stung by a sense of failure, and excited by a rumour that the French

were at hand, the chiefs placed themselves under Missionary direction

and addressed themselves to the King in the following diplomatic

terms[7]:--

TO KING WILLIAM, THE GRACIOUS CHIEF OF ENGLAND

KING WILLIAM--We, the chiefs of New Zealand assembled at

this place, called the Kerikeri, write to thee, for we hear that thou

art the great Chief of the other side of the water, since the many

ships which come to our land are from thee.

We are a people without possessions. We have nothing but timber,

flax, pork and potatoes, we sell these things, however, to your

people, and then we see the property of Europeans. It is only thy

land which is liberal towards us. From thee also come the

Missionaries who teach us to believe on Jehovah God, and on Jesus

Christ His Son.

We have heard that the tribe of Marian[8] is at hand coming to take

away our land, therefore we pray thee to become our friend and

guardian of these Islands, lest through the teazing of other tribes

should come war to us, and lest strangers should come and take away

our land. And if any of thy people should be troublesome or vicious

towards us (for some persons are living here who have run away from

ships), we pray thee to be angry with them that they may be obedient,

lest the anger of the people of this land fall upon them.

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

WARERAHI, chief of Paroa.

REWA, " Waimate.

PATUONE, " Hokianga.

NĒNE, " Hokianga.

KEKEAO, " Ahuahu.

TITORE, " Kororareka.

TAMARANGA, " Taiamai.

RIPE, " Mapere.

HARA, " Ohaeawai.

ATUAHAERE, " Kaikohe.

MOETARA, " Pakanae.

MATANGI, " Waima.

TAUNUI, " Utakura.

The accumulating reports of increasing disorder, the strenuous

recommendations of Governor Bourke, added to the touching appeal of

the chiefs, at length moved the Colonial Office to acquiesce in the

contention that some one should be sent to New Zealand directly

charged with the duty of representing the British Crown. In replying

to the Native petition, Lord Goderich,[9] who was then at the Colonial

Office, after expressing the gratification the petition had afforded

the King, accordingly intimated that it had been decided to appoint as

British Resident Mr. James Busby, whose duty it would be to

investigate all complaints which might be made to him. "It will also

be his endeavour," wrote his Lordship, "to prevent the arrival amongst

you of men who have been guilty of crimes in their own country, and

who may effect their escape from the place to which they have been

banished, as likewise to apprehend such persons of this description

who may be found at present at large. In return for the anxious desire

which will be manifested by the British Resident to afford his

protection to the inhabitants of New Zealand, against any acts of

outrage which may be attempted against them by British subjects, it is

confidently expected by His Majesty that on your part you will render

to the British Resident that assistance and support which are

calculated to promote the objects of his appointment, and to extend to

your country all the benefits which it is capable of receiving from

its friendship and alliance with Great Britain."

Mr. Busby, who had thus been chosen for the responsible task of

guarding both British and Native interests, was the son of a

successful civil engineer in Australia, but it is doubtful whether he

had passed through the administrative experience necessary to fit him

in all respects for his arduous post.[10] His position was rendered

still more difficult by reason of the fact that, much as Ministers

might have wished to do so, it had been found impossible to sweep away

the constitutional difficulties which faced them on every side. Indeed

so hampered was the situation by the circumstance that Britain had not

acquired, or claimed Sovereign rights in New Zealand, that when

Governor Bourke came to direct Mr. Busby upon the scope of his office,

he was compelled to lay greater stress upon the things he could not

do, than upon the powers he was at liberty to exercise.

[Illustration: RUSSELL.

Formerly Kororareka.]

Mr. Busby was instructed to leave Sydney by H.M.S. _Imogene_,

commanded by Captain Blackwood, and on arrival at the Bay of Islands

he was to present to the chiefs the King's reply to their petition,

"with as much formality as circumstances may permit." This instruction

Mr. Busby used his best endeavours to obey, for after a stormy passage

across the Tasman Sea he reached the Bay of Islands on Sunday, May 5,

1833. Here he at once made arrangements with the settlers and

Missionaries to invest his landing with an importance which was its

due; but continued storms made it impossible to perform any kind of

open-air ceremony with comfort and dignity until the 17th. On that

day, however, the weather had moderated, and at an early hour

preparations were afoot for the inevitable feast, a proclivity to

which both Maori and European appear equally addicted. At a later hour

Mr. Busby, accompanied by the first lieutenant of the _Imogene_,

landed under a salute of seven guns, and no sooner had he set foot on

shore than he was claimed by the old chief, Tohitapu, as his

_Pakeha_. A cordial greeting awaited the Resident by the

Missionaries, to whose village at Paihia, but a short distance off,

the party at once adjourned. Here three hoary-headed chiefs delivered

speeches of welcome, a _haka_ was danced, and still more speeches were

made in honour of a stranger whose coming was regarded as the event of

first importance since the landing of Samuel Marsden seventeen years

before. With these evidences of native hospitality at an end, the

formal proceedings were commenced in front of the little mission

chapel round which the people crowded in motley throng, shouting songs

of welcome, and discharging fitful volleys of musketry. By dint of

lively exertion order was at length restored, and standing at a table,

with Captain Blackwood on his right and Mr. Henry Williams, who

interpreted, on his left, Mr. Busby read the King's reply to the

people's Petition for protection. The reading of this document was

listened to with profound respect by the Europeans, who rose and

uncovered their heads, while the natives hung upon the words of Mr.

Williams as he explained the professions of the King's good-will, of

the sincerity of which Mr. Busby was a living evidence. Then followed

Mr. Busby's own address, which was listened to by the wondering crowd

with no less rapt attention:

MY FRIENDS--You will perceive by the letter which I have

been honoured with the commands of the King of Great Britain to

deliver to you, that it is His Majesty's most anxious wish that the

most friendly feeling should subsist between his subjects and

yourselves, and how much he regrets that you should have cause to

complain of the conduct of any of his subjects. To foster and

maintain this friendly feeling, to prevent as much as possible the

recurrence of those misunderstandings and quarrels which have

unfortunately taken place, and to give a greater assurance of safety

and just dealing both to his own subjects and the people of New

Zealand in their commercial transactions with each other, these are

the purposes for which His Majesty has sent me to reside amongst you,

and I hope and trust that when any opportunities of doing a service

to the people of this country shall arise I shall be able to prove to

you how much it is my own desire to be the friend of those amongst

whom I am come to reside. It is the custom of His Majesty the King of

Great Britain to send one or more of his servants to reside as his

representatives in all those countries in Europe and America with

which he is on terms of friendship, and in sending one of his

servants to reside amongst the chiefs of New Zealand, they ought to

be sensible not only of the advantages which will result to the

people of New Zealand by extending their commercial intercourse with

the people of England, but of the honour the King of a great and

powerful nation like Great Britain has done their country in adopting

it into the number of those countries with which he is in friendship

and alliance. I am, however, commanded to inform you that in every

country to which His Majesty sends his servants to reside as his

representatives, their persons and their families, and all that

belongs to them are considered sacred. Their duty is the cultivation

of peace and friendship and goodwill, and not only the King of Great

Britain, but the whole civilised world would resent any violence

which his representative might suffer in any of the countries to

which they are sent to reside in his name. I have heard that the

chiefs and people of New Zealand have proved the faithful friends of

those who have come among them to do them good, and I therefore trust

myself to their protection and friendship with confidence. All good

Englishmen are desirous that the New Zealanders should be a rich and

happy people, and it is my wish when I shall have erected my house

that all the chiefs will come and visit me and be my friends. We will

then consult together by what means they can make their country a

flourishing country, and their people a rich and wise people like the

people of Great Britain. At one time Great Britain differed but

little from what New Zealand is now. The people had no large houses

nor good clothing nor good food. They painted their bodies and

clothed themselves with the skins of wild beasts; every chief went to

war with his neighbour, and the people perished in the wars of their

chiefs even as the people of New Zealand do now. But after God sent

His Son into the world to teach mankind that all the tribes of the

earth are brethren, and that they ought not to hate and destroy, but

to love and do good to one another, and when the people of England

learned His words of wisdom, they ceased to go to war against each

other, and all the tribes became one people. The peaceful inhabitants

of the country began to build large houses because there was no enemy

to pull them down. They cultivated their land and had abundance of

bread, because no hostile tribe entered into their fields to destroy

the fruit of their labours. They increased the numbers of their

cattle because no one came to drive them away. They also became

industrious and rich, and had all good things they desired. Do you

then, O chiefs and tribes of New Zealand, desire to become like the

people of England? Listen first to the Word of God which He has put

into the hearts of His servants the missionaries to come here and

teach you. Learn that it is the will of God that you should all love

each other as brethren, and when wars shall cease among you then

shall your country flourish. Instead of the roots of the fern you

shall eat bread, because the land shall be tilled without fear, and

its fruits shall be eaten in peace. When there is an abundance of

bread we shall labour to preserve flax and timber and provisions for

the ships which come to trade, and the ships that come to trade will

bring clothing and all other things which you desire. Thus you become

rich, for there are no riches without labour, and men will not labour

unless there is peace, that they may enjoy the fruits of their

labour.

The Resident's address was received with an outburst of wild applause,

and soon the smoke of discharging muskets again hung heavy on the

morning air. But there was still other diversion for the natives, to

whom the proceedings had proved a great novelty. The mental feast

which was to provide them with food for discussion for many days was

now supplanted by a more material repast, at which fifty settlers were

entertained at Mr. Williams's house, while the Maoris were fed with a

sumptuousness that made memorable to them the coming and the

installation of the first British Resident.

As an adjunct to his slender authority, Mr. Busby had been informed by

Governor Bourke that Sir John Gore, the Vice-Admiral commanding the

Indian Squadron of the Navy, would be instructed to permit his ships

to call in at New Zealand ports as frequently as possible, and offer

him what support they could during these fitful visits. But upon

neither naval nor civil power was Mr. Busby to rely overmuch. He was

to depend for his authority rather upon his moral influence and his

co-operation with the Missionaries, to whom he went specially

accredited.

Mr. Busby has frequently been made the butt of the humorist, because

his bark was necessarily worse than his bite. The Maori cynic of his

day chuckled as he dubbed him "_He manuwa pu kore_" ("A

man-of-war without guns"), and many a playful jest has since been made

at his expense, all of which is both unfair and ungenerous to Mr.

Busby. The difficulty in the way of investing him with legal power was

thus tersely explained by Sir Richard Bourke during the course of his

initial instructions to the Resident:

You are aware that you cannot be clothed with any legal power or

jurisdiction, by virtue of which you might be enabled to arrest

British subjects offending against British or Colonial law in New

Zealand. It was proposed to supply this want of power and to provide

further enforcement of the criminal law as it exists amongst

ourselves, and further to adapt it to the new and peculiar exigencies

of the country to which you are going, by means of a Colonial Act of

Council grafted on a statute of the Imperial Parliament.

Circumstances which I am not at present competent to explain have

prevented the enactment of the Statute in question.[11] You can

therefore rely but little on the force of law, and must lay the

foundation of your measures upon the influence which you shall obtain

over the Native Chiefs. Something, however, may be effected under the

law as it stands at present. By the 9th Geo. IV., cap. 83, sec. A,

the Supreme Courts of N. S. Wales and Van Dieman's Land have power to

enquire of, hear and determine, all offences committed in N.Z. by the

Master and crew of any British ship or vessel, or by any British

subject living there, and persons convicted of such offences may be

punished as if the offence has been committed in England.... If

therefore you should at any time have the means of sending to this

colony any one or more persons capable of lodging an information

before the proper authorities here, of an offence committed in N.Z.

you will, if you think the case of sufficient magnitude and

importance, send a detailed report of the transaction to the Colonial

Secretary by such persons who will be required to depose to the facts

sufficient to support an information upon which a bench Warrant may

be obtained from the Supreme Court for the apprehension of the

offender, and transmitted to you for execution. You will perceive at

once that this process, which is at best a prolix and inconvenient

operation and may incur some considerable expense, will be totally

useless unless you should have some well-founded expectation of

securing the offender upon or after the arrival of the warrant, and

of being able to effect his conveyance here for trial, and that you

have provided the necessary evidence to ensure his conviction.

Shorn of everything which suggested practical power, except the name

of British Resident, Mr. Busby soon found himself in no very enviable

position. He was ignored by the whites and laughed at by the natives.

To add still further to his difficulties he was slow to recognise that

the Missionaries in the long years of their labour had naturally

acquired more influence with the natives than he could possibly have,

and he was reluctant to achieve his object by appearing to play a

subordinate part to them. He had been explicitly instructed to seek

their hearty co-operation, and take every advantage of the high

respect in which they were held by the natives. It was not long,

however, before he began to develop ideas of his own and to formulate

a policy which he could not enforce, because it was at variance with

that of the Missions.

He had also been accredited to the thirteen chiefs who had signed the

memorial to the King in the previous year, and had been advised to

seek their assistance in arresting those offenders whom he had power

to transmit to Sydney for trial. The number of such persons whom he

might have apprehended now totalled, we are assured, to several

hundreds; but the process was, as Sir Richard Bourke had suggested, so

obviously "prolix and inconvenient," that Mr. Busby exercised to the

full the measure of discretion given him by the Governor, and left

them severely alone.[12]

According to Captain Fitzroy, who visited the Bay of Islands during

the cruise of H.M.S. _Beagle_ in 1835, he preferred to fold his

hands and allow events to shape their own course. "He chose to tell

every one who went to him that he had no authority; that he was not

even allowed to act as a Magistrate, and that he could do nothing. The

consequence was that whenever anything did occur, those who were

aggrieved went to the Missionaries. Mr. Busby might have very

considerable power, because the Missionaries have such influence over

the whole body of natives they could support him. If Mr. Busby wanted

a person taken up he had only to express his wish to the Missionaries,

and the natives would have done it for them, but he was slow to act in

that way. He was sent there in a high character, and was accredited to

the Missionaries, and had he communicated with them freely and allowed

them to be cognisant of, if not the agents in all that took place,

while he remained as the head, and the understanding had been that

all that the Missionaries did was done in concert with Mr. Busby, and

all that eventuated was from him as the head, his influence would have

been far too great for any individuals in that part of the Islands to

resist. By dividing the two influences Mr. Busby lost his power of

preventing mischief. He remained on tolerably good terms with them,

but separated himself in an unnecessary degree from them, and thought

he might differ from them sometimes, even to taking a precisely

opposite course of conduct to that which they recommended. The

consequences were that while the natives retained their opinion of the

Missionaries, they found that the Resident was a nonentity, and that

he was there to look on and nothing more."

As illustrating the class of difference which sometimes arose between

the Resident and the Missionaries, and which must have appreciably

hampered the activities of both, Captain Fitzroy stated to the

Committee of the House of Lords that when he was at the Bay of Islands

in 1835 there was then a serious difference between the real and the

nominal head of the community, with respect to the stopping or

discouraging the sale of ardent spirits. The Missionaries wanted to

carry into effect a regulation similar to one established in the

Society Islands, namely, that no spirits should be imported into the

country. Mr. Busby would not be a party to such a rule, contending

that it was an unnecessary measure; while the Missionaries, on the

other hand, were unanimous in declaring it was one of the most useful

precautions they could take, but no amount of argument could induce

Mr. Busby to co-operate with them.[13]

Mr. Busby at all times expressed the most profound respect for the

Missionaries and veneration for their labours. He also cheerfully

acknowledged that if the British Government expected them to accord

their influence to its Representative they must be given a specified

share in the government of the country. But when it came to a point of

difference, he plainly let it be known that he considered himself

possessed of a sounder judgment than they. After detailing to Governor

Bourke a discussion in which he claimed to have got the better of the

Missionaries, he wrote: "I thought they would naturally conclude in

future that it was possible for the conclusions of a single mind, when

directed to one object, to be more correct than the collective

opinions of many persons whose minds are altogether engrossed with the

multitude of details which fill up the attention of men, occupied as

they are, leaving neither leisure nor capacity for more enlarged and

comprehensive views."

Mr. Busby might have said more in fewer words, but he could scarcely

have depreciated the mental powers of the Missionaries in a more

delightfully prolix sentence. Skilfully, however, as the sting was

sheathed within a cloud of words, the barb came through, with the not

unnatural result that he had to confess the Missionaries afterwards

neither respected his opinions nor appeared anxious to co-operate with

him in what he described as "the furtherance of matters connected with

the King's service in this country."

Though severely handicapped by his inability to coordinate his ideas

with those of the Missionaries, or to sink his individuality before

theirs, it does not follow that Mr. Busby was entirely idle. He lent

himself with considerable industry to the task of placing the

shipping of the country upon a basis more satisfactory than it had up

to that time been. At the date of his arrival there were a number of

New Zealand owned craft trading on our coasts, and several vessels

were building on the Hokianga River. Sailing as these vessels were

under no recognised register, and without the protection of the

British ensign, which they were prohibited from hoisting, they were

liable to seizure at any time by any enterprising pirate.[14] Equally

impossible was it for these owners to register their craft in New

Zealand, for there was as yet no acknowledged flag of the nation.

These facts were made the subject of representation by Mr. Busby to

the Governor of New South Wales, who accorded a hearty approval to his

suggestion that the commerce of the country warranted some protection

of this nature. Flags of three separate designs were accordingly

entrusted to Captain Lambert of H.M.S. _Alligator_, who brought

them from Sydney and submitted them to the chiefs for approval.

This event took place at Waitangi, on March 20, 1834, the natives

having been gathered from all the surrounding _pas_ into a large

marquee erected in front of the British Residency, and gaily decorated

with flags from the _Alligator_. Wisely or unwisely the

proceedings were not conducted upon the democratic basis of our

present-day politics; for upon some principle which has not been made

clear the tent was divided by a barrier into two areas, into one of

which only the _rangatiras_ were admitted, and to them the right

of selection was confined. No debate was permitted, but Mr. Busby read

to the chiefs a speech in which he dwelt upon the advantages to be

anticipated from the adoption of a national flag, and then invited

them to take a vote for the choice of design.

This mode of procedure created considerable dissatisfaction amongst

the plutocracy of the tribes, who resented the doubtful privilege of

being permitted to look on without the consequential right to

exercise their voice. The stifling of discussion also tended to breed

distrust in the minds of some of the chiefs, to whom the settlement of

so important a matter without a _korero_[15] was a suspicious

innovation. Two of the head men declined to record their votes,

believing that under a ceremony conducted in such a manner there must

be concealed some sinister motive. Despite these protests, the British

Resident and Captain Lambert had their way, and at the conclusion of

Mr. Busby's address, the flags were displayed and the electors invited

to vote. The great warrior chief Hongi, acting as poll-clerk, took

down in writing the preference of each chief. Twelve votes were

recorded for the most popular ensign, ten for the next in favour, and

six only for the third. It was then found that the choice of the

majority had fallen upon the flag with a white ground divided by St.

George's Cross, the upper quarter of which was again divided by St.

George's cross, a white star on a blue field appearing in each of the

smaller squares.[16]

The election over, the rejected flags were close furled, and the

selected ensign flung out to the breeze beside the Union Jack of Old

England.

In the name of the chiefs Mr. Busby declared the ensign to be the

national flag of New Zealand. As the symbol of the new-born nation was

run up upon the halyards, it was received with a salute of twenty-one

guns from the warship _Alligator_, and by cheers from her

officers and the goodly crowd of sailors, settlers, and Missionaries

who had assembled to participate in the ceremony.

As is usual with most such functions where Britons are concerned, the

event was celebrated by a feast. The Europeans were regaled at a cold

luncheon at Mr. Busby's house, while the Maoris had pork, potatoes,

and _kororirori_[17] served upon the lawn in front of the Residency,

which delicacies they devoured _sans_ knives _sans_ forks.

These proceedings subsequently received on behalf of the British

Government the entire approbation of Lord Aberdeen;[18] and the

countenance thus lent to what at the time was regarded as no more than

a protection to the commerce of the country was discovered to have a

most important bearing upon the question of Britain's sovereignty over

these islands.

Though Mr. Busby found himself destitute of legal power or military

force to make good his authority, and equally lacking in the tact

necessary to secure by policy what he could not achieve by any other

means, he was sincerely and even enthusiastically loyal to the main

principle underlying his office--the preservation of British

interests. Thus when the tidings came that Baron de Thierry intended

to set up his kingdom at Hokianga, he took immediate and, as far as

lay in his power, effective steps to defeat what he regarded as a

wanton piece of French aggression.

Baron de Thierry was not a Frenchman in the narrow sense of the term,

and his foreign associations were more imaginary than real. He was the

son of a French noble refugee who had fled his country and had resided

in England for many years. The Baron had been educated at Cambridge,

had acquired English sympathies, and had been an officer in the 23rd

Lancers, so that he was in sentiment if not by birth a subject of the

King. When Hongi, the great Nga-Puhi chief, visited Cambridge in

company with his compatriot Waikato and Mr. Kendall, to assist

Professor Lee in the compilation of the Maori vocabulary, the Baron

met the warrior chief, and became fired with the romance of the

Pacific. There was much that was quixotic in his scheme of becoming a

potentate amongst the savages of the South Seas, and it is possible it

was not altogether devoid of benevolence.[19] There is at least reason

to believe that Baron de Thierry had persuaded himself that he also

had a mission for the uplifting of the benighted, and that when he

arranged with Mr. Kendall to purchase him an area of land at Hokianga

whereon he proposed to set up his "kingdom," he did so more in the

spirit of philanthropy than of mercenary adventure. The area alleged

to be purchased by Mr. Kendall on behalf of the Baron was the

considerable one of 40,000 acres, and the price paid was the

inconsiderable one of 36 axes. The transaction was accompanied by the

usual misunderstanding as to the real nature of the deal, the Baron

declaring that the axes were payment in full, the natives contending

they were but a deposit, or at the best payment for a much smaller

area.

The chiefs treated his "sovereign rights and powers" with undisguised

derision. They disavowed his territorial claims because they were made

regardless of the fundamental principle underlying the Maori law of

property--that all the people who have an interest in the land must

consent to its sale. Subsequently the matter was compromised by Tamati

Waaka Nēne conceding him a small area,[20] to which he retired

destitute of retainers, and surrounded only by the members of his own

family.

The story of the Baron's landing in 1837, with much pomp and

circumstance, under a salute of twenty-one guns, his dispute regarding

Kendall's purchase, his final disappearance into obscurity, are,

however, of secondary importance to our purpose. What is of vital

interest is that the announcement in 1835 of his approaching advent

galvanised the British Resident and the native chiefs into a state of

anxious activity. Living as they were on the confines of civilisation,

their information concerning events outside their own little world was

necessarily of the scantiest. Their fears were thus often greater than

their knowledge of the facts, and so in this emergency they had no

difficulty in persuading themselves that an invasion by the French was

at hand.

As a counterblast, Mr. Busby counselled that the chiefs should

immediately crystallise the position taken up by Britain--that New

Zealand was not a British possession--by unequivocally declaring their

own independence. His policy was approved, and for the purpose of

giving effect to it, thirty-five chiefs assembled at Mr. Busby's house

at Waitangi, where in the presence of the resident Missionaries and

merchants they evolved the following declaration,[21] which brought

into existence the much-questioned and questionable authority known as

The Confederated Tribes of New Zealand.

It is not difficult to trace the Roman hand of the Resident throughout

the document, especially as the Maori had no word in their language to

express the idea of sovereignty; but it is only just to remark that in

a subsequent despatch Mr. Busby drew the attention of Governor Bourke

to the fact that the concluding paragraph, both in language and

sentiment, originated with the chiefs:

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF NEW ZEALAND

(1) We, the hereditary chiefs and head of the tribes of the Northern

parts of New Zealand, being assembled at "Waitangi" in the Bay of

Islands on this 28th day of October 1835, declare the independence of

our country, which is hereby constituted and declared to be an

independent state, under the designation of the United tribes of New

Zealand.

(2) All Sovereign powers and authority within the territories of the

United tribes of New Zealand is hereby declared to reside entirely

and exclusively in the hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes in

their collective capacity, who also declare that they will not permit

any legislative authority separate from themselves in their

collective capacity to exist, nor any function of Government to be

exercised within the said territories unless by persons appointed by

them and acting under the authority of laws regularly enacted by them

in Congress assembled.

(3) The hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes agree to meet in

Congress at Waitangi, in the autumn of each year, for the purpose of

framing laws for the dispensation of justice, the preservation of

peace and good order, and the regulation of trade, and they cordially

invite the Southern tribes to lay aside their private animosities,

and to consult the safety and welfare of our common country by

joining the confederation of the United tribes.

(4) They also agree to send a copy of this declaration to His Majesty

the King of England, to thank him for his acknowledgment of their

flag, and in return for the friendship and protection they have shown

and are prepared to show to such of his subjects as have settled in

their country, or resorted to its shores for the purpose of trade,

they entreat that he will continue to be the parent of their infant

State, and that he will become its protector from all attempts upon

its independence.

AGREED unanimously on this 28th day of October 1835 in the

presence of His Britannic Majesty's Resident.

_English Witnesses_:

HENRY WILLIAMS, Missionary C.M.S.

GEORGE CLARKE, " "

JAMES C. CLENDON, Merchant.

GILBERT MAIR, "

(Translated by the Missionaries and certified to by James Busby,

British Resident.)

NAMES OF CHIEFS SIGNING DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

October 28, 1835.

AWAROA.

HARE HONGI.

HEMI KEPA TUPE.

WARE POAKA.

WAIKATO.

TITORE.

MOKA.

WHARERAHI.

KEWA.

WAI.

REWETI ATUAHAERE.

AWA.

WIREMU TE TI TAUNUI.

TE NANA.

PI.

KAUA.

TAREHA.

KAWITI.

PUMUKA.

KE KEAE.

TE KAMARA.

POMARE.

WIWIA.

TE TAO.

MARUPO.

KOPIU.

WARAU.

NGERE.

MOETARA.

HIAMOE.

PUKUTUTU.

TE PEKA.

HONE WIREMU HEKE.

PAERARA.

ERERA PARE (te kai-tuhituhi).

SUBSEQUENT SIGNATURES TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

NĒNE (Tamati Waaka).

HUHU.

PATUONE.

PARORE, June 25, 1837.

TOWA.

PANAKAREAO (Nopera).

KIWI KIWI, Jan. 13, 1836.

TIRARAU, Feb. 9, 1836.

HAMUREA PITA, March 29, 1836.

TAWHAI.

MATE.

KAHA, June 25, 1837.

TE MORENGA, July 12, 1837.

MAHIA.

TAONUI, Jan. 16, 1838.

PAPAHIA, Sept. 24, 1838.

HAPUKU, Sept. 25, 1838.

TE WHEROWHERO, July 22, 1839.[22]

[Illustration: JAMES BUSBY.]

A few days prior to this meeting at Waitangi and the proclamation of

their independence by the chiefs, Mr. Busby issued (on October 10,

1835) a stirring appeal to his scattered countrymen, in which he

announced that he had received from "a person who styles himself

Charles Baron de Thierry, Sovereign chief of New Zealand, and King of

Nukuheva, one of the Marquesas Islands, a formal declaration of his

intention to establish in his own person an independent sovereignty in

this country, which intention he states he has declared to their

Majesties the Kings of Great Britain and France, and to the President

of the United States, and that he is now waiting at Otaheite the

arrival of an armed ship from Panama to enable him to proceed to the

Bay of Islands with strength to maintain his assumed authority. His

intention is founded on an alleged invitation given to him in England

by Shunghee (Hongi) and other chiefs, none of whom as individuals had

any right to the sovereignty of the country, and consequently

possessed no authority to convey a right of sovereignty to another;

also upon an alleged purchase made for him in 1822 by a Mr. Kendall of

three districts on the Hokianga River from three chiefs who had only a

partial property in these districts, parts of which are now settled by

British subjects by virtue of purchase from the rightful proprietors.

The British Resident has also seen an elaborate exposition of his

views which this person has addressed to the Missionaries of the

C.M.S., in which he makes the most ample promises to all persons,

whether whites or natives, who will accept his invitation to live

under his Government, and in which he offers a stipulated salary to

each individual in order to induce him to act as his Magistrate. It is

also supposed he may have made similar communications to other persons

or classes of His Majesty's subjects, who are hereby invited to make

such communications, or any information on this subject they may

possess, known to the British Resident or to Lieutenant MacDonnell.

The British Resident has too much confidence in the loyalty and good

sense of his countrymen to think it necessary to caution them against

turning a favourable ear to such insidious promises. He firmly

believes that the paternal protection of the British Government which

has never failed any of His Majesty's subjects, however remote, will

not be withheld from them, should it be necessary to prevent their

lives, liberties, or property from being subjected to the caprice of

any adventurer who may choose to make this country, in which British

subjects have now by the most lawful means acquired so large a stake,

the theatre of his ambitious projects; nor in the British Resident's

opinion will His Majesty, after acknowledging the sovereignty of the

New Zealand chiefs in their collective capacity, by the recognition of

their flag, permit his humble and confiding allies to be deprived of

their independence upon such pretensions. But although the British

Resident is of opinion that such an attempt as is now announced must

ultimately fail, he nevertheless conceives that if such a person were

once allowed to obtain a footing in the country, he might acquire

such an influence over the simple-minded natives as would produce

effects which could not be too much deprecated, or too anxiously

provided against, and he has therefore considered it his duty to

request the British settlers of all classes to use all the influence

they possess with the natives of every rank in order to counteract the

efforts of any emissaries who may have arrived or may arrive amongst

them, and to inspire both chiefs and people with a spirit of the most

determined resistance to the landing of a person on their shores who

comes with the avowed intention of usurping a sovereignty over them.

The British Resident will take immediate steps for calling together

the native chiefs in order to inform them of this attempt upon their

independence, and to advise them of what is due to themselves and to

their country, and of the protection which British subjects are

entitled to at their hands, and he has no doubt that such a

manifestation will be exhibited of the characteristic spirit, courage,

and independence of the New Zealanders, as will stop at the outset

such an attempt upon their liberties, by demonstrating its utter

hopelessness."

It is somewhat difficult to say, in the absence of contemporary

newspapers, what impression was created in the public mind by the

Resident's proclamation or by the native Declaration of Independence,

but in due course the latter was, in accordance with the unanimous

desire of the chiefs, "laid at the feet of His Majesty," and in the

following year--so tardy was communication in those days--it was

courteously, but guardedly acknowledged by Lord Glenelg, who wrote to

Governor Bourke:

"With reference to the desire which the chiefs have expressed on this

occasion, to maintain a good understanding with His Majesty's

subjects, it will be proper that they be assured, in His Majesty's

name, that he will not fail to avail himself of every opportunity of

showing his goodwill, and of affording to those chiefs such support

and protection as may be consistent with a due regard to others, and

to the interests of His Majesty's subjects."

Left to its own devices, the native Confederation was faced with a

task that proved altogether too exacting for its resources, and it

cannot be claimed for the new authority that it remodelled the

Government or reclaimed the dissolute society by which it was

surrounded. Had it been possible to restrict the intercourse of the

natives to the Missionaries and the more respectable portion of the

settlers, they might, combined with the counsels of the Resident, have

been speedily induced to form an effective administration amongst

themselves, and that important stage once reached, they, with their

quick intelligence, might have easily acquired a working knowledge of

the higher principles of self-government. But thrust as they were in

the midst of a strangely confused community, any such limitation was

obviously impossible.

Even if it had been practicable, the irreconcilable differences which

had sprung up between the Resident and the Missionaries, of which the

natives were perfectly cognisant, necessarily detracted from the

beneficial influence which an official in Mr. Busby's position might,

and ought to have wielded.

The absence of the physical force which Mr. Busby pined for was

unmistakably against the due observance of the ordinary decencies of

life, for the people whom Captain Fitzroy had described as

"ragamuffins," and Captain Hobson had still more emphatically

condemned as "abandoned ruffians," were scarcely likely to be amenable

to anything more gentle than the grip of the handcuff or the probe of

the bayonet. It was therefore to but little purpose that the

Confederation should pass ordinances which, if not respected, could

not be enforced.

The difficulties of the Confederation accumulated with the increase of

trade and population, both of which were growing rapidly. In the year

1836 no fewer than 93 British, 54 American, and 3 French ships put in

at the Bay of Islands. The irregular settlement of white people at

various spots along the coast had increased in like manner, until in

the early part of 1838 a body of no less than 2000 British subjects

had taken up their permanent abode in New Zealand. The part these

people were playing in the scheme of civilisation was still small, if

we are to accept as accurate the verdict of Dr. G. R. Jameson, who in

his _Travels in New Zealand_ has taken the responsibility of saying

that from all he had seen and heard respecting the fixed traders, or

the casual visitors for trade, it could be affirmed in the most

positive terms that not one of them had ever attempted to teach a

native to read or write, or to communicate to his mind one ray of

Christian knowledge or of moral rectitude. With a few honourable

exceptions they had been in their intercourse with the natives guided

by one ruling impulse--the love of gain. Their predominant aim was

ever and always to obtain the greatest possible quantity of pigs,

potatoes, flax, maize, labour, or land in exchange for the smallest

possible amount of tobacco, ammunition, and piece-goods.[23]

It was not alone, however, by the criminal taint of a large section of

the population and this excessive hunger for trade that the seeds of

continued anarchy were sown. A new evil was at hand which threatened

to sap the independence of the Maori, and reduce them to a condition

of speedy and abject poverty. This was the land hunger which about

this time seized the white population of Australia. There the opinion

had gripped the public mind that under the Declaration of Independence

it would be possible to pursue in New Zealand the schemes of land

aggregation which Sir George Gipps had checked in New South Wales.

Under his new land regulations the price of land in that colony had

been raised from 3s. to 12s. per acre, and hearing that large areas

were to be obtained in New Zealand for less than the proverbial song,

the speculators swarmed over to the Bay of Islands, and in the year

1837 the land fever in all its phases of "sharking," "jobbing," and

legitimate purchase literally raged throughout the country. "What gold

was to the Spaniard in Mexico the land at this period became to the

English in these islands, and as the warlike aborigines most coveted

the acquisition of firearms, they divested themselves of their only

possessions in order to obtain those deadly instruments, which,

together with ardent spirits, were the most potent means for the

destruction of their race. Almost every captain of a ship arriving in

Sydney exhibited a piece of paper with a tattooed native head rudely

drawn upon it, which he described as the title-deed of an estate

bought for a few muskets, hatchets, or blankets."

Several years elapsed before it was possible to reduce these frenzied

bargains to tabulated form, but during the debate on New Zealand

affairs, which occupied the House of Commons for three days in 1845,

the representative for Westminster, the Hon. Captain Rous, R.N., put

forward the following startling figures as authentic. A Mr. Webster,

an American, he said, claimed to have purchased forty miles of

frontage on the west side of the river Piako;[24] a Mr. Painham

claimed nearly the whole of the north coast of the Northern Island.

Mr. Wentworth of New South Wales asserted his right to 20,100,000

acres in the Middle Island; Catlin & Co. to 7,000,000; Weller & Co. to

3,557,000; Jones & Co. to 1,930,000; Peacock & Co. to 1,450,000; Green

& Co. to 1,377,000; Guard & Co. to 1,200,000, and the New Zealand

Company to 20,000,000.

Yet another authority has stated that the whole of the South Island

was claimed by a Company consisting of four gentlemen, in consideration

of giving the chiefs a few hundred pounds in money and merchandise,

and a life annuity of £100.[25] Another individual, representing a

commercial firm in Sydney, claimed several hundred thousand acres,

including the township of Auckland, for which he paid as compensation

one keg of gunpowder. The island of Kapiti was claimed by five

different parties, each declaring they had purchased it, but each

naming a different price. Some alleged they had paid £100, others

goods to the value of £30, and so on, the only point of unanimity

being that they were each able to produce something that resembled the

signatures of Te Rauparaha or Te Rangihaeata.

In much the same way the district round Porirua was claimed by eight

separate parties, each contending that Te Rauparaha had sold to them,

and to them alone. Cooper, Holt & Rhodes of Sydney asserted they had

paid merchandise to the value of £150 for a tract of country between

the Otaki and Waikanae Rivers, running in an easterly direction forty

miles from the mouth of the river, thirty miles in another direction,

and ten miles along the coast. Mr. John Hughes, also of Sydney,

claimed in part all the lands of Porirua for a distance of thirty

miles, bounded by the sea on the one hand, and by the Tararua Range on

the other.

In the general censure which followed upon the disclosure of these

unseemly proceedings the Missionaries did not escape criticism, and

are still, at times, subject to severest strictures on this question,

as it affects public morals. Unjust as these strictures frequently are

the purchase from Hongi, in 1819, of 13,000 acres at Kirikiri for

forty-eight axes, by the Rev. Samuel Marsden,[26] was one amongst

other transactions which on the face of it seems to leave room for the

gravest enquiry as to its propriety.[27]

If the Confederation of chiefs had been helpless in the face of social

disorder, it was still more impotent to cope with the inroads of the

speculator. The greed for land on the part of the _Pakeha_, and the

hunger for muskets on that of the Maori, rendered futile all attempts

to control the traffic by an already effete administration. The need

for a wider application of authority and efficient Government at

length found voice in a petition which was submitted to the King by

the law-abiding settlers at Kororareka. The settlers, catechists, and

Missionaries to the number of one hundred and ninety-two, headed by

the Rev. Henry Williams, Chairman of the Church Mission, joined in the

plea for protection.

During the course of their representations they made it clear that the

attempt to evolve order out of chaos had utterly failed; that the

Confederation of Chiefs was impotent in the face of existing evils;

and, praying that His Majesty would graciously regard the peculiarity

of their position, asked that he would afford them such relief as to

him seemed most expedient.

TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY

SIRE--May it please Your Majesty to allow your faithful and

loyal subjects at present residing in New Zealand to approach the

throne, and crave your condescending attention to their petition

which is called forth by their peculiar situation.

The present crisis of the threatened usurpation of power over New

Zealand by Baron Charles de Thierry, the particulars of which have

been forwarded to Your Majesty's Government by James Busby, Esquire,

the British Resident, strongly urges us to make known our fears and

apprehensions for ourselves and families, and the people amongst whom

we dwell.

Your humble Petitioners would advert to the serious evils and

perplexing grievances which surround and await them arising for the

most part, if not entirely from some of Your Majesty's subjects, who

fearlessly commit all kinds of depredations upon other of Your

Majesty's subjects who are peaceably disposed. British property in

vessels, as well as on shore, is exposed without redress to every

imaginable risk and plunder, which may be traced to the want of a

power in the land to check and control evils, and preserve order

amongst Your Majesty's subjects.

Your Petitioners are aware that it is not the desire of Your Majesty

to extend the colonies of Great Britain, but they would call Your

Majesty's attention to the circumstance of several of Your Majesty's

subjects having resided for more than twenty years past, since which

their numbers have accumulated to more than five hundred, north of

the River Thames alone, many of whom are heads of families. The

frequent arrival of persons from England and the adjacent colonies is

a fruitful source of further augmentation. Your Petitioners would

therefore humbly call Your Majesty's attention to the fact that there

is at present a considerable body of Your Majesty's subjects

established in this Island, and that owing to the salubrity of the

climate there is every reason to anticipate a rapidly rising colony

of British subjects. Should this colony continue to advance, no doubt

means would be devised whereby many of its internal expenses would be

met as in other countries. There are numbers of land-holders, and the

Kouri (Kauri) forests have become, for the most part, the private

property of Your Majesty's subjects.

Your humble Petitioners would also entreat Your Majesty's attention

to the important circumstance that the Bay of Islands has long been

the resort of ships employed in the South Sea fishery and the

Merchant Service, and is in itself a most noble anchorage for all

classes of vessels, and is further highly important in affording

supplies and refreshment to shipping. There are also several other

harbours and anchorage of material importance to the shipping

interests in situations where British subjects have possessions and

property to a large amount. The number of arrivals of vessels in the

Bay of Islands during the last three years has been considerably on

the increase. At one period thirty-six were at anchor, and in the

course of six months ending June 1836 no less than one hundred and

one vessels visited the Bay.

Your Petitioners would further state that since the increase of the

European population several evils have been growing upon them. The

crews of vessels have frequently been descryed on shore, to the great

detriment of trade, and numberless robberies have been committed on

shipboard and on shore by a lawless band of Europeans, who have not

even scrupled to use firearms to support them in their depredations.

Your humble Petitioners seriously lament that when complaints have

been made to the British Resident of these acts of outrage, he has

expressed his deep regret that he has not yet been furnished with

authority and power to act, not even the authority of a civil

Magistrate to administer an affidavit.

Your humble Petitioners express with much concern their conviction

that unless Your Majesty's fostering care be extended towards them,

they can only anticipate that both Your Majesty's subjects and also

the aborigines of this land will be liable in an increased degree to

murders, robberies, and every kind of evil.

Your Petitioners would observe that it has been considered that the

confederate tribes of New Zealand were competent to enact laws for

the proper Government of this land, whereby protection would be

afforded in all cases of necessity; but experience evidently shows

that in the infant state of the country this cannot be accomplished

or expected. It is acknowledged by the chiefs themselves to be

impracticable. Your Petitioners therefore feel persuaded that

considerable time must elapse before the chiefs of this land can be

capable of exercising the duties of an independent Government.

Your Petitioners would therefore pray that Your Majesty may

graciously regard the peculiarity of their situation, and afford that

relief which may appear most expedient to Your Majesty.

Relying upon Your Majesty's wisdom and clemency we shall ever pray

Almighty God to behold with favour and preserve our Gracious

Sovereign.

[1] On one occasion when Lord John Russell was asked by a French

Diplomat how much of Australia Britain claimed, he promptly replied,

"The whole of it."

[2] As indicating the state into which society had fallen it may be

mentioned that one Master of a trading vessel who had no muskets to

sell, gave a chief a packet of corrosive sublimate wherewith to

destroy his enemies. To correct this condition of affairs a

proclamation was published in the New South Wales Government

_Gazette_ in 1814 appointing the Rev. Mr. Kendall and the chiefs,

Ruatara, Hongi and Korokoro, Magistrates at the Bay of Islands, for

the purpose of suppressing outrages. This authority was subsequently

revoked as being illegal.

[3] "The Rev. Mr. Kendall has received a commission to act as a

Magistrate, but it does not appear that he possesses the means of

rendering effective assistance to the natives against the oppressions

of the crews of European vessels, and of controlling in any degree the

intercourse that subsists between them."--Commissioner Bigge to Earl

Bathurst, 1823.

[4] This practice was prohibited by the Governor of New South Wales by

Proclamation, on November 9, 1814.

[5] Edward Doyle underwent the extreme penalty of the law at Sydney

for a burglary committed at the Bay of Islands on June 18, 1836, the

sentence being imposed under a statute of George IV.

[6] The Wesleyan mission in New Zealand originated in a visit made to

this country in the year 1819 by the Rev. Mr. Leigh, a missionary of

the Wesleyan Society then stationed in New South Wales. He made the

visit for the benefit of his health on the recommendation of the Rev.

Mr. Marsden.

[7] Petition sent to King William through Mr. Yate, per Colonial

Secretary of New South Wales, November 16, 1831.

[8] The French were called by the natives "the tribe of Marian" after

Captain Marian du Fresne, who met his untimely death at their hands in

1772. To show that these fears were not altogether unfounded, it may

be mentioned that the French ship _La Favourite_ anchored in the

Bay of Islands the day after the petition was signed.

[9] He afterwards became Earl of Ripon.

[10] Mr. Busby's father had been appointed in 1823 as a Mineral

Surveyor and Civil Engineer for the colony of New South Wales, by Earl

Bathurst, and Mr. Busby accompanied him as a settler, taking with him

capital to the extent of about £1000. At the time of his appointment

Mr. Busby was Collector of Internal Revenue and a Member of the Land

Board of New South Wales.

[11] The Bill was not passed, because it was found that Parliament was

legislating in a "foreign country," and this it has no power to do.

[12] Mr. Busby's difficulties in this connection were considerably

increased by the fact that when British subjects were accused they

frequently sheltered themselves under the American flag, saying, "We

are Americans, you have no right to interfere with us."--Captain

Fitzroy.

[13] "After ardent spirits were introduced in the neighbourhood of

Hokianga the Christian natives themselves became so sensible of the

evils resulting from the use of them, that under the influence of the

Missionaries the chiefs assembled and agreed to certain regulations,

the effect of which was to prohibit the introduction and sale of

ardent spirits. Those regulations received the sanction of the

Governor of New South Wales, and were for a time partially carried

into effect. Our Missionaries have transmitted a copy of the

resolutions adopted at a meeting of the natives at Hokianga for the

formation of a Temperance Society. Those resolutions were signed by

fifteen native chiefs. One chief who was present declined for a time,

but at length he agreed, and also signed them. Another chief remarked

that it would be desirable that wine and porter should also be

prohibited, for if they were allowed the English would say when the

rum casks came that they were wine and porter, and by that means

spirits would continue to be smuggled into the river. The later

accounts give us reason to fear that notwithstanding these regulations

spirits continued to be introduced there in defiance of the laws made

by the native chiefs."--Rev. Dr. Beecham before Committee of House of

Lords.

[14] The British Admiralty agreed to respect and protect the New

Zealand ships' registers after the National flag had been hoisted.

[15] _Korero_ = talk, debate, discussion.

[16] Dr. Marshall, surgeon of H.M.S. _Alligator_, mentions that

during his visit to the district he had become interested in a chief

named Hau, who, prior to the voting, asked the Doctor for his opinion,

on the designs. The Doctor favoured the one ultimately chosen, and Hau

"having discovered how my taste lay, paid me the compliment of

adopting it, and canvassed others for their votes also." This

influence in all probability decided the election. After cession of

sovereignty to the Queen in 1840 this flag was of course superseded by

the Union Jack as a National ensign. It was then adopted by the Shaw

Savill & Albion Shipping Company, and is now flown by them as their

house flag.

[17] _Kororirori_ was a mixture of flour and water, sweetened

with sugar, of which the natives had become very fond. While the feast

was in progress word came that Pomare had arrived at the Bay at the

head of a large armed party. Mr. Williams was sent to enquire why he

had brought arms to a peaceable gathering? He replied, "It is New

Zealand custom," and then added, "The _Rangatira_ from the

warships have their swords, and we ought not for shame to be without

our guns," an observation which left little room for an effective

rejoinder. Pomare, who was a great stickler for etiquette, was

offended because he thought he had not been properly invited, and took

this method of showing his displeasure. He was however soon placated

by the Missionary.

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

[19] The Baron has been described as a crotchety enthusiast rather

than a knavish schemer.

[20] Nēne gave him 5000 acres, which was subsequently reduced by

quarrels and quibbles to 1000 acres.

[21] Sir George Gipps, Governor of New South Wales, in succession to

Sir Richard Bourke, in a despatch dated August 1840, speaks of the

Declaration, as entirely a measure of Mr. Busby's concoction, and

designates it "a silly as well as an unauthorised act--a paper pellet

fired off at the Baron de Thierry."

[22] The chiefs who signed this document were thoroughly representative

of the tribes residing between the North Cape and the latitude of the

River Thames.

[23] Dr. Jameson concludes his unalluring picture, by the statement:

"It is to the Missionary labour only that we can justly attribute the

abolition of infanticide, polygamy, and the atrocities of native

warfare which have disappeared before the dawn of Christianity."

[24] This claim is still the subject of negotiation between the

British and United States Governments.

[25] Probably the Wentworth Purchase.

[26] The deed confirming this transaction is now in the Hocken

Collection at Dunedin.

[27] "The Missionaries have been successful, but I think a greater

effect might be given to them if their minds were relieved from those

secular things which press upon them on behalf of their children. If

they could devote their lives to the service of Christianity instead

of trying to better the condition of their own children. At present

they are cultivating their land. To use the words of the Rev. Henry

Williams--They are just holding on for their children, seeing no other

prospect for them than the cultivation of those lands. They cannot

send them home to England, for that would be too expensive; New South

Wales would not be desirable for them, and this is their only

chance."--Evidence of Mr. John Flatt (formerly a catechist of the

C.M.S.) before a Parliamentary Committee.